Natas Cafe pouring java again after fire
Natas Café reopened Friday after a five-week closure due to damage caused by a nearby fire.
“Welcome back” and “congratulations” were uttered repeatedly to Natas staff throughout the day as loyal customers lined up to get their coffee fix.
The 10-year-old George St. café sustained severe water damage after a devastating fire broke out on the block, between Hunter and Simcoe streets, on Nov. 16. The roof above Simple – a cosmetics shop three doors south of Natas – caught fire, destroying the shop and a photographer’s studio above it.
Water damage to Natas left the café inoperable. Parts of the drywall, flooring and electrical were drenched as well as some furniture.
The two storefronts between Natas and Simple were vacant, formerly home to the Community Butcher and Charm Tree.
Francis reopened the doors five weeks to the day he was forced to close.
“It feels really great,” Natas owner Steve Francis said. “We’re really excited that we’re finally open.”
Although the news of the fire initially left Francis in disbelief, he said he felt fortunate the damage wasn’t worse. Unlike Simple, Natas still has a roof.
Save for one of the café’s front doors that’s still boarded up (the firefighters had to break it to get in) it looks as good as new.
Repairs and cleanup took a couple of weeks longer than Francis had hoped, which was really the hardest part of it all for him.
“It’s mostly the unknown end time that I found frustrating. If someone said, ‘Steve you’re off for five weeks,’ then I would have been good with that,” he said.
During those five weeks, Francis’s eight staff members continued to get paid through insurance.
With insurance covering the cost of repairs, too, Francis’s main worry was his customer base.
“The biggest concern for any business that’s closed for a long time, I suppose, is forcing customers to go elsewhere and then having to try to get them back and hopefully they do come back.”
A lack of customers didn’t appear to be an issue Friday. As word spread that Natas had reopened, familiar faces continued to flood the café with beaming smiles.
“People that know we’re open today are excited to come back and are as happy to see us we are to see them.”
Natas is back to its regular hours, but will be closed on Christmas Day.
Meanwhile Simple has been operating out a temporary kiosk at Peterborough Square since earlier this month.