After a deep breath, Reissa Lee walks into a restaurant and asks to speak to the manager. Not to complain, but to make a trade: her original artwork, framed and ready to hang, for a single meal.
It’s a new pitch, and so far, she’s been turned down once.
“It is kind of nerve-wracking though if there’s a lineup behind you and you’re trying to pay with a piece of paper,” Lee told CTV News.
The 25-year-old artist has documented four of these attempts so far on social media, under the series title “come get rejected with me?”
Typically, she explains which restaurant she’s outside of, describes the piece she made specifically for it, then walks in to introduce herself and make her pitch.
Her latest attempt, posted Sept. 3 on Instagram, took her to Lambo’s Deli near Trinity Bellwoods Park with an illustration called “Deli Beli World,” featuring just over half a dozen blue humanoid sandwiches. The video has amassed more than 135,000 views and over 7,000 comments.
“I’m more like, ‘What do I think they would like and they would appreciate?’” Lee said of the piece.
Justin Leon, co-owner of Lambo’s Deli, said the exchange was an “immediate yes.” The framed illustration is now at the Bellwoods store, and Lee walked away with two Italian Trio sandwiches.
“As a small business, we understand how much of ourselves goes into what we create. There’s a person behind the work, and that matters,” Leon said.
“Reissa’s art now has a place in our shop as a reminder of the kind of community we want to be part of: one where people support one another, celebrate each other’s talents and make genuine human connections.”
Lee has been drawn to art since childhood, but it became a serious passion in high school when she was introduced to new mediums. The idea for the trade series grew out of a string of rejections last year when she’d simply ask restaurants if she could hang her art inside, no trade attached.
“I’ve always gotten a no, but I thought maybe if I traded one-to-one craftsmanship of art for food, because I feel like food is an underlooked craft, that one-to-one respect is great,” Lee said.
She also sees the project as a way to build confidence.
“With my art beside me, it can kind of speak for me in a way. And being rejected and persevering — I feel like that’s something you can only learn, it’s rarely taught,” Lee said. “It’s very hard to handle. You get rejected, and then you mope for like a week. But you just got to get back up and keep going.”
So far, Lee has stuck to restaurants along Dundas Street West, a route she often cycles or walks to visit friends. But she’s open to venturing out to other Toronto neighbourhoods as well.
She plans to approach a new business once a week, seeking out spots that feel distinctly Toronto, which she holds “very dear” to her heart as a born-and-bred Torontonian.
Lee hopes the project shows off her range as an artist and lays the groundwork for future collaborations.
“I could do things for people on the fly and create ideas for places and surprise them,” she said. “Although they didn’t ask for it, I feel like the best surprise is the one you didn’t expect.”
