It’s 11 a.m. on day two of Millie Patisserie’s soft opening and Christinn Hua is diligently wiping away the condensation collected inside a display case. Behind her, in her shop’s back production kitchen, staff is churning out rare cheesecake tarts and their signature mille-crepe cake – brushstrokes of ethereal pastry cream sandwiched in between 20 lacy crepe layers.
Hua is facing opening hurdles: logistics, staffing, training, the challenge of drawing customers to an alleyway location, in addition to battling a dysfunctional cooling system.
Ask anyone in the food-service industry and they’ll tell you it’s a fickle business with long hours and low wages. Compounded by Toronto’s astronomical rent, starting a food business is too risky a venture for most, let alone a second outpost, as Hua has done hot on the heels of the second anniversary of her Kensington flagship, Millie Creperie.
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