Fauna restaurant could open in June... finally

Over the years you've probablyseena fewrestaurant storefrontswith brown paper lining the windows, their owners eager and waiting to open for (and hopefully be loved by) a hungry public.

Sometimes weeks of construction and menu planning go by. Sometimes,a fewmonths. And sometimes, it takesa heck of lot longerthan that.

How about more than twoyears?

That's exactlythe situation Fauna owner Jon Svazas finds himself in. He signed a lease in May 2012 for a spaceat the corner of Bank and Frank streets,andplanned on opening in October of that same year. But disagreements and legal battles with the landlord Ahmed Abou-Gabal of VelikaRealty Inc. have pushed the date backover and over again.

"It's been two years of my life," Svazastold me last week. "I've got a wife and two very young kids, and all I want to do is cook food for people in the space that I designed and that I built. It shouldn't be too much to ask, but it is what it is at this point."

Svazassays he'snowhoping to open thisJune, more than two years after signing the lease. But after everything that's happened, he's not getting his hopes up too high.

The court battles

The first hurdle came in the summer of 2012, according to documents I reviewed at the courthouse on Elgin Street, when Abou-Gabalplaced tenants ofapartments above the restaurant in hotels so they wouldn't be disturbed by the construction. Abou-Gabalsent Svazas an invoice to cover $3,000 in hotel costs.

But Svazasinitially disagreed that he was liable for the hotel costs. He eventually ended up paying them, but it was the first in a lengthy series of disputes between the two parties.

Svazasfiled a lawsuit in April 2013, claiming that much of the work the landlord agreed to do on the propertyhadn't been done, which was preventing the restaurant from opening. In June that year, both sides agreed to a court order compelling the landlord to complete outstanding work and repairs, and waivingSvazas's claim to get the money he paid in hotel costs back.

But in DecemberSvazasand his team were again locked out, despitethe June court order that barred either side from preventing work to be done. Another court order let Svazasand contractors back in, and work resumed in January.

Then, in mid January, a water pipe burst, causing damage to the property. Both sides disagreed about how to fix the root cause of the burst pipe, and the dispute once again ended up incourt.

In March this year, the police were called to the restaurant to keep the peace. Svazas and two others who were in the restaurant on March 19 claimed that Abou-Gabalshowed up with several other people and made threatening remarks. After taking witness statements, police determined that the matter should be settled civilly, according to the court documents.The accusations were never actually tested in court.

A few days later, the court granted Svazas permission to pay rent to the Superior Court of Justice instead of paying it directly toAbou-Gabal.

'I'm cautiously optimistic,' Fauna owner says

I've tried to reachAbou-Gabal, but my multiple calls toVelikaRealty Inc. haven't been returned so far.

On May 2, Svazastold me work was being done at the property and that he's hoping for a June opening date.

"I just don't know if there's going to be more problems," Svazas says. "Every time we get close, something happens. I'm cautiously optimistic, I guess, is the word to use. I refuse to get my hopes up about this because there have been so many problems."

Ottawa's food community has been supportive, Svazas says. In April, Marc Lepine at Atelier let Svazas use the Atelier kitchen for a preview dinner, and Svazas says it felt good to get in a kitchen and cook for others.

But what hereally wants, of course, is to open the doors and start generating revenueafter makinghundreds of thousands of dollars in investments for the restaurant.

A different story atMNa on Preston Street

MNasommellierSamuel James, conversely, says he's had it relativelyeasy. He's part of the team running the Preston Street restaurant, which opened Feb. 12in the deepest, darkest trough of the city's restaurant season.

It was a deliberate choice. James says the initial quiet allowed the team to work out some of the"growing pains" associated with opening a new restaurant.

But of course, the quiet has its downsides, especially for a team of young andambitious 20-somethings.

"It can be frustrating, just kind of waiting around, because we know that we have something good and we're like, why aren't there any butts in seats as much as we'd like to [see]?But I know that we will be very busy soon," James says.

Very unlikeSvazas'ssituation with Fauna, it took theMNateam about six months to open their doors.

"We got really lucky. A couple of restaurants in the city didn't get as much luck as we did. ... I think within six months of talking about opening a restaurant to opening day, that's all it took," James says.

And while it was certainly a lot easier than what's happening at Fauna, James says it was still difficult. Hundreds of little things have to come together, hopefully on time, to ensure success.

"It is a lot more work than anybody could ever think. You've got to put your heart and soul into it. It's like a child, especially from our perspective. We don't have kids, so this is our baby."