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ICC packing up its giant tent for the season, moving to indoor dining

The Italian Canadian Club is planning on featuring food from the 20 different regions of Italy over the holidays
20201023 ICC Emma KA
Emma Sawyer, a server and bartender at the Italian Canadian Club, prepares for the final outdoor meal service of the season on Friday. The club will be moving to offer take out and indoor dining starting next Friday. Kenneth Armstrong/GuelphToday

On Monday a huge tent in the parking lot of the Italian Canadian Club will get torn down after months of sheltering events and Friday dinners during the pandemic.

“It was a positive thing for us and I think we developed a revenue stream we didn’t know was there,” said Jim Prigione, general manager of ICC. “We will be back next year bigger and better with this.”

Before the tent opened in the first week of July, the ICC had been staying afloat during the pandemic by selling to-go dinners and oven-ready items like lasagnas.

For months the club was not able to hold dinners or events indoors, which has had an effect on its revenues, but Prigione said the crowds came back when the tent was opened.

"It was a big risk for us, being a little club," said Prigione of the plan to open the tent.

When it opened, the ICC was allowed to host up to 100 people at a time for events and dinner service.

“It was something different and not available elsewhere, downtown had its pop-up but this is a different atmosphere, it was family friendly,” he said. “We had a really good run up until about the time school started and then we noticed it drop off.”

Emma Sawyer is a server at ICC and handles its social media. She said people were happy to have the option for a Friday night dinner out when it opened.

“It was really great, the support from the Guelph community was awesome,” said Sawyer. 

She recalled the first Friday dinner was held during a downpour.

“People stayed, they didn’t run home or anything,” she said. “People were happy we had this available when the time came that we were allowed to be outside and have the tent open.”

The ICC made a transition when the tent opened to offer menu-based meals, as opposed to its usually family-style offering.

Prigione said they changed up the menu often to keep people coming back for more.

“Pizzas and pastas and risottos and gnocchi with some meat and vegetarian entrees,” he said.

For this season’s final Friday dinner outside a Chicago-style deep dish pizza was on the menu.

The ICC was able to host some events in the tent, but Prigione said it was a small fraction of the number of events the club usually hosts.

With a limit of 50 people per room inside, Prigione said the ICC will not be hosting the usual number of holiday events than it does most years.

After the tent gets packed up and returned to Guelph Tent Rentals the club will go back to offering Friday take out service, as well as indoor dining.

“There will be no Christmas parties. We will be able to hold ones 50 people or less, but that is far from what we are used to generating, so we need some indoor dining,” said Prigione. “We are looking forward to getting people to come indoors, I hope.”

Even though people can’t fly to Italy for a tasting tour, Prigione said the ICC is planning on something special over the holidays.

“We are going to do a tour of Italy over the holiday dining season and feature food from the 20 different regions of Italy,” said Prigione. “Hopefully that will attract some people with some food and wine they can’t get elsewhere.”


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Kenneth Armstrong

About the Author: Kenneth Armstrong

Kenneth Armstrong is a news reporter and photojournalist who regularly covers municipal government, business and politics and photographs events, sports and features.
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