The night the ByWard Market’s Buvette Daphnée re-opened, general manager Svenja Wyss really didn’t know what to expect from customers. A seasoned front-of-house professional, she had lots of experience in hospitality. She bartended at the highly regarded Riviera, opened Giulia on Elgin Street, helped open Giulia in the Market, and considered herself resilient. But this was uncharted and virtually unheard-of territory.

What precipitated the requirement to “re-open” was a mutiny. Two months prior, crucial members of Buvette Daphnée’s staff walked off the job just before service started one evening. It sounds like the stuff of Gordon Ramsay reality TV, yet it happened here in Ottawa to a restaurant that mere months after opening in late summer 2023 had racked up a heap of glowing reviews. In May 2024, it had made the list of Canada’s 100 Best Restaurants and its supplementary list of best new restaurants, ranking eighth out of 10. In the days that followed, a staff meeting was called to try to convince the team to remain on the job, but all, except sommelier Nicholas Leduc, said they would not stay if Dominique Dufour — the wildly talented chef and part-owner whose incendiary management style was the cause of the mutiny — remained involved in any way. That left business partners Jordan Holley and Todd Brown with an entire team to rebuild.

But as it turned out, the rebuild went well and Wyss was pleasantly surprised by the tenor of that soft opening in late July 2024 and equally so by the official relaunch the following evening. People seemed to have missed the place and were glad to be back. The management team handled their questions well, explaining that Dufour was stepping back and that, with the exception of Leduc, it was an entirely new staff, including chef de cuisine Sean Karwowski. With Holley, who had been the chef at Riviera, overseeing the pass a couple of days a week, the quality of the food and wine customers had come to love would remain the same and 10 months later, that is still true, and Holley has been able to step back into an oversight role again.

Chef Holley, who co-owns the restaurant with Dufour and Brown, says not re-opening, wasn’t ever an option.

“We were too young and too new to throw in the towel,” Holley says.

What made the difference, Leduc says, was hiring a good general manager. “The big thing from my standpoint was hiring Svenja as a GM,” Leduc says. “She’s super experienced and brought a lot of organization. She’s been one of the main reasons we’ve been able to re-open with a high level of service.”

For her part, Wyss says it was easy and challenging at the same time.

“I wasn’t really sure how the public would react,” she says. “I’m pretty chill about stuff, but I wasn’t sure what to expect. The goal was to have a clean slate and rebuild. The show had to go on; it was not like the restaurant was going anywhere. And in the sense that we had the space, it was easy in that respect. Everything was here. I just walked in and put some proper systems in place. And I didn’t live through the before stuff.”

Speaking about the menu, chef de cuisine Sean Karwowski, top right, says, “I also like keeping things approachable, not too pretentious, and to back it up with some super talented folks here who make amazing things.” That includes the honey-glazed ham with brown butter and compressed celery, top left, and the hay potatoes with portobello gravy, bottom right. “We’re pretty lucky to have the people here that we do, whether it’s Jordan [Holley] or one of the experienced chefs and sous-chefs who bring some collaboration to the menu design.”

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The management team, including Karwowski, agrees that the restaurant likely wouldn’t have made the Top 100 without Dufour’s vision and creativity. Dufour remains an owner, but her involvement in the restaurant is “very minimal,” Holley says. Nevertheless, there’s a healthy respect for her talent and unique approach to Canadian ingredients, and she and Karwowski collaborate on the menu to this day.

Wyss says Dufour has always also been the restaurant’s connection to farmers in Quebec, with whom she has a strong relationship.

“She’s a big advocate for small farmers and people who grow according to the seasons,” Leduc adds.

Karwowski shares Dufour’s vision in that sense. He says he tries to keep in mind the Quebecois influence they want the restaurant to imbue.

“I also like keeping things approachable, not too pretentious, and to back it up with some super talented folks here who make amazing things,” Karwowski says. “We want to make things that people understand and enjoy and eat and say, ‘This is really well done.’ We’re pretty lucky to have the people here that we do, whether it’s Jordan or one of the experienced chefs and sous-chefs who bring some collaboration to the menu design.”

The format of the menu — essentially 11 dishes plus some desserts — is consistent. It always features several meticulously made small plates and one or two mains.

“And we make sure we’re getting items that satisfy all the guests — vegetarian or meat-forward,” Karwowski says. “And then some seafood and [we consider] the seasonality of ingredients. Also, sometimes we see interest in the dishes changing. Sometimes a dish has been on for a while and you just want to take it off.”

Wyss says the menu changed a lot before the mutiny and after the re-opening they changed it less often, adding some stability and keeping dishes that people come back for.

“But then there are people who come back [often] and want to see something new,” Wyss says. “So there’s always a bit of [balancing.]”

Karwowski gets around that by occasionally bringing back some old favourites.

“We always consider customer feedback about what works and doesn’t work with the menu or the service,” Leduc says.

Generally, customer feedback is good. Wyss says Buvette Daphnée’s customers are on board with the restaurant remaining.

“And it feels like we’re being supported,” Wyss says. “The reception has been positive, and it’s been reassuring that we’re doing something right.”

Leduc says they have a great team. When they were starting from scratch, he thought it might be hard to attract a crackerjack team of talent given the very public unravelling just weeks before, but it’s worked out.

Buvette means watering hole and that’s part of the original — and continuing — vision for the 49-seat Quebecois-style wine bar, which promises “small sharing plates, local products and great producers.” A typical dish from the current menu would be duck tartare with black garlic, hazelnut and carta di musica (Sardinian-inspired crispy crackers) or grilled Labrador gem scallops with mojo verde.

“The idea is that it’s a place you can come for a glass of wine or a bite after work, but if you want a full meal, you can have that, too — without the pretention,” Leduc says.

The farms they call on for local products include Heart City Farm, Juniper Farm, Roots and Shoots Farm, Mariposa Farm for duck, Enright Cattle Co. for beef and Ferme Rêveuse for chicken.

The natural-forward wine program, Leduc says, aims to showcase good producers who work sustainably, care about the environment and, as much as possible, actually grow the grapes for the wine they make. He does his best to feature Canadian wines.

“I’ve always believed it’s important to try to showcase as much Quebec stuff as I can,” he says. “I’m from Montreal and I love wine from my region so as often as I can get Quebec wine on the list, I will. I want to break the myth that Canadian wine isn’t good. I want to educate the public.”

He says Canadian wines have become more popular on his list as a result of the backlash against the U.S.

“People know Niagara but they are starting to be more open to trying new stuff, more from [Prince Edward County] or more from Quebec, more from Nova Scotia. And when we can get our hands on B.C. wine, they love to try that, too.”

Leduc’s favourite wine producers are Rosewood Wines and Pearl Morissette (Niagara), Domaine Bergeville (Hatley, Que.), Pinard & Filles (Austin, Que.) and Domaine du Nival (Saint-Louis, Que.)

It all adds up to an exciting evening, Wyss says. “Everyone who comes here seems to have an awesome time,” she says.

“It’s a lot more calm, organized and efficient,” Leduc says. “We’re lucky to have the team we have.”

“If you have staff who are having a good time, for sure, the diners will feel that,” Karwowski adds.

11 William St., Ottawa
buvettedaphnee.ca | 613.680.0380 | @buvettedaphnee