BooknBrunch, the world’s first platform connecting venues and restaurants to book club organizers across Canada has officially launched.

BooknBrunch, launched by sisters Zuzana Drakul and Daniela Kelloway, is a startup whose mission is to reconnect the world, in real life, through books and food. The book, event, and restaurant platform is the first company to bring together the book and hospitality industries. The online platform allows you to organize and host book club meetings or workshops wherever you want and select from a diverse community of local restaurant owners or venues to partner with. Members choose from a selection of book club events and experiences, while hosts earn extra money doing what they love – reading and eating.

For the hospitality industry this is an opportunity to boost group sales, book out their venues, turn new guests into repeat customers and curate incredible experiences. Restaurants and venues are pre-loaded into the platform and ready for hosts to use for their events. Venues control every aspect of their offering in the platform.

“With all of our attention focused digitally, people are desperate for connection and community. We are craving real conversations and thoughtful experiences. People are connected but in a virtual way. BooknBrunch is about connecting in reality, meeting new people face to face, finding your tribe and maybe transforming your life. The book club I started did just that – it transformed my life and now I plan to give that back to anyone who needs it,” Zuzana Drakul, co-founder BooknBrunch.

The company was founded on a love of books, and an awareness of the power of in-person connection. Feeling stuck in rut and on the brink of a depression, Drakul was encouraged by Kelloway to leverage her natural networking and organizing skills, and establish a book club.

The club started with 8 people, grew to 15 people and within a year had over 1500 people in it. The reason? Drakul, a passionate foodie, curated a beautiful experience where the menu was set, the money was pre-exchanged in advance and the entire book club meeting was seamless for guests. People wanted in.  When the wait list grew too big and more and more people wanted to join, Kelloway encouraged her sister to start a platform to help get all those readers who were on her wait lists into the club.

How It Works

BooknBrunch publishes a book list. Hosts choose the book to read or select their own book. Hosts choose a restaurant for their event from a list of BooknBrunch venue partners or any venue they please. Book lovers go to the site and sign up, for free, for the event they’re most excited about. Then everyone brunches!

 “We are a movement towards more reading, more meeting, more social gatherings and a company that believes in delivering an amazing experience with some surprise and delight thrown in. The irony is not lost on me that we have a tech company whose goal is to get people to meet in reality more, but we have to use today’s tools to make that magic happen!” says, Drakul.