Dinner in a yurt? Bayfield, Ont. restaurant offers unusual winter patio option
Summers are short and winters are long, especially in tourist towns like Bayfield, Ont., which is why the owners of Olio Too have added an authentic Mongolian Yurt to their restaurant.
“We call it our winter patio. It’s something different. If you want people to come to Bayfield in the winter, you have to give them an experience. This is it,” says one Olio Too’s owners, Joanne Oliver.
Oliver and her partner Brent Hillier added the yurt, built with actual yak hair, to their patio three years ago. It’s only up from October to May, but is generally booked solid when it’s up.
“People are coming. We had a group from Sarnia last weekend. People are coming from Kitchener, London and Toronto just to experience the yurt,” says Hillier.
The idea came to them after seeing a similar set up at a pub in Toronto. They thought it would work at their new restaurant in Bayfield, to help attract diners during the, usually slower, winter months.
“We want the yurt to be well known. We want people to leave happy and I can tell you everyone that comes out has a smile on their face,” says Oliver.
With seating for 18 people, Oliver says the yurt has seen a lot of family bookings for special occasions, but is open to smaller groups, as well.
“It’s just a different experience you don’t get anywhere else. Where else can you sit in a yurt and have dinner and some drinks,” says Hillier.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
From outer space? Sask. farmers baffled after discovering strange wreckage in field
A family of fifth generation farmers from Ituna, Sask. are trying to find answers after discovering several strange objects lying on their land.
NEW Iconic Canadian song turns 50
Andy Kim's 'Rock Me Gently' is marking a major milestone, as it celebrates its 50th anniversary.
Oprah Winfrey: I set an unrealistic standard for dieting
Oprah Winfrey said on Thursday evening that she has long played a role in promoting unhealthy and unrealistic diets.
Prince Harry, Meghan arrive in Nigeria to champion the Invictus Games and meet with wounded soldiers
Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan, arrived in Nigeria on Friday to champion the Invictus Games, which he founded to aid the rehabilitation of wounded and sick servicemembers and veterans, among them Nigerian soldiers fighting a 14-year war against Islamic extremists.
Countries struggle to draft 'pandemic treaty' to avoid mistakes made during COVID
After the coronavirus pandemic triggered once-unthinkable lockdowns, upended economies and killed millions, leaders at the World Health Organization and worldwide vowed to do better in the future. Years later, countries are still struggling to come up with an agreed-upon plan for how the world might respond to the next global outbreak.
Toronto police called to Drake's Bridle Path mansion for another alleged intruder on Thursday
Toronto police say a man who allegedly attempted to access Drake’s Bridle Path property was taken to hospital on Thursday after an altercation with security guards.
Ontario family receives massive hospital bill as part of LTC law, refuses to pay
A southwestern Ontario woman has received an $8,400 bill from a hospital in Windsor, Ont., after she refused to put her mother in a nursing home she hated -- and she says she has no intention of paying it.
Flat tire on a highway? Here's why you shouldn't try to fix it
If you're cruising down a highway and realize you have a flat tire, you may want to think twice before stopping to fix it on the side of the road.
Storm-battered U.S. South is again under threat. A boy swept into a drain fights for his life
Dangerous storms crashed over parts of the U.S. South on Thursday even as the region cleaned up from earlier severe weather that spawned tornadoes, killed at least three people, and gravely injured a boy who was swept into a storm drain as he played in a flooded street.