Summary:
Recorded September 7, 2021 – Overcoming challenges is part of Len Senater’s character. We hear how The Depanneur began, what inspired the concept and how it continues to evolve as a community hub for connection, food and coming together.
Show Description:
Len Senater is not one to sit still. Having opened in 2011 with two other partners, The Depanneur started as a coffee shop and convenience store by day and restaurant by night.
Soon after, his two partners got involved beyond the business and they both decided to move on, and Len was left to run it all. At first he thought “I’ll just have to sell some coffee – how hard can that be?” Well, it was incredibly hard! Now, 10 years later, The Depanneur has explored, expanded and evolved, and they now do a bit of everything food related.
Len studied photography and design when film still existed. Working in a small design firm, essentially coming up with creative solutions to problems and challenges for others. While helping clients focus on their passions, Len felt it was time to focus that energy on something he was passionate about.
Since Len goes through life stomach first, he was drawn to the food business. With no formal training in the food industry, Len’s interest lay more within homecooking than fine dining.
He saw opportunities in other cities that had public spaces available for the community. He wanted to create a space, purposeful, to showcase the diversity of culinary talent we have in the city.
With time he rented out The Depanneur to various chefs that were looking for a kitchen and a place to host their guests. Len continues to say that he’s not sure if he’s even in the restaurant business.
When opening The Depanneur, Len considered that if, at the end of the 5 year lease, he wouldn’t be any poorer, that that would be a success. That was good enough.
Len believes that “Enough is as good as a feast.”
In 2016, when Canada brought in the Syrian refugees, Len and his small community reached out to see how they could help support the newcomers. Knowing that the hotel rooms they were housed in did not have a kitchen and with the attitude “start where you are, use what you have and do what you can,” Len invited them to cook at The Depanneur. Without knowing a word in Arabic, but knowing the importance of food in all cultures, the cooking began. The program lasted three years at The Depanneur and it was a big success.
Len thrives on meaningful business experiences. He enjoys seeing people make connections at the events that he and his guests host.
Pre-Covid Len was feeling burnt out. The Depanneur had events 7 days a week, curating, hosting and marketing over 300 events per year and it was a lot. The return wasn’t at a place where Len could work less. That’s when he decided to take a sabbatical to think through next steps. Resilience, the small size and low expenses are what got him and The Depanneur through Covid.
Len’s next adventure is developing The Depanneur Cookbook. It’s an anthology and memoir of sorts with 100 recipes from 100 chefs. The book is about recipes and storytelling. When he looks back, he sees it as a “nostalgic love letter.”
Len feels that the lack of affordability is a big threat to the city. He believes that the high prices of doing business will kill small, creative and interesting businesses. Ironically, the suburbs are more interesting these days because of their affordability.
He finds that the city is too rigid and will not think out of the box to help or at least not disturb businesses in their creation process. Regulators forget that they are there to make things happen, not to obstruct creativity.
These days Len’s designer mind continues to overcome challenges and sees that things don’t have to be bigger than they are. The cookbook is what he focuses most of his time on at the moment. We look forward to watching The Depanneur continue to evolve and thrive.
Website: www.thedepanneur.ca
IG: @thedepanneur
FB: @TheDepanneur
TW: @TheDepanneur
