The Fleur—now much more than a tea house

Eric Schiller

In October, 2017 a new manager moved into the Fleur Tea House on Somerset Street East (at Russell). Azad Jahantab has an amazing story to tell.

Azad comes from “Kurdistan,” an unofficial country that in fact straddles four countries—Iran, Iraq, Syria and Turkey. Azad’s mother comes from the Kurdish area in Iraq and his father hails from the Kurdish area in Iran. In the 1990s Azad was studying electronics in the University in Tabriz, Iran. Because of the Iran-Iraq war, his family had to flee to northern Iraq. If that was not enough trouble, before the US invasion of Iraq, they then had to move to the Kurdish area in Turkey.

When the family arrived in Turkey they had no official status, so they were easily exploited by employers. The family then moved further west in Turkey to Isparta where they had to “pretend” to be non-Kurdish Turks in order to find work. With UN assistance Azad’s family were able to emigrate to Finland where they now live. Azad, being an 18-year-old adult was not eligible to accompany them.

After 1 ½ years of living alone in Turkey Azad was able to immigrate to Canada in 2003 with the assistance of a cousin living here. Once in Canada, like so many immigrants, Azad worked at any job that he could find, mainly cleaning and cooking. After several years, he became a master cook and a businessman. Until recently he owned and managed Lee’s Pizza which is located near Sandy Hill. This is where he met Farnaz Arian and her son Kyan Arian. The Lee’s Pizza store was a successful business, but Azad was so strongly attracted to Sandy Hill that he decided to sell that business and make the move to Sandy Hill.

The new “Fleur Resto- Café- Pizza House” now has been totally transformed. We should all give it a visit and try out their menu—or if the weather is inclement, just pick up the phone and give them a call at 613-606-7280. Azad and Farnaz have a free delivery service for all of their offerings.