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OCT 17 13 – 11:00 AM — It’s sometimes said that humour is the best medicine, and these days I’m thinking chef Jon Svazas must be needing a pantry full as plans for his new restaurant, called Fauna Food + Bar, located in a former hair salon at 425-427 Bank St., have encountered one delay after another, after another …
In fact, paper signs that completely cover the windows just about say it all … proclaiming to curious passers-by that Fauna Food + Bar is indeed “opening slowly.”
Ve-ry slowly, turns out.
As in, a year or so behind schedule.
I first caught up with Svazas in August 2012 when the space at the corner of Bank and Frank streets was pretty much a yawning abyss with exposed brick walls, bags of insulation and debris scattered across the floor. The good news is, it’s a great location smack in the middle of Centretown with highly visible window space, lots of walk-by traffic, plenty of residential units in the neighbourhood and more condos to come — a perfect venue to offer local, seasonal and sustainable cuisine, which is what Svazas is about.
I’ve heard of construction delays, but this long? Whatever happened?
“There have been disagreements with the landlord,” Svazas concedes, “but we’re finally moving along.”
In fact, when I visited on Wednesday the place was a hive with electricians and other trades doing whatever it is construction workers do to a place like this. And, saints be praised, some of the restaurant equipment has finally arrived.
“It’s been a slow process, a hard process, obviously,” Svazas says. “But the space is no longer just gutted, equipment is coming in and we’re progressing well at this stage.
“We hope to open late fall or early winter, which we’ll do. I’d like to be open before Christmas.”
Recall that Svazas, 36, was chef de cuisine at the opening of Farb’s Kitchen & Wine Bar in New Edinburgh in late 2008, and chef de cuisine at John Taylor’s Genuine Food & Wine Bar when it opened in Old Ottawa South in June 2010. He left Taylor’s in April 2012 to work on this new project, but has since returned to work three days a week at Taylor’s original restaurant, Domus Café, in the ByWard Market to generate a little cash flow.
Design of the space is by Andrew Reeves and Melina Craig at Linebox Studio, who are going for an “industrial” look with exposed brick, steel beams, hand-made Quebec walnut tables and chairs, and cool Bocci light fixtures from The Modern Shop. Joining Svazas as partners are Billy Khoo, former chef de cuisine at Taylor’s; family friend and real estate broker John Thomas; Jon’s brother, Ken Svazas; and brother-in-law Pat Cronin. General manager at Fauna will be Doug Parsonage who Svazas earlier worked with at Taylor’s, and most recently the service manager at Gezellig.
A native of Niagara, Svazas is a 2004 graduate of the culinary arts program at Algonquin College. The new restaurant will have 70 seats on the ground floor, where food will be sourced from local producers like O’Brien Farms for beef, Mariposa for poultry, the Elk Ranch in Carp.
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“This project really is a full-time job,” Svazas says. “It’s insane.
“We’ve decided to go with smaller plates with mains as a specialty, so you can have, say, home-made perogies as a small plate, or a miniature version of the main courses.
“And if you want a main then we’ll offer them as specials. For example, you can have a sous vide short rib as a main served with confit potato, rosemary jus, black kale — that kind of thing. I think it will be more fun to offer mains as specials and to keep them changing,” he says.
“But I know people are wondering when we’ll open. In fact, I don’t like to leave home sometimes because people keep asking when will it be open?
“While their interest is a good thing, not knowing gets frustrating. What can you say? You have to have a little humour about it.”
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Twitter: @roneade
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