An unassuming granite cottage, built on land once owned by Galt's founding father and an instigator of the Upper Canada Rebellion, is now home to the city's newest eatery.
Siebra opened quietly last month at 84 Water St. S., more than a year after owner Michael Faria beat out several other applicants for the city-owned property.
“I really wanted to get the summer season going, but we ended up opening the beginning of October," says Faria, whose idea for the restaurant was "born out of a love for ice cream, desserts and fresh food fast."
CambridgeToday dropped by the new restaurant, located in the shadow of the pedestrian bridge on the banks of the Grand River, in mid-October as Faria's staff was introducing a few new items to the menu and getting up to speed.
The menu includes donuts, made-to-order sandwiches, salads, soup, and fries, and will soon include pizza and pretzels.
Named after his kids Sierra and Brandon, Siebra is Faria's second entrepreneurial venture but his first as a restaurateur.
"I was trying to come up with something unique, something I can get a domain name," Faria says of the name. “It’s a family affair. So I put my kids’ names up there.”
It's been almost two decades since he sold his first business building custom computers and he's been out of the game since then to raise his kids. Now that his children are in their 20s, he says he was ready to get back into business.
Cooking and baking had become his hobby, and with his kids old enough to help out, the restaurant seemed like a great fit.
His sister runs the day to day as they work toward expanding the operation next summer when outdoor movies and canoe rentals will be part of the mix.
Faria already purchased a 24-foot inflatable screen, a large venue projector and stadium surround sound speakers to host movie nights on the patio.The city also gave Faria the thumbs up to offer canoe and kayak rentals since the cottage is ideally located next to the pedestrian bridge and staircase down to the water. He's still considering whether he'll buy the equipment or partner with an existing provider.
“Lot’s of potential, lot’s of opportunities,” Faria says of his business plan, which was selected from a batch of ideas first proposed in September 2020 but didn’t get approval until June of this year.
COVID and other complications delayed things a bit, he says.
Built in 1860, Landreth Cottage was the home of an early Galt settler, George Landreth, a miller by trade, who purchased the land on which the cottage is situated from Absalom Shade in 1854.
The site is also believed to be the site of Liberty Cottage, which was occupied by Alexander Burnett, a prominent reformer in the 1837 rebellion led by William Lyon Mackenzie.
Michael was just driving by, looking for locations when he stumbled upon it.
He'd had his sights set on the corner of Main and Ainslie, a former Mr. Sub that was snapped up by the previous owners of The Local Option before Faria could get his offer in.
Then he saw the cottage, perfectly situated for a takeout, informal dine-in eatery in a promising part of town.
After some investigation, he found out it was owned by the city, so he approached Coun. Jan Liggett who connected him to the real estate department.
His request for proposal had to explain his business plan, how it would attract people to the community and how it aligned with the city's goals as part of its Back to the Rivers strategy to enhance the city's waterfront spaces.
Then he waited, for nine months, thinking he'd have to go with one of his back-up locations.
But he knew none of those spaces could beat the traffic Landreth Cottage sees. A pre-COVID census of Water Street South estimated around 30,000 vehicles drive by it daily, he says.
"Then you have the walking bridge. The area's booming and with the theatre opening up again, you have all of that. Location, location, location."
"Other than that, the building sucks," he laughs. "The building's been tough."
Because it's a heritage building, some of Faria's proposed changes were denied by the city.
It also doesn't have the same power supply as other businesses in the core.
Instead of three-phase 600 volts required by most commercial restaurant equipment, it only has standard household supply.
The biggest surprise came during a visit from a plumber who delivered the news that none of the taps provided potable water. All of the supply lines were coated with galvanized zinc and had to be replaced.
"I just assumed that it was drinkable water but I guess you didn't have to have drinkable water when it was like a flower market," he says.
Ripping everything out and replacing it meant a $12,000 bill. The city kicked in one-month's rent to compensate for the hassle.
"That was disappointing," Faria admits, while thinking about some more positive things to say about the building.
"The ceiling work is amazing."
The first two weeks of operation also presented a whirlwind of issues, including a broken thermostat on the cold table that forced them to throw everything out. Now it’s working perfectly, he says.
Soft serve machines worked for a week and then needed parts. It's a problem he blames on the fact that he bought all of the equipment a year ago and after being jostled into its new home after 12 months in storage, things are going to happen.
“Expect the unexpected, right?”
