"Watching like minded bartenders create magic has always been my number one love and passion," says Jenn Abergel. So, when the pandemic prompted a change in careers, she knew she had to follow her heart, and take her idea to the next level. So, Quench Bar became her path.
Prior to the pandemic, Abergel was a paralegal, but, in a similar fate to many Torontonians, her employment became a Covid casualty, and she was laid off. "I worked at a firm that welcomed and appreciated firm-wide happy hours. It gave me free range to create a cocktail or two--based on the seasons, holidays, et cetera--and share it with the team. These happy hours gave me the thought of 'hmmm!!! There must be a demand for this kind of service in Toronto,'" she says.
"That was the beginning of Quench Bar. In October of 2020, my cousin held her bachelorette party at a cottage up north. As the maid of honour, I took my duties very seriously. I created cocktail menus for the whole weekend, got them printed & framed, got matching glassware to the theme of the weekend and that was the first moment I took a breath and said to myself, 'wow, I need to do this for a living.'"
Growing up in a half-Moroccan, half-Israeli family full of good cooks, she was surrounded by good food and good culture for her formative years. It taught her the value of learning flavours, as well as learning and developing recipes. Essentially, she was exposed to the core skills she needed to create a Toronto-travelling bar.
Now, she does just that, bringing her custom concoctions to parties and events across the city. Each menu can be personalized and catered towards any event, from birthday parties to bachelorettes and more, and a friendly, knowledgeable face behind the bar. To create each cocktail, Abergel and her staff use an array of bitters collected from around the world, as well as an assortment of cold-pressed juices and craft syrups sourced from a local company, that ensures freshness and offers flavours like pineapple, pear, mint and ginger. "Our mission is to create an ever-lasting impression on guests' memories of us. A well-crafted cocktail is only as good as the maker behind it," Abergel says. "We want to be known as the full package--innovative cocktails and professional, knowledgeable staff behind each cocktail that we make and serve."
Quench Bar adds flavour to parties across Toronto and the GTA.
