The recently leased commercial units in the Milieu Modern Apartments fronting on Main Street will be the
home of JFUSE, a Japanese and Korean cuisine restaurant, and one or both of a cafe or a patisserie;
Peter Tobin
As soon as the For Lease signs went up on the large storefront windows on Main Street, neighbours began anxiously speculating on what new shops would be coming to grow the small but hardy and emerging business section of Old Ottawa East.
Hopes were high for a grocery or a restaurant, but for months no details were forthcoming. Local sleuths started garnering reliable inside information from those in the know. But what was still missing was any official comment from either the prospective tenants or the building owners, the Regional Group (Regional) at Milieu Modern Apartments (Milieu) or Domicile Developments (Domicile) at Corners on Main.
Now, having dug into the mystery, The Mainstreeter can disclose what we have learned.
A high-end restaurant, JFUSE, will be opening in January at Milieu, as explained by owner James Park. The menu will feature Japanese fusion and some Korean cuisine. JFUSE will be Mr. Park’s second Ottawa location, accompanying J:Unique, his popular and successful but tiny downtown sushi venue on Cooper Street.
Regional recently stated that a cafe would occupy a second retail space at Milieu fronting on Main Street. That statement notwithstanding, the word on the street all along has been that the space now under lease would be occupied by a French-style patisserie. Riverbank Dental, facing the Grand Allee, opened a couple of months ago.
As press time approached, the Milieu retail website listed four other rental units that were available for occupancy. Just up the street at Corners on Main, Domicile has negotiated agreements with an independent pharmacy and with a hearing centre.
In a telephone interview, Angie O’Connor, owner of the hearing centre, advised that the new business would be a full service clinic called Ears on Main.
Ears on Main, a full service hearing clinic, is one of two new businesses in the Corners on Main condo.
She hopes to open by mid- to late-October of this year. O’Connor has 13 years experience as a registered audiologist and is also the mother of three school-aged boys. The Mainstreeter contacted the owners of the planned pharmacy expected to open in mid-November, however, they explained that they were not yet prepared to announce further details.
