Juniper Cafe to change owners come May

A popular cafe that operates out of Kingston’s Tett Centre will officially be under new ownership come May.

According to a post on the Juniper Cafe’s Facebook page, the previous owners of Epicurious Catering and Juniper Cafe, say they are embarking on a new endeavour of their own, a new restaurant in downtown Kingston. The current owners of the cafe would not comment for this story.

The Juniper itself will now be owned by Raissa Sarkisan, who will be taking over the local venture May 1. Sarkisan would not comment for the story.

The cafe will undergo some renovations and reopen in time for patio season, according to the Facebook post.

Although ownership will be different, the post said the restaurant will continue to offer locally sourced ingredients and operate with many of the current staff.

Back in January, the Juniper cafe was the focus of a bitter landlord-tenant dispute, which led to an outpouring of community support on social media, and an online petition to keep the cafe open that reached over 5,000 signatures.

WATCH: Owners at Juniper Cafe say they’ve been ‘terrorized’ by the Tett Centre’s board of directors

2:08 Owners at Juniper Cafe, say they’ve spent years tolerating what they describe as being ‘terrorized’ by the Tett Centre’s board

Several issues arose between the owners and the Tett Centre’s board of directors, like rental disputes and arguments over garbage pickup and air conditioning.

Those issues were eventually resolved after city intervention and, eventually, a new three-year lease was signed with Sarkisan.

It’s unclear whether the cafe will continue under the same name under new ownership.