The former Muio's building at Queen and East streets is about to become a plant-based, South Asian fusion eatery with some very interesting owners, SooToday has learned.
Surendra Kumar Bansal and Oyunbileg Chuluunbazar arrived in Sault Ste. Marie at the beginning of this month.
They've come here from Ulaanbaatar, the capital city of Mongolia with a population of 1.45 million.
Bansal and Chuluunbazar have leased the popular Muio's location and they're hoping to re-open the place in late March under the name Ojas.
"Ojas is a Sanskrit term meaning 'vigour' and it is best understood as essential energy for the body and mind," says Yogapedia.
"Ojas can be increased, repaired and protected by eating pure and nourishing (sattvic) foods, practicing meditation and developing a balanced lifestyle," the online platform declares.
"I am excited for this new restaurant, which will be another asset to our downtown," says James Caicco from Century 21 Choice Realty Inc., who represented both landlord and tenant in facilitating the lease.
"I believe it will be complementary to the other businesses in this area," Caicco says.
"It's going to be a plant-based vegan and vegetarian restaurant," says Chef Bansal. "I'm trying to do it as fresh as possible because plant-based doesn't have to necessarily be bland or doesn't have to be over-processed."
Bansal's hometown is Baghpat, a city in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, part of the National Capital Region surrounding New Delhi.
"I have been living in Mongolia since 2002. I went there to work and then I got married. My wife is Mongolian," he tells SooToday.
His wife, Oyunbileg, started what's now a three-restaurant chain of Namaste Indian restaurants in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia in 2010.
With Bansal overseeing the food operations, Namaste has become kind of a big thing.
In November 2023, the Indian Council of Cultural Relations, a branch of India’s Ministry of External Affairs, named Namaste Ulaanbaatar one of the top six Indian culinary experiences in the world.
Their eateries have fed the Dalai Lama and prime ministers of India and Bangladesh.
They even have a Namaste restaurant ready-to-eat products manufacturing unit.
Bansal and Chuluunbazar are now managing their Mongolian businesses from Sault Ste. Marie as they work here to build their Canadian beachhead.
But Bansal doesn't want to be promoted as some kind of celebrity chef.
He's well aware that what succeeds in India or Mongolia won't necessarily succeed in the Sault.
He doesn't want to impose his culinary tastes here so he's initially thinking of a pan-Asian fusion menu with something for everyone, even plant-based pasta and burgers.
Even though much of his culinary experience has been in Mongolia, Bansal doesn't expect to offer a lot of Mongolian dishes at his no-meat restaurant here.
"As you know, Mongolia is a very heavy meat-eating country. We are trying to play with the dishes, so there will be plant-based versions of a few Mongolian dishes."
Bansal expects the cuisines of northern India - places like Punjab, Rajasthan and Lucknow - will be the backbone of his Sault Ste. Marie menu.
Why Sault Ste. Marie?
"We have been searching for almost three months, for the prospective place for this business."
"I think it's now ready for this kind of option in the market," he says, especially with the number of tourists visiting or passing through the city.
"So we thought that this could be a great place to start our first business in Canada."
Why the Muio's building?
"You see, apart from the location, the historical significance of the building. I believe the restaurant has been in business for more than 50 years.
"So I'm sure it's a darling of everybody who has gone and grown up in Sault Ste. Marie. In one way or another, everybody can resonate their childhood or maybe their teenage years to this location.
"It's a kind of a place where it doesn't need any credentials. It is in itself a credential."
Bansal also liked the building's visibility and its proximity to the main downtown library and Sault Ste. Marie Museum.
Why the move to Canada?
"We're trying to take the goodness beyond the Mongolian boundaries. And certainly, Canada is a big market compared to Mongolia.
"We want to try our our business skills in this country, to benefit ourselves and to benefit the local economy, if we can," Bansal says.
After renovations and the inevitable red tape of starting a business, he's looking to open in late March, hiring four staff "to start with and of course, based on the volume, we will have to add to the numbers."
He's initially thinking of opening at 11 a.m. and closing by 9 or 9:30 p.m.
"And eventually, if there will be some opportunity we would like to have breakfast as well," Bansal says.