London Inc. Weekly

Weekly Regional Business Intelligence

Written by Kieran Delamont, Associate Editor, London Inc.

Rhino Lounge to shutter; ownership team to open new full-service room at RiverBend

After a decade operating out of Museum London, the Rhino Lounge is set to close next week, its owners announced. “We have operated at Museum London since 2014. However, these past few years have drastically changed the landscape of downtown London,” wrote the owners (who also run Craft Farmacy, North Moore Catering and The River Room, the latter of which is also located at Museum London) in an Instagram post on Tuesday. “More people are working from home resulting in fewer people working in the core. In addition, the rising costs of food, labour and the lack of available-affordable parking in the area has contributed to our decision to close our operations at this location.” They added that their pastry team will move operations to their catering kitchen at 449 Wharncliffe Road South (the same building that houses Craft Farmacy restaurant) and will continue selling desserts at their remaining restaurants and via wholesale to other area food service operators.

The upshot: Like many, the Rhino Lounge looks to be one of those businesses which never quite regained the foot traffic from the pre-pandemic era and have been forced to pivot. (On that front, having Craft Farmacy, North Moore Catering and The River Room provides a good cushion.) The owners also announced they have a new spot in the works ― a California-themed restaurant called Los Olivos at 2140 Kains Road, right at the entrance to the private golf community at RiverBend. “Think hamachi crudo, wagyu tenderloin, tuna carpaccio salad, warm olives, lobster rolls,” said co-owner Jess Jazey-Spoelstra. The new kitchen will be helmed by Kyle Trafford, former sous chef at Craft Farmacy, and will have a 65-seat patio. “Los Olivos will be a fantastic addition to the London restaurant scene and will help fill the gaps in the RiverBend area offering local dining options.”

Read more: Rhino Lounge

Aduro Clean Technologies pioneers advanced recycling of tough polymers

Aduro Clean Technologies, a developer of patented water-based technologies to transform waste plastics and low-grade renewable oils into renewable fuels and specialty chemicals, has achieved promising results from preliminary tests using its Hydrochemolytic technology to recycle hard-to-decompose crosslinked polymers, achieving up to 84 per cent conversion into valuable lower-molecular-weight hydrocarbons. These breakthroughs for the Newbold Street headquartered firm indicate potential for significant advancements in the recycling of materials used in various industries, from automotive to construction, and position the company to explore further applications in tire rubber and other elastomeric materials.

The upshot: At the core of Aduro’s novel chemical conversion process is a low-cost deconstruction process that works on plastics that are most difficult to handle, converting them into components useful as either fuels or in chemical recycling to produce new, virgin plastics in a circular regime. “This milestone confirms our preliminary assessment that we can provide customizable solutions tailored to industry specific requirements,” said Eric Appelman, chief revenue office at Aduro. “We were able to transform XLPE waste into high-quality liquid hydrocarbons, with an impressive conversion yield, enhancing the material's lifecycle and providing a reliable feedstock for refineries. This development addresses a critical challenge in the industry and opens new avenues for sustainable material management.”

Read more: GlobeNewswire | Innovating Canada

Future of Children’s Festival murky as city reinstates no-ride policy in Victoria Park

City hall is renewing a policy that bans amusement-park style rides in Victoria Park, and in doing so has dealt a blow to the London Children’s Festival, said organizer Doug Hillier. City hall has told Hillier that the festival can’t put its rides on the grass of Vic Park this year, something it temporarily allowed for the last two years as a bit of leeway for the festival to help it recover post-pandemic. Paul Yeoman, the city’s director of parks and forestry, said the rule is about protecting the health of the grass and the trees at the park. This is not good news for Hillier, though. “If I can’t get rides in the middle, [the Children’s Festival} not happen again,” he told The London Free Press. “This will be the last year.”

The upshot: For years, the rides at the Children’s Festival had been located on Dufferin Avenue, along the perimeter of the park, without issue. But construction on rapid transit nearby meant that the city was more permissive in allowing the rides to be moved onto the grass. According to Hillier, there’s actually a measurable difference in revenue between rides on the grass and rides on the street: no rides at all means a loss of $40,000 in revenue, while rides only on the street would mean a loss of about $20,000 in revenue. “We’ve done this for two years without an issue,” Hillier said. “No one complained. In fact, we had nothing but compliments.” Still, the city may have a point that trucking in rides on the grass may not be the best thing for the park itself. Either way, this year’s festival, set to take place June 14 to 16, is going ahead, rides or no rides. Hillier is hoping that the city will take another look at the policy. “All my vendors are counting on this,” he said. “They came in droves when we had rides in the park.”