Local couple bring French cuisine to Mackenzie Art Gallery

Couple and co-owners Ranjan Arora and Naina Kumar have opened a second Café Francais location at the Mackenzie Art Gallery. (Gareth Dillistone / CTV News)

Officially launched on Monday, Café Francais has opened its door adjacent to the Mackenzie Art Gallery in the TC Douglas Building.

For couple and co-owners Ranjan Arora and Naina Kumar, this isn’t their first foray into the restaurant business in the Queen City.

They have been serving French pastries at their Victoria Avenue location for the last 12 years.

Arora told CTV News that the demand had begun to outweigh the supply, which led them to look for a place to open a second location.

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“We were always so busy at our east location, that we had to refuse people tables. And people were not happy with it, so they felt like we should either expand the seating area or have another location.”

From crepes to croissants to compote, if it’s a taste of France it can be found at Café Francais.

Customers like Don Black are giving the dining experience five stars.

“I did have a croissant. And I was really, really impressed with that. Fresh baked a couple of hours ago. And really light, really nice and buttery, flavourful, fresh. And the coffee is very, very good,” he said.

Black added that he hopes to see the restaurant succeed as there aren’t many options for French cuisine in Regina.

“This is virtually the only French eatery in the city. There’s lots of Greek places, God bless them, and there’s lots of pizza places, there’s lots of Viet Thai and everything else. But I think this is a great addition to the city, and I hope it does really, really well,” he said.

Mackenzie Art Gallery Executive Director and CEO John Hampton wants the bistro to be a welcoming and relaxing hangout spot for everyone.

“I hope that everybody in the region, whether it’s people in the building that work with the government, that live across the street or down here in the south, can use it as a community hub.”

Kumar said the support that she and Arora have received from customers since starting their business 12 years ago, has been second to none.

“We are really proud that being immigrants, Canadian people have supported us and made us a part of the family here, that’s an honour. And we are really pleased to serve everybody.”