The Samuel J. Moore, Toronto, ON

On our way home this evening, we noticed that a new restaurant/bar had opened up on in our 'hood (they opened about a month ago) ... so we thought we'd check it out.

Introducing The Samuel J. Moore ...

Samuel John Moore (August 3, 1859 – 1948) was a Canadian businessman, founder of Moore Corporation Limited. He was born in England and came with his family to Barrie, ON, while still young. When he was 12, he found work at the Barrie Examiner as a printer's assistant, later becoming local editor. He worked in Texas, then returned to found Grip, a satirical weekly journal, with J. W. Bengough. In 1882, Moore left to found Moore Business Forms (then called Grip Printing & Publishing Company), which sold books of sales slips with flip-over carbon paper. The company, later Moore Corporation Limited, went on to become a major supplier of business forms and printing services in North America. Other affiliated companies were formed in the United Kingdom and Australia. Moore also founded the Metropolitan Bank of Canada in 1902; it was merged with Scotiabank, where Moore served as president and chairman of the board. 

He played an important role in the development of the YMCA in Canada and was a major supporter of the Canadian Baptist Church being a member of Dovercourt Road Baptist Church in Toronto and Sunday school leader. He was one of the founders of Toronto Bible Training School, established in 1894 (in 1912 the name was changed to Toronto Bible College) with Elmore Harris another Toronto Baptist Pastor and others. Moore Corporation Limited merged with Wallace Computer Services in 2003 to form MooreWallace, which was subsequently acquired by R. R. Donnelley & Sons Company. 

The building this restaurant is in was the original West End YMCA.


There are cool old photos on the walls representing the history of the building over the years.

Sean was very helpful in recommending a glass of white wine (he gave me a couple samples until I found a Riesling I liked).

Here are Sean and Gord.  Sean was very friendly and knowledgeable.

And here is Sean with his fresh concoctions.

The menu looks interesting, especially the chicken with a curry sauce.

We'll be back!