King Street’s Uptown Eatery will open on June 15 after being delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Owner Eman Hussein and her family have lived in Saint John for the last decade, with Hussein working as a doctor in Egypt and Saudi Arabia.
“I decided to shift my career to stay with my family, with my husband and my daughter,” she said. “I have a passion for food, I have a passion for entertaining before and because of my medical background, I would like to serve good fresh, healthy food for the community.”
Construction of Uptown Eatery began in the middle of January with plans to open by the beginning of April, but COVID-19 put all plans on hold. The restaurant is located in the space formerly occupied by the Urban Deli, which closed last December. The space has since been renovated and repainted.
Uptown Eatery’s social-distancing and sanitizing signage (Image: Elizabeth MacLeod)
Hussein used the unexpected delay to take a deep breath and think about what she could improve with Uptown Eatery’s menu and think about how to keep customers, staff and the community safe once restrictions were lifted.
“I think this pandemic affects everyone adversely, but it makes everyone think positively,” she said. “You need to think positively and to see how you will get ready and how you will overcome this situation.”
“We’ll start serving the lunch menu on June 15,” said Hussein. “After a week or two, we’ll introduce the breakfast menu.”
The eatery has received its licensing and will open in a new pandemic environment with signage and hand sanitizer ready to go for customers when they enter the restaurant along with customary social-distancing and hand washing.
“We also follow the health instructions for Covid control, we are doing disinfection on all surfaces using Health Canada approved Covid disinfectant,” said Hussein. “We are trying our best to protect ourselves to protect others, protect our society and our community. We are glad that things are coming back to normal and we know that there should be a new normal.”
Uptown Eatery will keep the deli line alongside its main dishes and salad lines. It will serve a blend of Middle Eastern and Canadian cuisine with a multitude of fresh ingredients and vegetarian options, from halloumi fig sandwiches to shawarma poutine to quinoa salad.
Uptown Eatery’s team (Image: Elizabeth MacLeod)
The team consists of Vancouver culinary school graduate chef Ray LaTour and experienced cooks Jeff McKee and Al Arsenault. Dale Burnette who worked at the former Urban Deli will make Uptown Eatery’s desserts.
Hussein plans to donate a percentage of Uptown Eatery’s sales from its first month to the Canadian Cancer Society NB at Saint Joseph’s Cancer Society.
“We should be optimistic, and life should go on,” she said. “As a doctor, I am certain that they will come out with a vaccine or a treatment for this virus and we should also proceed in our life with all heath precautions and train ourselves about the new norms.”
This story was originally published on Huddle.Today – an Acadia Broadcasting Limited content partner.
