41 RONCESVALLES AVE.
Saturday, March 5, 2022 4:25 PM
Sunnyview Restaurant: The Great Blackout
When the lights went out in 1965, residents naturally gathered at Steve and Helena Sromek’s popular restaurant in Little Poland.
By Heike Mertins
Tuesday, Nov. 9, 1965. Steve Sromek muttered under his breath as he headed for the electrical panel. The lights had gone out. He reached for the panel door with his right hand, juggling the flashlight in his left. The beam illuminated a row of good fuses and a breaker still in the on position. Odd, he thought.
He made his way carefully to the front of his restaurant; the beam from his flashlight bounced and reflected off the cutlery, salt and pepper shakers on tables set for the evening rush. Dusk came early in November, and the temperature was already beginning to drop.
The marquee sign outside the Sunnyview Restaurant at 41 Roncesvalles Ave. was also dark. The same was true for Tip Top Typewriter two doors down and Wong’s Laundry next door. All the signs along Roncesvalles were out. Even the bright orange neon Esso sign on the roof at Queen and King Sts., which could usually be seen from blocks away, was dark.
A few minutes earlier at 5:17 p.m. a small generating station in Lewiston, N.Y., had tripped an improperly set relay, setting off a chain reaction, causing power failures throughout major cities in southern Ontario and throughout the northeastern U.S. It took five minutes for the interconnected power utilities to go dead.
The Northeast Blackout of 1965 was the largest blackout ever experienced in North America. Some 30 million people were stranded in the dark, including Steve Sromek and his Sunnyview Restaurant in Toronto’s Little Poland neighbourhood. All of Ontario except Fort Erie was without power for 12 hours.
Emergency Measures
But Sromek was a problem solver. The stove was gas so it was working, the ice box out back would keep his perishables well chilled, and there was plenty of food. There was just no light or heat. Candles. He called out to Helena, his wife, business partner and head waitress: “Cut some larger slices of bread and put candles in them. One on each of the tables.”
Helena followed Steve to the kitchen. Steve was always thinking. He’d made his way after the war from Poland to Toronto, where she, a fellow immigrant from Poland, had met him. She quickly cut the bread and then graced each of the tables with a candle held in place by a large slab of rye -- a humorous yet functional nod to the old country. They would work nicely.
‘The restaurant began to fill up. The blackout delayed those coming from work, including some of the regulars. However, many, unable to cook in their homes, wandered onto Roncesvalles Ave. looking for answers, a friendly face and possibly someplace warm to eat.
On the best of days, it was hard to pass up the Sunnyview specials of two pork chops for 15 cents, its homemade sauerkraut, and thick homestyle bread. Today the temptation to share a good meal with neighbours was even greater.
More than a restaurant
Steve and his wife were well-liked and respected here in little Poland. And not just because Steve was an excellent cook. The Sunnyview hired as many new Polish immigrants as was possible both for the kitchen and as waitstaff. People in the old country spoke of Roncesvalles Ave. as the place to go once you arrived in the city. It was a little piece of the familiar in an unfamiliar land.
News about the extent of the blackout flew around the restaurant as neighbours ate and drank a little wine. “The whole neighbourhood is out.” “No, the whole city is dark.” “I heard it was all of Ontario, and even New York City.” “People are walking from downtown.” “The streetcars are standing in the middle of the street going nowhere.” “Thank goodness we have a fireplace.” “Thank goodness Steve is open.”
The restaurant stayed open until it ran out of food. Only then did the last of the stragglers button their woollen winter coats, wish Steve “dobranoc” and head back into the cold November night.
Steve sighed as the adrenalin left his body. He smiled at Helena, weary, yet content. They had pulled it off. He locked the door to the now dark restaurant. Helena returned his smile and turned her key to unlock the recessed door next to the Sunnyview. Together they and their two boys climbed the stairs to their flat above the family’s restaurant.
This story is based on the recollections of Steve’s son, George Sromek. Steve passed away in 1999; Helena, in 2008.
Sources:
Interview with George Sromek, 2021
Slide show provided by the Sromek family.
The Great Blackout information: https://www.rcinet.ca/en/2016/11/09/history-nov-9-1965-the-great-northeast-b
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northeast_blackout_of_1965
radio clip: cbc.ca/archives
https://www.cbc.ca/archives/topic/the-great-northeastern-blackout-of-1965
https://www.cbc.ca/archives/entry/blackout-65-a-great-city-brought-to-its-knees
There is a great black and white video clip (no sound) of Toronto during the blackout. I especially liked the coffee being served to a patron with a candle on a plate lighting the counter and the people getting on the subway in the dark and waiting.
