Food Network celebrity chef Anthony Sedlak and partner Andy Eng have spent about $1 million to open their first American Cheesesteak Co. restaurant on Davie Street in Vancouver October 23.
“We’re looking at new locations now,” Sedlak told Business in Vancouver October 27. “We’ll be opening three to four in the coming years and there will be a potential for franchising in the future.
“We did an immense amount of research. The closest cheesesteak we could find in Canada or the U.S. was down in Bellingham.”
Sedlak has a show on the Food Network named The Main and will make an appearance in the upcoming reality show Million Dollar Neighbourhood. He has wanted to own his own restaurant for years.
He intended to be the executive chef and potential partner with Andre McGillivray and Steve Da Cruz when those two opened the short-lived Corner Suite Bistro De Luxe at the corner of Thurlow and Smithe streets.
Delays renovating the former fine dining restaurant to adhere to B.C.’s building code kept Sedlak from becoming a partner.
“My view of high-end dining has changed,” he said. “Now, I’m more ambassadorial.”
Cheesesteaks are prime rib, cheese and onion sandwiches on crusty bread.
He calls the venture “fast-casual” because people can expect to wait about 10 minutes for their sandwich to be made.
The price-point is higher than Subway but Sedlak sees that multinational giant as one of his main competitors.
Glen Korstrom
@GlenKorstrom