Simar Anand was gearing up for the biggest weekend of the year at Resto Darbar on Montreal’s St-Laurent Boulevard on a recent Friday morning. The occasion? Formula One weekend. Guests from around the world fill the reservation list of his 40-seat restaurant when Max Verstappen, Lewis Hamilton, Lando Norris and crews roll into town. There were 76 reservations for Friday night, and that was before the usual walk-up crowd began to roll in.
Those who know and worked with Simar at Fasken know he has many passions; his role as Owner and Executive Chef at Darbar is just one of them.
He is passionate about the Montreal Canadiens, though their playoff run was, unlike Formula One, more of a mixed blessing. On game nights he says, “We are a ghost town. People are not going to a fancy Indian restaurant for a nice meal.” Still, he loves the Canadiens, in part for what they mean to his family. “My dad and I would argue. A lot. But the Canadiens would always draw us together, whatever disagreement we were having.”
He is passionate about the law and the role it can play in advancing business and communities. Since leaving Fasken, he has established his own small law firm, serving entrepreneurial clients.
He is passionate about entrepreneurship. It is this passion that most often has him reflecting on his days with Fasken. Simar joined the Firm in 2016 as part of the summer student hiring process in Toronto. “I was grateful for that 5 p.m. Wednesday afternoon phone call during hiring week. I was lucky enough to receive a few of these calls. My gut told me Fasken, and in the months and years that followed, that proved to be right. It is the entrepreneurial approach. We (he still calls us “we”) get them out there from Day One. We train people to get out there and chase work, even if it is internal work. That was a training ground for what I do today.”
Simar does a lot of things “today” but the business he is now leaning into and aiming to grow is Heritage Capital Partners. Heritage is the next step in Simar’s evolution from lawyer, to entrepreneur, to investor (albeit “hands-on” investor). With his partner, Christopher Koklas, he has lined up more than 40 investors, looking to put patient capital to work with two leaders they trust. It’s private equity, but it isn’t. Through Heritage, Simar and Chris are pursuing a deliberate strategy focused on acquiring and operating small and mid-sized businesses. Their approach, says Simar, is differentiated, not by financial engineering, but by positioning.
“When we knock on the door, it’s a different conversation,” he explains. “We’re not trying to break a business apart or turn it over on a fixed timeline. We’re two people who want to run a really good business.” Many of the owners they are engaging are nearing retirement and are deeply invested—financially and emotionally—in the businesses they have built. Simar’s approach, backed by the patient investors, is to offer continuity, not disruption. The team has assembled a broad pipeline of potential acquisitions, supported by direct outreach, professional networks—accountants, wealth advisors and law firms—and local engagement through chambers of commerce and business associations. The focus, at least initially, is on businesses “where they can be hands-on operators.” Sectors under consideration include food production, packaging and other fragmented industries with consolidation potential. “This is about building something over 10 to 15 years,” Simar notes, “not flipping assets.”
When you ask Simar about mentors, he gives a nod to a lot of Fasken colleagues. When pressed for an example, he focuses on an evening with partner, Wojtek Baraniak. “I had been working on an assignment for Wojtek. I was a student. And I (bleeped) the bed.” Wojtek could have redone the work without speaking with me. He could have been angry. But he sat with me patiently until 11 p.m. the night before closing, and went through the document, line by line, teaching. I’ve never forgotten it, though he probably has.”
Simar’s leading mentors are not lawyers though. They are family – his parents. Simar’s father led Darbar as chef and frontman for decades. Sadly, he was one of the early victims of COVID, passing away during the first weeks of the pandemic. It was a turning point in Simar’s life as he and his mother were determined to sustain the family legacy, embodied in the restaurant. Those were incredibly challenging days. The passage of time now permits more reflection on the high points of his father’s mentorship. Listening to Simar describe his father conjures up thoughts of a cross between MacGyver and Gordon Ramsay. “My dad was one of the most resourceful guys I knew. He just found a way.” Whether dealing with restaurant suppliers or obstinate municipal authorities, Mr. Anand found unconventional ways to solve challenges that seemed unsolvable.
At the risk of making this personal, the writer experienced the senior Anand’s persistence. And humour. I visited Darbar a few times. The first time, Simar’s dad repeatedly offered to make me one of his favourite drinks featuring Canadian rye. I declined several times. Late in the meal, he sat down across from me and put a drink in front of me. Or so I thought. I shrugged my shoulders, picked it up and took a sip. “That’s my drink” came the deadpan from across the table. And everyone within earshot laughed uproariously.
The other leading mentor in Simar’s life has been his mother. If dad was the “get it done, whatever it takes” type, mom is that calm, steady, unflappable presence. Simar remarked, “she is cool as a cucumber, though the whole world can fall apart around her.” Her calm dignity has grounded Simar, their family and the restaurant for years. Whether in the restaurant kitchen, at home, or across the many roles she has taken on over the years, her steadiness has been constant—and has become a model for how Simar manages pressure in his own businesses.
A great conversation inevitably comes to a close. Last question: “What do you do to prepare for the biggest night of the year in the restaurant?”
“I’m going to the gym now. And I will work out until I am so worn out, I can barely lift my arms.” Everything in balance, as much as one can balance, for Simar Anand.