Sarajevo under siege

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by Patrick Lejtenyi

For eight years, Osman Koulenovitch has been happily running his low-profile hotspot Café Sarajevo on Clark. With a large backyard terrasse, live music, booze and Balkan cuisine, the Café enjoyed brisk business until one cranky neighbour ratted them out to the cops. Ostensibly because of noise complaints, which Koulenovitch dismisses as he keeps the music deliberately low, the complaints took on a more serious turn when the police judged the establishment was more show bar than restaurant--which, because of zoning laws, is a big problem.

The law states he has to serve food with alcohol, which, like other bars in the city, he skirted by offering up hors d'oeuvres and finger food. But not enough to constitute a meal, according to city inspectors. "In Bosnia we like people, we welcome them," he says. "I can't make people eat who aren't hungry. It's not in my nature to be severe."

Koulenovitch will now have to appear before the Régie des alcools in October. He says most of his neighbours are behind him and he's received a large amount of fan mail from his demographically diverse patrons.

While Koulenovitch says he is thankful and overwhelmed at the public's support, he blames the entire mess on his one unpleasant neighbour, the city's zoning regulations and what he calls an "idiot, primitive mentality" when it comes to the law.