When Chadi Charchafji moved to Montreal from the Middle East in 2018, the Armenian-Syrian restaurateur had lost most of his business to war. His family had operated everything from restaurants serving sushi or Syrian cuisine, to coffee houses and nightclubs in Syria, Lebanon and Iraq until the Syrian civil war broke in 2012. “It was very tough on us, back in the Middle East,” Mr. Charchafji says. “But we needed to start fresh again.
Players across the industry are exploring the model – from international chains like Wendy’s, which opened seven food-truck-like “delivery kitchens” in Canada andin the next five years across the U.S., Canada and the U.K., to individual owners like Mr. Charchafji, who operates out of Q-ZN, a Montreal kitchen rental space specifically geared toward ghost kitchens. With 16 separate 250-square-foot kitchens, Q-ZN’s partners include digital-only restaurants like Mr.
Spaces like Q-ZN don’t just offer the kitchen space, though. The infrastructure is optimized for deliveries, with staff to manage the handling of orders to drivers, who can wait at the coffee lounge as their deliveries come off the fryer or grill.