Ottawa-Gatineau Restaurant News

[1overcosc]

Originally Posted by acottawa

so the guy was taking money from his customers, telling them it was "hst" and then pocketing the money himself.

Headline should read "local fraudster finally shut down"

+1.

[rocketphish]

Save ZenKitchen! movement gathers support

Blair Crawford & Peter Hum
Published on: May 26, 2014, Last Updated: May 26, 2014 7:54 PM EDT

ZenKitchen fans have rallied in support of their favourite restaurant, sending messages of encouragement and, in one case, launching a fundraising campaign to try to keep the popular Somerset Street West spot open.

“It is incredibly heartwarming and incredibly touching,” ZenKitchen owner Dave Loan said Monday, after the surprise shutdown of the vegan restaurant because of tax trouble.

“We’re a small business that has failed, whether temporarily or permanently. It never occurred to me that we were so important to so many people. We had customers in tears — literally. They were coming to me and saying, ‘Tell us what we can do’.”

Loan shut down ZenKitchen on Saturday, a few days after Canada Revenue Agency seized $4,000 from his business bank account over unpaid Harmonized Sales Tax. Loan admits falling behind on the HST payments, but he says he had worked out a deal with the CRA to repay the amount owed in instalments. He hadn’t missed a payment, but when CRA made the deal retroactive to January and seized the bank account, he had no option but to close.

Still it might be too early to write the restaurant’s obituary.

“I haven’t thrown in the towel,” Loan said. “I mean, I had. But I’ve been told by people knowledgeable about Canada Revenue Agency that I shouldn’t.”

Loan is considering launching an appeal to the CRA and has also had an offer of help from Ottawa Centre MPP Paul Dewar’s constituency office.

Meanwhile, ZenKitchen’s chef, Kyle Mortimer-Proulx, says he is also exploring the possibility of keeping the business going if financial backers can be found.

Mortimer-Proulx told the Citizen’s Peter Hum on the weekend that he and one of his senior cooks, David Gick, are considering buying the restaurant.

“The sudden closure of Zen, while it is crushing, is offering up a very interesting opportunity for us,” Mortimer-Proulx said, adding it would be “silly” not to consider reviving the restaurant.

“There is a huge clientele of ZenKitchen that is dedicated and supported us from the start — even before my time there,” Mortimer-Proulx said. “Dave and Caroline (Ishii, ZenKitchen’s first chef) did a tremendous job of tapping into a void in Ottawa and providing something that was long-overdue and obviously welcomed.”

On Monday, one customer started the Save ZenKitchen! crowdfunding campaign on gofundme.com (Twitter.com/#SaveZenKitchen)

“ZK is a real gem in Ottawa,” said Luis Miguel Huapaya, who with his wife, Kim, has been a regular customer for the past two years. “You don’t usually find a restaurant of that calibre in Ottawa.”

Huapaya, who is neither a vegetarian nor affiliated with the restaurant, hopes the campaign can raise $20,000. He was contacted by Loan on Monday and agreed that if the money raised can’t save the restaurant, it will be used to pay staff and suppliers who are out money because of the closing.

“We hope that enough people can come together, we can raise enough money to get ZK back on its feet,” Huapaya said. “It just seems kind of silly to have all these people out of work, just so (CRA) can seize $4,000. I’m not privy to any details, but it doesn’t seem like forcing the restaurant is in the best interest of anyone.”

The support has Loan feeling hopeful, but he cautions that resurrecting the restaurant is far from certain.

“I’m just so unbelievably touched,” he said. “I’ve never felt more a part of my community.”

bcrawford@ottawacitizen.com

http://ottawacitizen.com/life/food/s...athers-support

[McC]

Domus Café, owned by John Taylor, abruptly closes for good
CBC News Posted: May 27, 2014 3:19 PM ET Last Updated: May 27, 2014 3:19 PM ET
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa...good-1.2655506

Domus ​Café closed its doors for good abruptly on Monday after nearly two decades of business on Murray Street in the ByWard Market.

The restaurant opened in 1995 and chef John Taylor took over ownership in 1997. The restaurant was co-owned by his wife, sommelier Sylvia Taylor.

Domus focused on regional, seasonal cuisine.

Taylor announced the closure on Twitter at lunchtime on Monday.

"John Taylor @domuscafe
Yep were done thanks to everyone for the last 18 years it was a blast ! But time to move on. Cheers to all !
12:34 PM - 26 May 2014"

A call to the restaurant is met with this voicemail message.

