Ek Bar, the modern Indian restaurant on Preston Street that opened with a splash in the spring of 2025, is to close at the end of September, its owner says.
“Sometimes things just don’t work out the way we hope,” Toronto-based chef and restaurateur Hemant Bhagwani said in an email Tuesday. “With me not being able to be there in person, it became hard to manage the day-to-day, and that’s a big part of why we’ve made this decision.
“I’ll be stepping away from the industry to focus on my charity foundation in Toronto, which is where my attention is needed most right now,” Bhagwani added.
Since he came to Canada in 2000, Bhagwani has opened 70-odd restaurants across North America and abroad, often based in South Asian cuisine. From 2002 to 2024, he owned the Amaya Group of Restaurants, which includes brands like Amaya Express, Goa Indian Farm Kitchen, Popa Burmese Kitchen, Good Karma, Mumbai Frankie, and Charcoal Biryani, among others. When he opened Ek Bar, Bhagwani said in a release: “Ottawa is ready for something new, something elevated.” Ek Bar was Bhagwani’s first and only Ottawa restaurant.
This year, Bhagwani received an award of excellence from Restaurants Canada, the national organization for the country’s eateries.
After opening Ek Bar, Bhagwani opened a similar restaurant called ORO Luxury Dining in Toronto in the fall of 2025. The same yellowtail crudo dish appeared on the menu’s of Ek Bar and Oro. In the spring this year, Bhagwani transformed ORO into Naari Thai BBQ, which is still open.
In August, Bhagwani changed the menu markedly at Ek Bar so that it served Burmese cuisine and dishes from Southeast Asia. In his email, he said that for its final two weeks, Ek Bar would revert to serving modern Indian cuisine, with a special $55-per-person menu in place.
Before Ek Bar opened, the space in Little Italy’s Sala San Marco Building had been the Indian restaurant Vivaan. Its chef-owner, Sarath Mohan, worked at Ek Bar until early 2026. This summer, Mohan opened Kozhi in Chinatown , which offers his elevated take on fried chicken .
Bhagwani said he has transferred Ek Bar to “a team of seasoned hospitality professionals, and a great new concept will be unveiled soon. I’m excited to see what they bring to it.”
