A few years ago, Toronto restaurateur and nightclub czar Charles Khabouth enjoyed an especially memorable dinner with friends in the mountains of Lebanon.

The setting, overlooking the country of his birth and the sparkling Mediterranean Sea, was postcard perfect. The food was fresh and flavourful — grilled fish and vegetables, fruit from nets suspended in the nearby mountain stream to keep them cold; and the service, which included seven waiters for every four guests, was impeccable.

“The attention to detail was incredible,” says Khabouth. “I honestly felt like we were in another world. It was a one-of-a-kind experience.”

That’s precisely the kind of all-consuming otherworldly experience that Khabouth strives to create in his numerous ventures, from the football field–sized party-plex of the Guvernment to the Queen West boutique lounge Tattoo Rock Parlour to scenester resto Ultra Supper Club to Asian bistro Spice Route.

Now, more than 25 years later, Khabouth still has a few surprises up his sleeve. Khabouth is currently putting the finishing touches on Bisha, the boutique hotel bearing his childhood nickname that he says will bring a “beacon of energy” to the Entertainment District when it opens its doors in August. And he’s already deep into prep work for two new restaurants in the Yorkville area.

The first is a French bistro in the old Dynasty locale on Bloor Street near Avenue Road, a couple of blocks from a multi-million-dollar condo project he’s also developing. Set to open early next year, the bistro will spread over two floors, and there are plans to include a bakery and patisserie. The goal, Khabouth says, is to bring “a new joie de vivre to Bloor Street.”

It will mark the eighth time Khabouth has set up shop in the Yorkville area. He says that he gets asked all the time when he will open another spot there, and the timing couldn’t be more perfect. Because everything closes relatively early along Bloor, he hopes his Parisian restaurant will “offer some excitement” to the Mink Mile.

To set just the right tone for the place, Khabouth is sparing no expense, with authenticity being of utmost importance.

“It’s not easy to find the right chefs for any restaurant. It’s about being creative, but also being direct and straight to the point with the process. I’ve travelled across the world, and I’ve asked for opinions or referrals from colleagues.… We are looking at chefs directly from France and want there to be a comfortable authenticity as well as a modern flare to the design, the food and the overall ambience,” he says.

Seemingly incapable of sitting still — his 70-hour work weeks are legendary around the offices of his Toronto-based company, Ink Entertainment — Khabouth is also considering launching a Mediterranean restaurant.

“I really think that the Bloor- Yorkville area as well as the Entertainment District are the two areas of focus for me in the coming years,” he says.

It’s obvious that Khabouth is driven to succeed, a trait he inherited from his late father.

Khabouth grew up in Beirut where his father managed one of the largest outdoor cafés before he opened a café of his own.

But when that café failed, Khabouth’s father was devastated. Forced to return to his old job, he suffered a heart attack and died on his first day of work. Khabouth’s mother later remarried, and the family moved to Toronto in the mid-’70s during the height of Lebanon’s civil war.

In high school, Khabouth worked at McDonald’s, one of three part-time jobs he held at the time. Not exactly the kind of start you’d expect for the future nightclub king of Toronto, who would, at age 22, make a splash with Club Z and his second club, Stilife, which epitomized mid-’80s decadence with its exclusive door policy and clientele of Bay Street bigwigs and Rosedale debutantes.

But while Khabouth made his name as Toronto’s late-night tastemaker, he was always drawn to restaurants. He opened his first restaurant, Oceans, in the early ’90s,which struggled under a string of chefs, including celebrity chefs Greg Couillard and Susur Lee.

“I was barely 25 years old, but it was a real turning point in my life,” he says of Oceans, the only Canadian restaurant to ever be featured on Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous. “I travelled throughout Europe to buy dishes and silverware.”

If there’s one lesson to be learned from Oceans’ eventual failure, it’s that “you should never be afraid to take smart risks.”

Smart risks are the very definition of his subsequent restaurants — Acrobat, Boa, Scorpio, the Ivory Supper Club — that emphasized atmosphere and ambience as much as their menus.

People are also more discerning than ever before, he says, thanks to the Food Network and the Internet, which have made people more dining smart, and to the simple fact that people are travelling more and thus experiencing a wider variety of dining establishments.

“The ‘cool’ factor is ever changing. Restaurants and nightclubs have to work that much harder to continually evolve and be ahead of the trend,”says Khabouth.

Not surprisingly, Khabouth’s dining rooms will seek to create a similar dining experience.

“It’s about creating a memorable experience for the end consumer that will make them want to come back,” says the 51-year-old entrepreneur. “Attention to detail is crucial and quality of service is essential.”