How Arlo went from ‘just a wine bar’ to a ‘serious restaurant’

When Arlo opened on Canada Day in 2020, it was yet another pandemic baby. Despite the tough times, co-owners Alex McMahon and Jamie Stunt, longtime friends and industry professionals, decided to start what they thought would be a small wine bar.

When Arlo opened on Canada Day in 2020, it was yet another pandemic baby. Despite the tough times, co-owners Alex McMahon and Jamie Stunt, longtime friends and industry professionals, decided to start what they thought would be a small wine bar.  Those familiar with Arlo know it has become so much more. For those who don’t know Arlo, McMahon describes it as “casual fine dining with thoughtful, simple food. 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 idea for Arlo stemmed from a true mix of McMahon and Stunt. After knowing each other for 25 years and having countless conversations about opening their own place, they decided to take the plunge. They brought in a third partner in Mark Ghali, a more business-oriented individual, to complement McMahon's front-of-house and Stunt’s back-of-house expertise.  The final piece fell into place when McMahon was having a conversation with two guests during his shift at Fauna. The couple was looking to invest in an Ottawa hospitality business, and it just so happened that McMahon and Stunt had a business to invest in. When all of the pieces came together, there was one common goal among the group: “Don’t open a super-cool place just for it to close.” 

Now, six years later, Arlo has evolved into so much more than initially anticipated. “We have twice as many employees (than when we first opened). 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,” says Stunt. “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. We’ve matured as businesspeople, but the restaurant has matured as well. We initially thought it would be casual and high energy and that wine would play the biggest part, but over the last six years we’ve become much more of a serious restaurant,” adds McMahon. “It’s no longer ‘just a wine bar,’ but a serious restaurant that is focused more on the balance. This wasn’t by design, but that’s how our guests have decided it should go.” The pair explained how Arlo became more expensive than they initially anticipated, not only in how the restaurant has evolved from its inception, but also because of how the supply chain has moved. “Everything is more expensive now. Everything. 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.”  McMahon says his time on the board at the Ottawa Jazz Festival helped shape Arlo, claiming it allowed him to look at the restaurant through the eyes of another business and take what he’s learned back within the four walls of the restaurant.

The pair also spoke about what it’s been like to run a business of this calibre in Ottawa. “Ottawa is a government town. People tend to eat earlier and the population is much smaller,” says Stunt. “Population in terms of dining has made incredible strides in Ottawa,” adds McMahon. “Over the last decade it's changed a lot, but dining out isn’t baked into the culture the way it is in other places. On the flip side, the public isn’t given enough credit. People have been hungry for restaurants to start pushing boundaries and we’ve started to see that people are ready for it, but they haven’t been given the opportunity to do that.  “Ottawa is a very supportive city. If you do something and you put your best foot forward, the city is very quick to embrace you. We were some people’s favourite restaurant within weeks of opening. There is probably not a better city in the country to open a restaurant because nowhere else are people as ready to support out of the gate.” Of course, a big help in continuing to bring people through the door is getting back-to-back spots on Canada’s 100 best restaurants list. According to McMahon, the list has served as a travel guide for many Canadians and he claims the restaurant has seen more out-of-town visitors than ever as a result. “It exposes us to a very different guest than what we had in the beginning. We’ve gone from counting on one hand all the faces we don’t recognize to almost the opposite. And while we still have a great base of regular guests, the influx of new guests has kept us honest. We have to be on the ball. We’re not just dealing with people connected to the restaurant, but have to show people who may not dine in a restaurant like this all the time that it is worth doing regularly.” Stunt adds that while it’s an honour to be a mainstay on the list, it’s also a ton of pressure to keep up with the expectation that comes with it. With the accolade comes perception, but there is so much more to Arlo than can be gathered from social media, reading a menu or seeing the name on a list. “One thing I’m really proud of is our staff retention. In an industry with massive turnover, we have a crazy amount of staff that has been here for years. Turnover doesn’t happen often and when it does it’s usually because someone had an incredible opportunity or big move come into their life. That cohesiveness and teamwork is something we’re really proud of,” says McMahon.

As owners of a business that has had consistent success in Ottawa, McMahon and Stunt offer their thoughts on the state of the Ottawa hospitality scene. “It’s incredible!” exclaims Stunt. “Punches way above its weight as far as population and reputation. We’ve been painted as a sleepy town and we’re shaving that reputation quickly. We’re finally seeing tourists from Montreal and Toronto who are coming here to eat, whereas it used to be the other way around exclusively.” McMahon adds, “What I’m starting to see for the first time in Ottawa is new, instantly popular and desirable restaurants expanding beyond just two neighbourhoods. It used to always be downtown and now we’re starting to see it spread into the further reaches of the city. Fifteen years ago, we started to see popular restaurants pop up in Hintonburg and now those tentacles are reaching even wider. Due to rising rents, ambitious restaurateurs are needing to be more creative in where they start.”  “Different kinds of food are all over the city now too. Very culturally significant, excellent food. Turkish food, Egyptian food, Vietnamese food, some of the best Lebanese food outside of Lebanon (can be found here). There is a ton to explore throughout the city,” says Stunt.

Despite their love for the city, it is not lost on either of the Arlo owners that Ottawa still has some changes to make. “They need to figure out public transit at some point,” says McMahon. “Anyone reading this will know what a disaster transit is in this city. Especially as higher-end restaurants start to expand beyond their little pocket. If you’re going out for a dinner and want to enjoy wine or other beverages it’s really hard to find ways to get there and back without driving. Also, the loosening of red tape. Ottawa has earned its reputation for bureaucratic red tape. It’s a hard business to stay in and it’s even harder to get into.” McMahon points out the difficulty for restaurants across the province of Ontario. “The LCBO and AGCO seem to be one step forward and two steps back. Every time we get thrown a bone, we get hit with something that makes it harder to buy, import, etcetera, which is very different from most of the world.”

Arlo has become a staple in the Ottawa community that continues to grow and evolve each day. It shows what our (not so) sleepy little town is capable of when creative, passionate and ambitious people put their minds to something and allow their guests to help them shape their identity. McMahon and Stunt have made a commitment to growing with the community (and maybe even hinted at a future venture), but for now continue to impress night in and night out at the COVID restaurant that they both love. Jordan Pizzuti has been a local Ottawa food writer, content creator and hospitality professional for over 10 years. Through his “best of” series, Jordan has cemented himself as an expert in Ottawa hospitality and nightlife. He continues to promote the Ottawa hospitality scene through his “Are We Having Fun Yet?” brand and his work with OBJ.