'I ordered new signage, new artwork, new menus, new wallpaper. Obviously none of this is cheap—we’re talking into the low six figures': A Q&A with the owner of the former, Soviet-themed Pravda Vodka House
In August 2020, Toronto lawyer-slash-entrepreneur Jasmine Daya bought Pravda Vodka House, the Soviet-themed bar on the edge of the Financial District that has been serving Stoli shots and Red Square cocktails since 2003. Things were starting to normalize after two years of pandemic-related disruptions, until late February, when she began to face a barrage of online harassment following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
That night, our sales were really low, which is of course a concern for my staff who had already had such a hard time. I said, “It’s okay, Fridays are always a little bit slower than Saturdays.” But then on Saturday, it was even worse. I was on the floor, and I was chatting with some guests—a group of four that had originally made a reservation for eight. I asked what happened to everyone else, and they told me half of their group didn’t feel comfortable going to a Russian bar.
I would say that Pravda has nothing to do with the leadership in Russia that is behind this war. Of course my heart breaks for the people of Ukraine, but also for the people of Russia who do not support the invasion. Targeting Russian businesses or, even worse, Russian people is not okay. I honestly think with the pandemic, people have become a lot more unhinged and this tendency to spew hate has been normalized.
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