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Manicures and martinis – Metro US

Manicures and martinis

Jimmy Georgoulis wants to spoil customers with a double shot of decadence.

The owner of Fuzion Resto-Lounge and Garden, on Church Street steps north of Wellesley in Toronto, is offering hardworking patrons the chance to indulge themselves by serving martinis while they get manicures in the fine dining restaurant’s Vizion Lounge. Manicures start at $25.

Three-ounce martinis are $11.

“We’re selling an experience,” said Georgoulis, who has more than a decade of party-planning experience under his belt.

“We thought it would be neat to create a new social atmosphere where people can have a martini and a manicure done. So, we think it’s very fun, creative and dynamic.”

Georgoulis got the inspiration for the idea when London, Ont., entrepreneur Martin Younan pitched the idea to the cast of investors on CBC reality show Dragons’ Den. The Dragons turned him down. Six weeks following the airing of the episode, Georgoulis found Younan at his bar. The pair then pooled their resources to promote the service at an exclusive event last January.

“I thought it was a great idea, but I didn’t think a shop exclusively for manicures and martinis had enough for it to be its own business,” Georgoulis said.

“But I thought, ‘It would be a great idea for my business because I have the space for it, and it would be a great add-on. Time passed, I got busy and a few weeks later, who’s in my bar sipping a martini?”

The tough times call for innovation, Georgoulis said and he’s hoping the add-on will bring in more business in a bad economic climate.

“We file more than we cut, we give the hand a little bit of a massage and there’s nothing toxic and smelly about it. It’s something to do after work,” he said. “In these economic times, you need to draw more people into your restaurant, and that’s one way to do it.”