Arlo on Somerset has grown from pandemic wine bar into a serious restaurant in six years

When Alex McMahon and Jamie Stunt opened Arlo on Canada Day 2020, they thought they were starting a small wine bar. Six years later, the restaurant has become something neither co-owner fully anticipated: a serious fine-dining operation.

"Casual fine dining with thoughtful, simple food," McMahon describes it now. "A place that has an emphasis on local and seasonal ingredients, natural wines, and where equal thought is given to food, beverage and atmosphere."

The partnership began with 25 years of friendship and countless conversations about opening their own place. McMahon and Stunt brought in Mark Ghali, who handled the business side while McMahon managed front-of-house and Stunt led the kitchen. The final piece fell into place when a couple dining at Fauna — where McMahon was working at the time — asked if he knew of any Ottawa hospitality investment opportunities. It turned out they were looking to invest in exactly what he and Stunt were planning to build.

The shift from wine bar to restaurant was organic, Stunt says. "We've learned and matured a lot. It's our first restaurant so there was a steep learning curve, but it's become much bigger than we initially thought. Private dining was always a part of what we had planned, but it's gone from a small part of the business to a major part."

McMahon credits his time on the board of the Ottawa Jazz Festival with shaping how he views Arlo — looking at the restaurant through the lens of another business, then bringing those insights back into operations.

But growth has come with rising costs. Everything across the supply chain is more expensive now, McMahon says. "The vast majority of those costs are not passed along to the customer. They're eaten. We can't justify charging $65 for a pork chop, but that doesn't change the price of pork."

The pair acknowledged the challenge of running a restaurant of Arlo's calibre in a government town. "Ottawa is a government town. People tend to eat earlier and the population is much smaller," Stunt notes. Despite that, the restaurant has nearly doubled its staff since opening.