The family behind one of Toronto's most iconic dishes is leaving the business behind after nearly 50 years | Daily Hive

Maurice and Robert Biancolin (Fareen Karim)

The family that put one of Toronto’s best-known dishes on the map is about to leave the business they’ve owned since the 1970s behind.

While Toronto gets a lot of buzz for a variety of different food items, from matcha slushies to mozzarella stick monstrosities, these days, there’s historically been one that rises above the noise time and time again: the peameal bacon sandwich.

A Toronto invention right down to its meaty centre, the no-frills lunch staple has been a calling card for the city for decades, appearing everywhere from Anthony Bourdain’s The Layover to The New York Times, and earning the distinction of being the city’s official dish.

To date, there are plenty of spots in the city where you can pick one up, but perhaps none more legendary than St. Lawrence Market’s Carousel Bakery.

The bakery has been a cornerstone of the market since before the peameal bacon sandwich even really existed, but it wasn’t until the Biancolin family took over the business in 1977 that it became a local food landmark, because it was only then that the peameal bacon sandwich made it on the menu.

Now owned and operated by brothers Robert and Maurice Biancolin, the second generation of the family to run the bakery, Carousel’s star has only risen thanks, of course, to word of mouth and general notoriety, but also to the brothers’ unwavering commitment to uphold the community core of the market in a time when people are, for better or worse, growing more connected to their screens than other people.

Whether it’s Robert or Maurice behind the counter when you visit (you’re extra lucky if you get both), you’re guaranteed a cheerful conversation, a warm greeting, tales of the St. Lawrence Market of yesteryear and, of course, a bacon sandwich fresh off the press.

It could be said, thanks to the instrumental role they played in popularizing the dish and their sustained presence in the market, that the Biancolin family is as much a pillar of the St. Lawrence Market as the peameal bacon sandwich itself, but that’s soon to change as Robert and Maurice embark on their biggest career move yet: retirement.

“We were actually thinking about it before COVID hit, but then it did hit and kind of blew up that plan,” Robert Biancolin tells Dished Toronto.

“So we had to basically buckle down and bring things back after that once-in-a-lifetime situation, which was, you know, we’ve been through many recessions and whatever, but nothing like that.”

Now, having regained their balance in the half-decade since the COVID-19 pandemic rocked the entire world, they’ve decided it’s time to move on.

While plenty of Toronto residents have already expressed their heartbreak over the Biancolin brothers’ retirement, Robert chalks it up to the shock of change.

“I think [people were] more taken by surprise,” he tells Dished Toronto. “You know, when we’re used to something for such a long time, people say, ‘Oh, what’s going to happen to my routine,’ and ‘I won’t be able to see people I used to see,’ that kind of thing.”

Still, a small silver lining around the brothers’ departure is that the rest of the staff at Carousel bakery will be maintained despite the handover, which, Robert says, was a non-negotiable when deciding who would take over.

Another non-negotiable was ensuring that the new owners shared similar values and experience with beloved local landmarks, which made Joe Pulla, CEO of Johnvince Foods, and his family the perfect fit.

In addition to manning the major food supplier (recognized as one of Canada’s top 50 best-managed companies), the Pulla family also owns Colborne, Ont.’s iconic Big Apple, and, according to Robert, can be credited with expanding the roadside attraction into the destination it is today.

“I wanted to make sure it was a family that principally was already in the food business,” Robert said. “And of course, holding on to the staff, which was very important to us on top of that.”

Robert told Dished Toronto that his feelings about leaving the bakery behind are mixed. On one hand, retirement sounds quite nice, but on the other, he says, there’s a lot he’s going to miss.

“You know that it was time, but at the same time, you’ve been doing this for such a long time that you know, obviously you’re going to have things that you miss, I mean, there’s the other stuff that comes with owning a business that I won’t miss, but the important connections and staff and patrons over the years, it’s something that you’re going to have to adjust to over time,” he says.

Robert and Maurice are sticking around at Carousel Bakery until the end of July to ensure the handover is seamless, but Robert says he’s content with the legacy that he, his brother, and his father before them have built over the past 48 years.

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“We’ve received press from all over the world, I mean, not just specifically us, but when they talk about Toronto, they always say, ‘don’t miss having this or because it’s something that is uniquely Torontonian,’ like the Philly steak to Philadelphia or Montreal smoked meat to Montreal, the peameal is to Toronto,” Robert said. “That makes it all the more unique, and having maintained that reputation over the great number of years, just to have it continue.”

The great peameal bacon sandwich tradition of Toronto, he adds, is one of the few things that keeps the city’s residents tethered to a sense of community that’s growing increasingly disparate.

While he, himself, won’t be the one handing out those sandwiches, he’s grateful that the tradition lives on.

As for what he’ll do in his retirement? Robert, a passionate advocate for better traffic infrastructure in the city, tells Dished Toronto that, should Mayor Chow ever find herself in need of a new Congestion Czar, he’d “love to give her [his] two or four cents,” on a strictly volunteer basis.

Carousel Bakery

Address: St. Lawrence Market — 93 Front St. E., Toronto

Phone: 416-363-4247

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