"Thank you for calling Domus ​Café. We are closed permanently, effective today, May the 26th, 2014. We thank everyone for their past patronage and wish everybody a happy and healthy future. And we will not be returning messages. Thank you and goodbye."

[Radster]

Lets change the title of this thread to:

What restaurants are closing these days?

[canabiz]

Could there be too many restaurants in Ottawa?

http://ottawacitizen.com/opinion/col...oa-should-fall

I don't know the ins and outs of Domus Cafe and why they closed (I have never eaten there, sadly) but the owner John Taylor touched on the financial part. If a successful restaurant (18 years) in a prime location (Byward Market) couldn't get things in order, that doesn't bode well for many others vying for consumers' budget.

I don't know about you guys but I used to eat out steadily for quite a bit, at least twice a week before and I stopped doing so a few years ago for a few reasons (health, budget, time). Not that I suddenly turn into a gourmet chef or anything but I realize a healthy, affordable meal does not need a ton of time and ingredients.

[acottawa]

Originally Posted by canabiz

I don't know the ins and outs of Domus Cafe and why they closed (I have never eaten there, sadly) but the owner John Taylor touched on the financial part. If a successful restaurant (18 years) in a prime location (Byward Market) couldn't get things in order, that doesn't bode well for many others vying for consumers' budget.

I don't know about you guys but I used to eat out steadily for quite a bit, at least twice a week before and I stopped doing so a few years ago for a few reasons (health, budget, time). Not that I suddenly turn into a gourmet chef or anything but I realize a healthy, affordable meal does not need a ton of time and ingredients.

There's certainly more competition than there was in 1997: from other neighbourhoods like Wellington Village, from quick service type places that have upped their game, from places like the Red Apron and Farm Boy selling pretty good quality prepared foods, from pubs that serve better food now, from people cooking at home, etc. But then again there always seem to be news stories about some longstanding local landmark closing, so maybe this is a year like any other (although winter from hell probably didn't help anyone).

[rocketphish]

More details:

Ottawa chef John Taylor closes Domus Cafe after 18 years

Laura Robin
Published on: May 27, 2014, Last Updated: May 27, 2014 5:07 PM EDT

One of Ottawa’s oldest and most respected restaurants, John Taylor’s Domus Cafe in the ByWard Market, has closed after 18 years.

Taylor told his staff on Friday, served his last meal on Saturday and posted a note on the Murray Street door on Tuesday saying, “We are closed forever”.

“I’m tired, tired, tired,” Taylor said Tuesday, but he acknowledges that a big part of his fatigue is financial. “It’s been a rough couple of years and the finance end of it sucks,” he said.

“My resources ran out. This is a cash flow business. The stress of finances really affects your health. I could see it in my wife and I didn’t want that.”

Taylor says he has debts to pay, but he struck a favourable deal with his landlord and he will be able to walk away from the 55-seat restaurant “while the damage is still minimal and can I hold my head high and have some dignity.”

The restaurant’s staff of 18 is out of work, but Taylor said the cooks, at least, will have no trouble finding other work.

With his wife, Sylvia Taylor, he also owns the 30-seat Taylor’s Genuine Food and Wine Bar in Old Ottawa South, which will continue.

“Taylor’s is alive and well,” he said. “Ryan Edwards is the chef and he’s doing a great job. I’ll work there part of the time, too. I still have mortgage to pay.”

Taylor, who moved to Ottawa from St. Marys, near Stratford, Ont., 18 years ago, has been credited with bringing the local food movement to Ottawa restaurants, training dozens of chefs along the way.

“He was such a trailblazer in farm-to-table cooking — I was devastated when I heard the news,” said Stephen Beckta, owner of three Ottawa restaurants. “He’s added so much to our culinary landscape in Ottawa. I had some of my greatest meals and have some of best memories of eating at Domus.”

Former Ottawa Citizen food critic Anne DesBrisay said the Taylors’ commitment to local producers “set a standard for Ottawa long before it became de rigueur to dangle the local carrot as marketing ploy.

“At John Taylor’s Domus Cafe the cooking was innovative, but it honoured intrinsic flavours and left a very strong sense of where you were. Domus tasted like Ottawa. It will be enormously missed.”

Taylor was modest about his accomplishments on Tuesday.

