Posted by Greg Clow in news and media on July 11, 2007 at 11:02 am

Toronto's legendary businessman, philanthropist and theatre impresario Ed Mirvish died this morning of natural causes at the age of 92.

While it may seem out of place to be mentioning his passing on a food-themed website, it's worth noting that Mr. Mirvish was once a restaurateur. Soon after his purchase and revitalization of the Royal Alexandra Theatre in the early 1960s, Ed took over the building next door as well and opened Ed's Warehouse, a restaurant that stuck with the low price theme of his discount store, Honest Ed's, by initially offering a single meal - roast beef, mashed potatoes, Yorkshire pudding and canned peas with a roll & kosher dill pickles - in order to keep costs low.

The restaurant later expanded into a number of different themed rooms - including Ed's Seafood, Ed's Folly, Ed's Chinese, Ed's Italian and Old Ed's - with a combined seating capacity of 2,800. The unique and kitschy charm of the restaurants was summed up well by Robert Fulford in a July, 2000 National Post article written to mark the impending closure of the final restaurant, Old Ed's:

No one outside the family ever claimed they were good restaurants, but they brought the street to life. They and the theatre fed each other -- "a package," as Ed put it. Part of the charm was an over-earnest striving for class, which meant that Tiffany lamps hung over everything and a dress code remained in force long after most Toronto restaurants had surrendered to a tieless and jacketless new generation. (I can remember painful moments when someone in our party showed up improperly attired, and had to be jammed into an ill-fitting jacket and ugly tie by the waiters.)

Ed's other major contributions to Toronto's food legacy include the famous turkey give aways that take place every holiday season at Honest Ed's, as well as the store's regular door crasher specials on various foodstuffs. It could be argued that you're not a real Torontonian if you haven't stood in line at Ed's for a case of pop or a box of canned tuna.

Ed Mirvish would have turned 93 on July 24th. It's expected that the annual street party to celebrate his birthday will go ahead as planned, and will be a celebration of his life and the great contributions he made to our city.