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Former chef de cuisine at John Taylor’s to launch
Fauna resto this fall
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AUG 16 12 – 12:01 AM — The former Higgerty’s Shoe Store and Seniorita’s Hair Salon at 425-427 Bank St. is very much an empty construction site as chef Jon Svazas, 35, surveys his new digs at the corner of Frank Street. Now just an empty space with exposed brick walls, bags of insulation and debris scattered across the floor, this is where Svazas plans to strike out on his own offering local, seasonal and sustainable cuisine in a busy Centretown neighbourhood.
A bit intimidating — scary, perhaps?
“Of course it is,” Svazas says, during a meeting on-site where he reveals his plans.
“But I’m confident in the product, the staff, and I love the location.
“It’s a beautiful building. We plan to be different — not too rustic but more modern and a bit edgy. I’m excited by our planned late-night menu with such items as confit turkey wings and bahn mi, which is a Vietnamese submarine, with charcuterie, pickled chili peppers and kafta.
“It will be influenced by an international bar and street food.”
Fauna is the latest in a series of recent entries in Centretown, notably Burgers on Main, Buddah Restaurant and Lounge, 327 Wine Bar, and Union 613, all on nearby Somerset Street West. Recall that Svazas was chef de cuisine at the opening of Farb’s Kitchen & Wine Bar in late 2008, and chef de cuisine at John Taylor’s Genuine Food & Wine Bar when it opened in June 2010. He left Taylor’s in April to embark on his new project.
A native of Niagara, Svazas is a 2004 graduate of the culinary arts program at Algonquin College. He’s looking at between 60 and 70 seats at the Bank Street location. “I’m going to stick with local and seasonally inspired,” the chef says.
“Working with John Taylor at Domus Café, Taylor’s Genuine, and Farb’s gave me an appreciation for local and seasonal, although we will cheat a bit in winter. But we’ll be using more local ingredients as best we can. In winter we’ll have root vegetables, but if we want to throw a banana on a dessert than I’m not opposed to that.
“It will be an eclectic menu. Centretown is a diverse area and our food will reflect that. We also want to make it fun and accessible with interesting bar menu items like, as I said, confit crispy turkey wings, pierogies. We’ll definitely have an Asian flair but not fusion — if we do a Japanese dish it will be Japanese, if we do French it will be French and not a fusion of ingredients. I like to cook all cuisines; to stick to one cuisine to me is a little boring.”
Svazas doesn’t have an exact opening date in mind, construction timetables being as iffy as they are, beyond saying it will be sometime this fall. “I’ve learned by now that opening is never when you expect.”
“But I love Centretown and being a 10-minue walk away. I’ve always lived here and love the diversity, and I think all the development going on will be good for business.”
Design is by Andrew Reeves and Melina Craig at Linebox Studio who are going for a “industrial” look with exposed brick, steel beams, acrylic concrete floor, hand-made Quebec walnut chairs and tables made from reclaimed urban ash milled in Ottawa, and really cool hand-made “Bocci” light fixtures from Vancouver. Joining Svazas as partners in the restaurant are Billy Khoo, chef de cusine from Taylor’s; family friend and real estate broker John Thomas; and brother-in-law Pat Cronin.
As for the name, Fauna: “It is to signify we’ll be serving locally raised animals to a local clientele. We’re definitely into sustainable seafood, so you’ll not find Chilean sea bass here.
“And we’ll be supporting local producers like O’Brien Farms for beef and Mariposa for poultry, The Elk Ranch in Carp for sure. Our bison will be from Perth, and beers will be mostly craft and local, although we will have bigger brands like Steam Whistle, Creemore, with Canadian and international wines.”
Hours will go late to 2 a.m. from Thursday to Saturday, with most nights to 11 p.m.
“Working with John Taylor was a great opportunity,” Svazas says. “He taught me to respect the ingredients above all else. I want to emphasize we want this to be a welcoming place where people can come for a small bite and drink, or full dinner. We don’t want to be haute cuisine, but nor do we want to be a bar.”
