Copyright theage
If you thought Neil Perry had opened or closed his last venue for the year, take a shot. There’s been constant movement on the corner of Bay Street and Guilfoyle Avenue this year, with Perry closing his cocktail bar, Bobbie’s, in May, and his modern Asian restaurant, Song Bird, in August, while opening Italian diner Gran Torino on the same site that month. In September, he also steppedaway from his partnership at Baker Bleu, just two doors down. Now the chef-restaurateur has made yet another move, evolving his Good Food Guide Critics’ Pick restaurant, Next Door, into new all-day eatery and Margaret spin-off, Cafe Margaret. “I always thought Next Door belonged to Margaret, so I thought I would make it official and bring it in,” says Perry. The two venues sit side by side on Bay Street and are connected internally, sharing access to coolrooms and storage. “They’ve always been completely reliant on each other. Changing Next Door into Cafe Margaret just seemed like the right thing to do,” he says.
