When Jean Claude Garzia first took over the restaurant space in the Walker Arcade, he thought it would take three months to get it open again.

“I never imagined it would take more than a year,” Mr Garzia said.

The restaurant previously known as Angelo’s is finally in operation again as JC’s Café Arcade.

Mr Garzia said it took so long because the place was a mess when he got the keys.

“It was really nasty,” he said. “We had to change everything. The place was a disaster.”

Grease traps had not been cleaned out in years. Equipment in the kitchen also had to be updated and replaced. They added new equipment such as a freezer and display cases.

“The kitchen is all brand new now,” Mr Garzia said.

Mr Garzia is a veteran restaurateur and previously operated Beau Rivage and Lemon Tree. He now runs JC’s Café and Bistro on Victoria Street. The new dining establishment is meant to be its twin sister with a “copycat” menu.

“I want to create a JC’s Café line,” Mr Garzia said. “We now have a second restaurant and, who knows, one day we might have a third location.”

His wife, Veronique Garzia, redecorated and modernised. They also put a fence and a gate around the outside seating area in the atrium to better control it.

The place will be open for breakfast and lunch.

“We will start slowly,” Mr Garzia said. “When everything is cracking along and working properly, then we will do a bigger opening.”

Mr Garzia said the menu would be a mix of “everything local”.

Executive chef Cesar Domingo said their chicken pies were always popular.

“We also sell a lot of sandwiches and salads,” he said. “We also have daily specials.”

They will have two chefs and three wait staff. They can seat 40 and also expect to be doing a bustling takeout trade.

“Previously, this was solidly a restaurant,” Mr Garzia said. “Now, people on the go `can pick up their cappuccino and croissant in the morning and come back later and sit down for lunch.”

A panel of windows on the south side of the narrow restaurant looks out over a scruffy rooftop. Mr Garzia will consider ways to utilise the space for expansion.

“We might put a staircase to get out there,” he said.

Mr Domingo said times were a little challenging, economically.

“It can be especially hard for the staff we hire from overseas,” he said. “It can take three months for immigration papers to be approved, after they are submitted.”

There has been a restaurant in the Walker Arcade since the building opened in 1932. It was originally The Clover Leaf managed by Elizabeth Gaskell and Winifred Ede, offering “Bermuda dishes and real home cooking”.

Since then, it has been operated by many different owners under many different names.