...with Wendy Irvine

BY LINDA GARSON PHOTO BY DONG KIM

As a child growing up near Manchester, England, Wendy Irvine wanted to be a flight attendant, and while she never worked for airlines, she’s worked in cafes and then pubs from the age of eleven, when her parents bought a run-down B&B and moved to Blackpool.

“They didn't have a lot, my mum worked as a seamstress at the knicker factory, my dad was a painter and decorator,” she says. “Blackpool used to be packed; the first Easter they opened I had to sleep between the dining room tables because my mum let my room, and my dad went and got extra jobs as they needed the money.”

At 16, Irvine studied hotel hospitality management, and worked for eight years before coming to Canada on holiday – exactly 34 years ago. Shortly after returning, an opportunity for an open return air ticket arose and she quit her job, sold her car, and moved to Mississauga, where she met Lance, her husband-to-be. “We were there seven years, and Alicia, my daughter, was born there, but it was a struggle. Lance's family was in Calgary, so we came here. As a chef he worked nights, and I worked days. I was probably making $7 an hour, but I was great at what I did,” she laughs.

They worked for Brewster's, and then at the Elephant & Castle, where she worked lunchtimes to be home for her daughter, until it closed down, and she landed a job at The Unicorn as a part-time server. The job grew, and she became more involved in bartending, until they needed someone in the office. “I didn't know my way around anything - a laptop computer, payroll, you name it, so I taught myself!”

They took over the Libertine and Below Deck, and when the Unicorn closed in 2015, they rebranded to Unicorn Super Pub. “At the time, the original owners were parting ways,” explains Irvine. “I lost my husband the weekend of the floods in 2013, and I'd lost my dad nine months before that. I was beside myself as I thought I'm going to lose my job. Who's going to hire me?”

“I went to the bank, begged and pleaded and borrowed a lot of money, and I was able to buy 25 percent shares along with Mark Jennings, my business partner.” They worked until Covid hit, and everything shut down, and the original partners wanted to walk away again. “We didn't, so somehow, some way, we bought them out and I became 50 percent of not a lot because we were dragging our backsides out of Covid. It was survival mode. I had to work to keep a roof over our heads, but I survived.”

“Last summer, Paul, my GM, was getting a bit bored and decided we need another bar,” she laughs. “And the old College Bar on 4th popped up. I said, ‘absolutely not, it sounds dodgy.’ But it wasn't, it was the best thing that could have happened to us. It's so busy and it's getting busier. I've been so blessed my whole life; I was always loved, had great friends, great staff, and thousands of people over the years have supported me. I wouldn't change any of it.”

What bottle does Irvine have stashed away?

“Kathy was a big staple in my life for 25 years. I met her at the Unicorn, and she'd pop in now and again, and we’d go out. She'd always remember my birthday and Alicia's, and she bought me this bottle (Beringer Private Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon 2018) last year because she knew I like red wine.” Irvine smiles. “She said, ‘I don't know what it is, I just asked the guy in the wine store.’”

“She passed away suddenly in November and didn't tell any of us that she’d got cancer. I was upset because we were supposed to get together in October. She wasn't feeling good, and then we got busy. She was a beautiful soul, and she always used to say that ‘she only knew good people.’ I’m saving the bottle for a random day when the right people are around. It's sometimes off the cuff, and just getting together with people that appreciate wine.”