“I didn’t do it alone, that’s for sure,” Taylor said. “We were lucky enough to attract good people. I’ve always been trying to use local producers, but I told my staff to create what they want.”

Domus Housewares, an adjoining but separate business that sold kitchenware, closed April 30. Taylor had planned to expand into part of that space, adding another 75 seats and rebranding his restaurant.

“I would have gone downscale a bit, made it a little bit funkier to attract that new generation. But I decided last week to close instead. It really came down to money. I’m out of it. I also don’t think it’s fair to keep going if the passion has gone out of it. I need to recharge.”

Taylor agreed with other local restaurateurs that Ottawa now has too many restaurants for the population. ZenKitchen, a well-regarded vegan restaurant on Somerset Street West, also closed on Saturday after falling behind on tax payments.

“The last couple of years were hard, but last winter was brutal,” said Taylor. “It used to be that tax margins were five to 10 per cent. Now you’re lucky to break even. I literally worked in the kitchen all by myself some nights.”

Beckta agrees that it’s not easy for restaurants in Ottawa right now, and especially hard for fine dining ones.

“Fine dining has suffered a lot in Ottawa,” said the owner of the top-rated Beckta, which is to expand this winter, reopening in the former Friday’s Roast Beef House on Elgin Street. “We in Ottawa feel recessions later and longer than in other places, and we’re feeling it now.”

Taylor says that with the Food Network and similar shows, people have unrealistic perceptions about chefs and restaurants.

“It’s created this aura, this hipster idea, but it’s hard, hard work,” he said as he dumped plastic file trays into a waste bin in front of his former restaurant. “I admire what the young guys are doing, the new places like Town and Supply and Demand. I hope they’re not wondering what they’ve got themselves into.”

He also said the ByWard Market has changed drastically over the last 18 years.

“It was a real farmers’ market when I came here. It isn’t any more.

“There are a lot of factors for closing, but I just want to thank people for a long run. Thanks for believing in us and supporting us all those years.”

lrobin@ottawacitizen.com

http://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-...after-18-years

[canabiz]

Originally Posted by acottawa

There's certainly more competition than there was in 1997: from other neighbourhoods like Wellington Village, from quick service type places that have upped their game, from places like the Red Apron and Farm Boy selling pretty good quality prepared foods, from pubs that serve better food now, from people cooking at home, etc. But then again there always seem to be news stories about some longstanding local landmark closing, so maybe this is a year like any other (although winter from hell probably didn't help anyone).

Don't forget to add the food trucks (and I am not talking about your typical dog n burger stands) which were virtually non-existent in Ottawa just 10 years ago.

I also think the Food Network and other food shows like Top Chef Canada, MasterChef Canada have inspired people to get more into cooking.

[Harley613]

I'm still in shock about Domus. I have business dealings with them and never saw it coming. It was one of the best restaurants in Ottawa. I wish the Taylor's the best, and I hope to see Domus rise again!

[Jamaican-Phoenix]

Damn, I don't think I've ever eaten at Domus...

[rocketphish]

ZenKitchen could re-open if it pays taxes and debts in 30 days

Peter Hum, Ottawa Citizen
Published on: May 30, 2014, Last Updated: May 30, 2014 1:24 PM EDT

After striking a deal Friday morning with the Canada Revenue Agency, the owner of ZenKitchen, an acclaimed but tax-beleaguered Ottawa restaurant, hopes he’ll be able to re-open if he can raise “a very large sum” of money in the next month.

“I’m very optimistic,” David Loan said. “This is great news. This is all being done because of the support of the community.”

His five-year-old business, which offered vegan fine dining, closed suddenly a week ago after the CRA seized its bank account. The business was behind in remitting Harmonized Sales Tax that it had collected.

Loan thought his days of running ZenKitchen were over. But Friday, Loan said that he can continue with the restaurant if he can pay the CRA a sum “in the tens of thousands of dollars” before July 1. He must also pay debts to suppliers and staff. “That is a barrier to a quick opening as well,” Loan said.

Buoying Loan in the last week has been an outpouring of support from the restaurant’s customers, including an online crowd-funding campaign that since Monday has raised more than $5,500 toward a $20,000 goal.

“We just want ZenKitchen to remain in business and continue adding their world-class service to Ottawa’s tapestry. ZenKitchen is a rare gem!” the campaign’s creator, Luis Miguel Huapaya, wrote on its webpage.

