Restaurateur Peter Oliver built a thriving hospitality empire

In 1993, a young Michael Bonacini, then the chef at the venerated Italian restaurant Centro, received a call from a headhunter. The recruiter was working with a mystery restaurateur who was searching for a chef and partner for a new project in the heart of Toronto’s financial district.

“I said, ‘Oh, that sounds like Union Square Cafe in New York.’ And Peter immediately said, ‘Yes, that’s exactly it.’”Within months, Mr. Bonacini caught a glimpse of his partner’s ambition. In the car one day, Mr. Oliver turned to him and asked, ‘How many restaurants do you think we can own together?’ The chef answered with “six,” and immediately worried he would seem audacious.“You had a conversation with Peter,” Mr. Bonacini said, “and you couldn’t help but start to think big as well.

At McGill, Mr. Oliver played on the school’s rugby team. During one of those games in Toronto, he met Maureen Murphy, then a young York University student, outside Varsity Stadium. They fell in love and after graduation, settled in Toronto. Somehow, he still found time to attend his sons’ hockey games, his daughters’ rowing regattas – “always the loudest dad in the stands” – and to raise money for charity.

Luckily, Jump was a success. Within weeks, they were run off their feet. Both Mr. Bonacini and Mr. Oliver had to ask their wives to work coat check because they couldn’t hire and train staff fast enough to keep up. “He believed that if something was worth doing, it was worth doing right,” Andrew said. “In the kitchen, he’d say ‘make it nice, or make it twice.’”

A fabulous man. I am so grateful to have had the chance to work with him thru JDRF_Canada. Sending my most heartfelt condolences to the Oliver family 3

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