Mildred’s Temple Kitchen goes down in history as one of the first restaurants in the world that had the guts to approach Valentine’s Day with a call for sex, rather than with a compelling menu. As The Star reports “Mildred’s Temple Kitchen invites diners to visit its unisex stalls for a little Valentine’s Day loving.” If you expected such news from Amsterdam, well, Toronto’s Mildred’s Temple Kitchen is this time ahead, and very proud of it:
“We’ve always had little trysts in our bathrooms. We’re taking it to the next level on Valentine’s weekend,” said Donna Dooher, chef & co-owner, Mildred’s Temple Kitchen in a statement.
The restaurant has unisex bathrooms, with lights outside to indicate occupancy (pretty much like airplane toilets, but more comfortable as you can see in the featured image). During the Valentine’s Weekend when sex in its bathrooms is strongly encouraged, the restaurant will hire a French maid to keep the bathrooms clean – so any concerns of salubrity and personal hygiene are answered by this statement alone. BYO condoms is a mandatory rule, mind you, as BYO date. And don’t expect to eat where you… well, you know the rules.
So here’s your Valentine’s Day marketing and PR tip for the day: if you want your restaurant to be remembered for everything else but food, go for such an approach. Don’t even bother putting together a menu. Hamburgers suffice – although a bottle of champagne and complimentary condoms in the bathroom would certainly make a nice touch. Oh, and don’t forget to make it kinky, like Mildred’s, with furry handcuffs and other sex toys (!).
Sarcasm aside, I am not even sure what to say about Mildred’s Temple Kitchen marketing campaign this Valentine’s season. As long as the Toronto Public Health department keeps cool about this, we can safely assume that the city approves. No clear reaction from the citizens either, and if they keep it like this Toronto will attract waves of tourists for pretty much the same reasons as Amsterdam.
And the Liberty Village will soon become Toronto’s Red Light District…