In addition to this web-based effort, Loan is working with potential investors. As well, a June 10 fundraiser is planned to take place at the Korean Palace restaurant, another Somerset Street West business.

The $100-a-person event was pitched to Loan by Ottawa chef Tarek Hassan, who operates the Gongfu Bao food cart beside Confederation Park. Hassan, who said he was shaken up by the ZenKitchen closure, hopes to enlist a half-dozen Ottawa chefs to cook vegan dishes in support of ZenKitchen re-opening under Loan.

http://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-...bts-in-30-days

[flar]

It's hard times in Ottawa right now. Public service is not growing, but more importantly, the public service has restructured in a way that there will be fewer people getting promotion after promotion. A lot of people will be stuck at their current payscale for the foreseeable future. Combine that with massively overpriced housing and you have a lot of people who are housepoor and can't afford to eat out. Or they can only afford to live in the far reaches of Barrhaven or Orleans and never come into the city for dinner at a nice restaurant.

[Radster]

Good for Chinatown and all the PHO places!

[canabiz]

Originally Posted by flar

It's hard times in Ottawa right now. Public service is not growing, but more importantly, the public service has restructured in a way that there will be fewer people getting promotion after promotion. A lot of people will be stuck at their current payscale for the foreseeable future. Combine that with massively overpriced housing and you have a lot of people who are housepoor and can't afford to eat out. Or they can only afford to live in the far reaches of Barrhaven or Orleans and never come into the city for dinner at a nice restaurant.

I can't speak about Orleans as I have never lived in that neck o' the woods but as a Barrhaven resident for the past 7 years, I can confidently say there are enough nice restaurants here and surrounding areas (Manotick, Kanata, Nepean) to make downtown trips for good eats optional rather than mandatory.

I do agree with you on your first point regarding the public service. You could argue the same thing for the private sectors and when you factor in increasing cost of gas, utilities and other essentials, people will have no choice but to cut down their expenses and dining out falls into that category. Yes everybody needs to eat but not everybody needs to pay other people to make food for them

[YOWflier]

Originally Posted by canabiz

... as a Barrhaven resident for the past 7 years, I can confidently say there are enough nice restaurants here ...

La Porto a Casa in Barrhaven, for example, serves up incredible Italian eats.

[hwy418]

Originally Posted by flar

Or they can only afford to live in the far reaches of Barrhaven or Orleans and never come into the city for dinner at a nice restaurant.

I always get a chuckle when I hear stuff like that. I'm in Orleans (still part of the City and is nearly as populated as Kingston) and it's a 10-15 minute drive from my place to downtown. I could afford to live just about anywhere in Ottawa, but it really comes down to what you get for your $$$, where you go to work, and what your priorities are.

[canabiz]

Originally Posted by ac888yow

La Porto a Casa in Barrhaven, for example, serves up incredible Italian eats.

Absolutely! I am very partial to their veal parmiggina (sp?). Definitely on the higher side, price-wise, but it's always a treat to go there for special occasions!

I don't eat out as much I used to but I wouldn't mind seeing a Thai and/or a Korean restaurant in Barrhaven. A real restaurant serving Thai/Korean food and not those fusion joints.

[flar]

Originally Posted by hwy418

I always get a chuckle when I hear stuff like that. I'm in Orleans (still part of the City and is nearly as populated as Kingston) and it's a 10-15 minute drive from my place to downtown. I could afford to live just about anywhere in Ottawa, but it really comes down to what you get for your $$$, where you go to work, and what your priorities are.

I've seen it a hundred times. People decide to buy a house, start looking in Ottawa, end up in Kanata/Orleans/etc. Then the rationalizations start, and soon after I only see them once or twice a year.

[harls]

Originally Posted by flar

It's hard times in Ottawa right now. Public service is not growing, but more importantly, the public service has restructured in a way that there will be fewer people getting promotion after promotion. A lot of people will be stuck at their current payscale for the foreseeable future. Combine that with massively overpriced housing and you have a lot of people who are housepoor and can't afford to eat out. Or they can only afford to live in the far reaches of Barrhaven or Orleans and never come into the city for dinner at a nice restaurant.

I might be reading between the lines here.. but I hope you're not thinking of moving back to balmy S. Ontario?

[flar]

Originally Posted by harls

I might be reading between the lines here.. but I hope you're not thinking of moving back to balmy S. Ontario?

Always in the back of my mind, but gets harder and harder because it would disrupt my daughter's social life.