Newmarket’s Cachet Supper Club owner Jennifer McLachlan is working toward a new career or two.
She started a new company, the food delivery service Delivereh, during the pandemic, while also spending time as a head chef on luxury yachts. She has also helped with the Newmarket Food Pantry and is on the local federal Liberal riding association board, with plans to step more into politics.
That busy schedule is why McLachlan has put the restaurant up for sale, which she announced June 17. Whether or not a sale comes immediately, she said she will be stepping down from managing the place Oct. 11, after Thanksgiving.
“I have mixed emotions. I do like being involved in as many events as we are involved in here,” she said, adding that she still plans to be involved in the community. “I’m still going to be a part of all that. It’s exciting. I’m going to be able to really strategize my time, as opposed to running thousands of miles an hour.”
McLachlan has run the fine dining business at Water and Main streets since 2017. Part of her business includes “Cachet kindness,” where she finds ways to give back to the community. The annual free thanksgiving meal for those in need will still go ahead Oct. 10.
The business could still run with a new management team into the fall. But if someone buys it, McLachlan said she hopes to see the tradition of offering something to the community continuing.
“It needs to continue to be a community, diverse, high-end establishment where it’s an infusion of many cultures,” she said. “It needs to maintain that way.”
The entrepreneur said she intends to expand her delivery business. She is slated to speak at a conference in the United Kingdom in December about her software and data management solutions.
But she also has her sights set on entering the political world as a future candidate. She said she will spend more time working at Newmarket-Aurora MP Tony Van Bynen’s office once she departs Cachet.
“I want to be prime minister. I told (Prime Minister Justin Trudeau) to his face when he was here last year,” she said. “I said it this way: ‘I’m not saying you’re doing a bad job, and I’m not that gal. But I would like someone to mentor me because I’d like to take over when you’re done.’”
Community members have offered congratulations and laments for the announcement.
"Sad Jen but totally understandable," one social media commenter said. "Enjoy the blessings in your life."
She said she appreciates the community for all its support over the last five years.
“I look forward to working with everybody again in the future, in a different capacity."
