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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 Friday, served his last meal Saturday and posted a note saying “We are closed forever” on the Murray Street door Tuesday.
“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 “when 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.
“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, 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.”
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.
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 anymore. There are a lot of factors, 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
查看原文...
Taylor told his staff Friday, served his last meal Saturday and posted a note saying “We are closed forever” on the Murray Street door Tuesday.
“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 “when 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.
“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, 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.”
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.
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 anymore. There are a lot of factors, 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
查看原文...
