Raw Sugar Café shuts down in Chinatown
Coffee shop and concert venue had been in business more than 7 years
Raw Sugar, the cozy coffee shop next to the Chinatown gate, known as an intimate venue for concerts and cultural events, has shut down.
The shop on the corner of Somerset St. W. and Cambridge St. N. was in business for more than seven years.
"Raw Sugar opened with the intention to offer a space where different communities could come together in a welcoming and creative environment, creating a cultural hub," owner Nadia Kharyati wrote on a note posted on the café's door.
"It has been a true honour to find a place in Ottawa's community, thank you. To those who told me how inspired they were by the space, by a woman-owned business, by the creativity offered and how Raw Sugar impacted their lives, I forever thank you. Your stories have kept me going all these years."
The closure comes due to "circumstances beyond my control," she wrote.
"My love letter to Raw Sugar will simply read, 'Thank you for all that you have given me, I will miss you,'" she wrote.
The closure comes two months after the neighbourhood lost the nearby Daily Grind in a fire that also destroyed other businesses and apartments on Somerset St. W.
