Inside the Fraserhood’s Imminent Say Mercy!

The crew behind the award-winning Mackenzie Room are nearly finished their new Italian / American BBQ restaurant, Say Mercy!, at 4298 Fraser Street. We took a look inside…

Following a series of friends and family services, Say Mercy! co-owners Andrew Jameson, chef Sean Reeve and Antonio Cayonne will be ready to open their new and exciting 1,400 sqft, 60-seat restaurant concept to the public on Saturday, January 18th. I did a walk-through with Reeves several days ago, and it looked – as the photos above and below attest – about 95% finished. I love the branding on the bar mirror and the exterior wall. Nice work, Jess Delves!

For some backstory, here’s an excerpt from what we published about the place back at the start of December:

“Italian as seen through the lens of American barbecue” is how Say Mercy! has been described to me. There’s a lot of obvious potential and avenues towards deliciousness there, and if you’ve eaten Reeves’ food at the Mackenzie Room before you’re at least a little aware of how deep his appreciation for high quality ingredients is, and familiar with his talent for making them sing. “I was classically trained in Italy and fell in love with the simplicity of Italian cuisine – but the first kitchens I worked in that made me want to be a Chef were barbecue spots full of smoke, whiskey, and swine.” he says.

The menu is still very much in development, but I’m told it will see a selection of starters and pastas, as well as some larger share plates like Bistecca alla Fiorentina and whole fish. Reeves’ chef de cuisine will be Mathew Bishop (interview), who has been cooking at the Mackenzie Room for upwards of three years now (previously at Araxi). The GM will be Cody Dodds, who you will also recognize from the Mackenzie Room (previously, the Lobby Lounge), and running the wine program will be Meghan McDowell (ex-Nomad, Bistro Wagon Rouge). The bar is tiny – I think just four seats – but this crew likes good drinks so it’s fair to expect to see some come opening day, which is being tentatively set for January 15th, 2020 [make that January 18th, 2020] . Say Mercy! will be open 7 nights a week with dinner service starting at 5pm.

I’m super curious as to how it will look once it’s finished. Andrew Jameson is doing the design work (just as he did at the Mackenzie Room), so I anticipate a unique environment. He’s already found a lot of cool light fixtures via Scott Landon Antiques that match his choice of wallpaper and colour palette, both of which suggest something of an Art Deco / Edwardian turn.

I’m assuming this last week of preparation is all about fine tuning POS systems, staff training (I hear there’s a beverage cart in the works) and menu printing, because from back to front this place looks good and done. I can’t wait to try it out!