Paula Radwan (left), her husband Ehab Radwan (centre) and Mayor Don Darling (right) celebrate the reopening of Taste of Egypt.
Beloved Uptown restaurant Taste of Egypt re-opened its doors Tuesday after recovering from extensive winter flood damage.
The restaurant was closed for five weeks after cold temperatures froze a drain in their roof, flooding the dining room.
The repairs—done by local contractors the Hickey Brothers—were finished three weeks earlier than expected.
Staff say they are thrilled to be coming back stronger than ever after a tragic situation.
Co-owner Paula Radwan said her staff are eager to get back to work.
“It’s pretty detrimental to a small business to be closed for five weeks, and I think our biggest concern was our staff, trying to make sure that they would keep working or get back to work as quickly as they could,” she said.
Mayor Don Darling spoke at the opening, and urged the community to help the restaurant get back on its feet.
“You went through a whole series of challenges over the last number of weeks, lets do what we do so well in Saint John and eat local and support local and support our local entrepreneurs that are doing such amazing work,” he said during a ribbon cutting ceremony.
Taste of Egypt has also welcomed two new chefs from Morocco to their culinary team.
Radwan and her husband Ehab opened the King Street Restaurant seven years ago, and look forward to many more years there.
He says he used the break to visit family in Egypt, but that Saint John feels the most like home.
“I couldn’t wait to come back to Saint John, to uptown, to open my restaurant to the community here.”
