New owner's hopes high for Fish Market building
John Borsten scoots up the stairs of his new acquisition in the ByWard Market, excited to share his vision for the old building in the heart of Ottawa's historic entertainment district.
“But wait, there's more,” Borsten said as he turns a corner out of a top-floor office of the old Fish Market building at York and William streets and pushes a narrow door out to a rooftop.
It's a big moment for Borsten, who already owns Zak's Diner, Zak's Cantina, The Grand, and Metropolitain Brasserie.
“I've never owned a building I've operated in. I've always been a tenant,” Borsten said.
Outside, he scales a ladder attached to the side of the building to show off a spot where he wants a rooftop patio overlooking the market and facing Parliament Hill.
“From a business standpoint, as a landlord and as a tenant to operate a business in here, I don't think you can have a better location,” Borsten said, equating it to ByWard Market's “centre ice.”
“Right now we dream the dream until we see how much it costs, but I just don't think you can go wrong here.”
Borsten is bullish about the ByWard Market returning to being the tourist magnet it always had been before the pandemic.
The former owner of the Fish Market, Coasters and Vineyards restaurants announced their closures last June, after 41 years in operation, acknowledging that the pandemic had “devastated” business.
Borsten said he paid $5 million for the building in a deal that closed last week. He already had a crew on site Monday to start interior demolition.
A new provincial order taking effect Thursday in response to the increased spread of COVID -19 will affect the work, Borsten said, but he's pragmatic about the things he can't control in trying to open a new business. In fact, at least two new restaurants will be in the building. The entire building can sit about 400 people, which is a big operation, Borsten said.
Borsten plans to open a downstairs cocktail bar called Apothecary in March, though the timelines depend on the status of the pandemic and government orders.
He's designing the space, with its exposed stone walls, to be a bit more upscale, with elevated alcohol selections and sharing plates. He might continue Vineyard's legacy of having live jazz music.
“It's cosy. It's subterranean. There's not many places like it,” Borsten said.
He's still trying to decide on the angle for the upstairs restaurant, though he's not keen on having a theme and he's not interested in running a seafood restaurant.