It’s February, and love is in the air.
It’s also, apparently, in the loo.
Or so intimated staff at Mildred’s Temple Kitchen recently as part of the Liberty Village restaurant’s Valentine’s Day promotion.
Were the mood to strike mid-meal, diners were urged to play out those amorous inspirations in one of the restaurant’s four co-ed bathrooms. Optional furry cuffs and a selection of aphrodisiacal items and lust-laden meal titles rounded out the offering.
Talk about a stimulus package.
News of the restaurant’s idea swarmed the blogosphere, eventually reaching the Huffington Post, the Drudge Report and Perez Hilton, according to Amy Pataki of the Toronto Star.
Now, the restaurant is backing off the whole thing, claiming they were just trying to have a bit of cheeky fun.
But the whole mess got us thinking: just how common is a bit of bathroom bonking in T.O.?
According to Brad Moore of School and formerly of Xacutti, a lot more often than one might think. "When I installed the sinks at [Xacutti], we specifically put extra-heavy steel supports on every sink that was installed for that exact reason — knowing that the sinks are always used, and the sinks come right off the wall. That was part of the design. We put in special things to brace the sinks."
But you needn’t worry about your neighbourhood greasy spoon or McD’s down the street: the more upscale the place, the more tempting the tryst, says Moore. "It’s the kind of thing that’s typical, it’s just in the restaurant business, especially in fine dining, you’ll find it more. It’s just always been known. It’s a joke in the industry," says Moore.
But don’t throw Moore in with Mildred’s lot. For his part, Moore finds it low-brow to advertise one’s lavatory just to drum up business. "It happens everywhere all the time. But I’m not sure I’d promote my restaurant to have people come and fornicate in my washroom."
Given the uproar and the apparently unchanged bookings, we’re wondering if Mildred’s might be thinking the same thing.
