Authentic Italian in the Exchange

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This article was published 16/11/2015 (3638 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

An Italian restaurateur has moved halfway around the world to open a new restaurant and lounge in Winnipeg’s East Exchange District.

Safwat Bakhit, who owns two restaurants in Venice and one in his native Egypt — moved to Winnipeg in the summer to open a restaurant and lounge on the main floor of the 104-year-old former Great-West Life Building at 177 Lombard Ave.

The restaurant, Ristorante Dona Onesta, opened Oct. 20 in the space previously occupied by Brooklynn’s Bistro. His Gallo Lounge is scheduled to open this Friday across the hall in the former Boa Lounge space.

Bakhit, who also goes by the name Adriano, said there were two reasons he moved to Winnipeg, even though his son, daughter, and a host of other family members still live in Venice.

One was because his two best friends live here. And the other was that after visiting them numerous times over the last 15 years, he has grown to really like the city. Especially the downtown, where he now both works and lives.

“It is very friendly and very quiet,” he said. “I have many friends all over the world… and now I hope to make many friends here in Winnipeg.”

Because his previous visits have been in the winter, Bakhit knew exactly what he was getting into when he moved here. In fact, the climate is another reason he moved here.

“I like cold winters better than hot summers. I suffer in the hot weather.”

His Ristorante Dona Onesta is very much an authentic Italian eatery. The menu is the same as in his Ristorante Dona Onesta locations in Venice and Egypt, and includes Venetian-style pizzas, pastas, meat and seafood dishes.

With its high ceiling, tall windows, elegant green tablecloths and abundance of marble and wood moulding and panelling, the restaurant has a decidedly upscale feel to it. Although Bakhit and restaurant manager Tina Boenders have strived to keep the menu prices as reasonable as possible. Appetizers go for between $9 and $16, while entrees are priced between $21 to $35.

While they’re still finalizing their plans for the lounge, Boenders said their target market will be the after-work crowd.

“It will be more like a sophisticated martini bar than a nightclub,” she said, and will feature a variety of themes, including a weekly jazz night.

Bakhit said he checked out the Lombard Avenue space during a visit to the city last January, after being told it would be available in the fall. He liked it so much he didn’t even bother looking at any other locations.

“The building is very interesting to me,” he said.

Bob Borys, a commercial agent with the Winnipeg office of Colliers International, was the leasing agent for the space. He and Brian Timmerman, executive director of the Exchange District Business Improvement Zone, said Bakhit’s restaurant and lounge should both be good fits for the area.

“I’ve heard about his other restaurants… and I think if all goes well, we’ll have a real addition to our city,” Borys said. “He’s got a lot of touches that are quite new to the city, and I think it will be a real dining experience for a lot of people.”

Timmerman said an authentic Italian restaurant also complements the other restaurants in the East Exchange.

“We have a lot of South American restaurants — Hermanos and Carnival — so we kind of have different ethnic flavours on that side of Main Street.”

A martini bar-style lounge will give Winnipeggers another reason to come downtown, he said.

“There are lots of choices now, and what that does is it brings more people to the area because it gives them a variety of destinations they can go to.”

‘I have many friends all over the world… and now I hope to make many friends here in Winnipeg’

— Safwat Bakhit, who also goes by the name Adriano

The same goes for restaurants. Timmerman said with the addition of nine new ones in the last year, there are now about 50 restaurants in the Exchange District.

“Whatever your budgetary tastes are, it’s entirely covered.”

Meanwhile, a new Mexican restaurant chain is looking to set up shop in Manitoba.

The Toronto-based Quesada Burritos & Tacos held an information session last Tuesday in Winnipeg in hopes of finding some local entrepreneurs who are willing to buy a Quesada franchise.

Tom O’Neill, president of Quesada Franchising, said they didn’t realize they’d scheduled their session on the eve of a holiday (Remembrance Day) in Manitoba. So the turnout was disappointing.

“But we’ve had a lot of activity online out of Winnipeg. A lot of interest,” he said. “We’re also getting interest from places like Brandon and Portage la Prairie.”

O’Neill said the company still hopes to have two franchises open in the province before next spring.

Although the first two will likely be in Winnipeg, he said the Quesada concept also does well in smaller urban centres.

“Current patterns indicate we’re going to get interest from everywhere — from Thompson to down south,” he added.

 

Know of any newsworthy or interesting trends or developments in the local office, retail or industrial real estate sectors? Let real estate reporter Murray McNeill know at the email address below, or at 204-697-7254.

murray.mcneill@freepress.mb.ca