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Navarra, the celebrated Murray Street restaurant that served upscale Spanish and Mexican-influenced dishes nodding to its award-winning chef-owner René Rodriguez’s roots, closed this week.

“I made the decision to close Navarra for several reasons, including high costs and a tough climate for many small restaurants, as well as a need for change,” said Rodriguez, who gained national recognition in 2014 when he came first ahead of 13 other Canadian chefs on Top Chef Canada, then Food Network Canada’s top-rated show.

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“In the short term, I will be focusing on rebuilding my true devotion to my craft by reconnecting with food and taking some time to really understand my path as a chef,” Rodriguez said in a statement released Thursday.

“I intend to be cooking again very soon in this city,” Rodriguez continued. “This is a big year for Ottawa as it celebrates 150 years and I want to be a part of it, so please stay tuned. I very much look forward to making further contributions to, and evolving with, the Ottawa food scene moving forward.”

The closure of Navarra follows on the recent shuttering of two other top-level Ottawa restaurants — Murray Street Kitchen, a few doors east of Navarra, and Taylor’s Genuine Food and Wine Bar in Old Ottawa South.

Rodriguez, now 44, opened Navarra in 2008. It was a cosy, 30-seat restaurant focused on Rodriguez’s highly personal cuisine that stood out on Ottawa’s restaurant scene. While Rodriguez was born in Ottawa, between the ages of five and 19 he lived in Mexico. Returning to Ottawa, Rodriguez trained at Le Cordon Bleu in Ottawa before working at such restaurants as Ironwood Cafe, ARC the Hotel, the Black Cat Café and Social.

A chef who thrilled with big, rich flavours, visual flair and contemporary techniques, Rodriguez at Navarra created dishes such as crab and avocado salad with grapefruit aguachile, mushrooms with chimichurri and pig cheek carbonara.

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At the 2014 Top Chef Canada finals, Rodriguez served braised lamb in mole sauce, a signature Navarra dish, only garnished audaciously with crispy fried mealworms. That dish helped him to win the title of Canada’s Top Chef and the accompanying $100,000 first prize.