These are busy times on the restaurant leasing front, according to Regent Street Commercial Corp principal Vanessa Oliver. (Which is good news for our taste buds in the coming months.) Her office is currently working on two restaurant deals in Liberty Village, one in the south core and potentially two more in the financial core, details that she says she can’t reveal. Other name-brand deals they’ve done recently: Oliver & Bonacini at 33 Yonge, Cactus Club at First Canadian Place, Origin Restaurant at King & Church, iQ Food Co at TD Centre and Brookfield Place (image), and the Pizzeria Libretto restaurants under construction both at 155 University and 545 King St W.

Vanessa says that unlike so many other retail tenants that are squeezing in size due to multi-channel retailing online, restaurants are more in demand than ever, and will not shrink in size, “unless someone figures out how to eat a steak on Amazon.” More and more office and residential density in the core and downtown west is helping the cause as well. “As office cubicles and condos become smaller, the more people go out to eat,” she says.