Moving from software engineering in Toronto to the café/restaurant business in Aurora was almost inevitable for Amir Nazari.
“My mom was always baking cookies and pastries back home and when we moved to Canada, she started selling them online,” he begins.
Nazari moved to Toronto with his mom and dad, Behnaz and Houssein, three years ago from Iran. And when they settled, Behnaz continued her love of baking cookies, baklava and pastries. Soon she began offering them through online sales.
His dad was a retired production manager who had worked in glass manufacturing but wasn’t ready to completely retire. He had harboured a desire to open a café and become active outside of the home.
Nazari’s sister, meanwhile, had settled in Aurora years earlier. Within three years of coming to Canada, her brother and parents decided to move closer to her, choosing to settle in Newmarket.
And his mom continued baking. So when the former owner of the restaurant at Yonge and Wellington Streets in downtown Aurora decided to sell, the Nazaris thought it a great opportunity, taking over Bella Aurora Café. That allowed his mom to move from online sales to the bricks-and-mortar service industry.
Their son has become involved in the management of the restaurant and their daughter, Sam, also pitches in when they need a hand.
“I always loved the food,” says Nazari, who also uses his skills to support the technical side of the restaurant through its website and mobile application.
Given it was a pre-existing business, the Nazaris were able to take over its operations seamlessly and say they were happy with how the 40-seat restaurant was run. They celebrated an official opening of Bella Aurora Café last month under the new ownership.
They are making small changes as they go, particularly to the menu, which includes, of course, introducing Behnaz’s baked goods. But there is a full menu of offerings from breakfast to dinner at Bella, which opens at 8 a.m. and closes at 7 p.m. daily.
Smoked salmon bagels, four different kinds of omelettes and bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwiches are great for the breakfast crowd while the sandwiches, lasagna and salads appeal to those coming in for lunch. The homemade soups — chick barley, lentil and pumpkin — are also becoming popular as winter sets in.
Nazari says the turkey cranberry sandwich, made with cream cheese, oven roasted turkey and cranberry sauce on focaccia bread, is a favourite.
While much of the food preparation is done in the kitchen, crepes are made right in front of the customers in the front of the restaurant where they make both savoury and sweet crepes. The Spanish feta is the most popular on the savoury side, while banana and Nutella appeals to those looking for something sweet.
There is also a complete selection of coffees available from brewed coffee right to a variety of espresso blends, hot and cold, as well as teas.
“We just want to make this the coziest place in Aurora where people can come to relax and get a coffee,” says Nazari.
