John Lechlitner admits that opening a business at the start of a pandemic is not ideal.
However, the North Bay entrepreneur is making it work.
Lechlitner, who owns Cecil's Brewhouse and Kitchen and the Grande Event Centre, launched a new business called, "The Dessert Factory" on March 15 around the same time many restaurants across the province were shutting down their dining rooms.
"Kind of all in the middle of this we launched it and it has done reasonably well," said Lechlitner.
"We have the staff that can create some pretty remarkable stuff from the kitchen perspective and kind of the rest is history at this point. It has been received well by the community. It has given us some new and additional desserts."
The business runs out of his facility in downtown North Bay and is the second phase of ghost brands that he has created in 2020. Back in January, he launched the Wyld Street Poutinerie as well.
See related: New Poutine only restaurant opening
The key to both businesses is they were both created for delivery or pick up only which is ideal during the current COVID-19 situation.
Lechlitner says the new business allowed him to open doors for his employees while so many other restaurants were forced to lay off staff.
"When the dine-in had to close we were already in the process of opening up The Dessert Factory," he said.
"It was a natural thing to launch it when it did. I also wanted to push it forward because I wanted to employ as many of our staff as we could. We are at a point where we certainly do not have everybody back at work but we have got a lot of staff back to work. It is a little awkward working with all the conditions that we have to work under at times but you do what you can to be safe and at the same time provide a service that people will always be looking for."
Lechlitner says he has used some recipes for popular desserts from his restaurant menus such as deep-fried butter tarts.
He believes during these times, comfort food like his desserts, are very appetizing.
"People are looking for a little bit of comfort in a time of uncertainty," he said.
Some of his popular treats include at butter tart cheesecake, oreo cheesecake, or the popular deep-fried pies.
Lechlitner appreciates the local support but he feels North Bay residents are recognizing and prioritizing homemade type products.
"I think when you are doing stuff that is done in-house it has an appeal to people as opposed to another pre-packaged dessert you can buy off the shelf at any store," he said.
"A lot of our desserts are just a twist on a classic. I think that is a lot of the appeal of it."
The Dessert Factory menu can be found HERE
