COLUMBUS – Every one of the hundreds of people who swarmed into the restaurant on Monday clambered for owner Hany Baransi’s attention. But it was a 3-year-old clutching a paper peace sign that she had colored blue all by herself who clearly stole his heart.
Emmagrace Koch is too young to understand why her mother took her to Nazareth Mediterranean Cuisine. Yet even children — or perhaps especially children — can sense when there is a hurt there that must be healed.
And for Baransi, his employees, his family and his customers, that’s exactly what Monday was all about.
It was the first time the Hamilton Road restaurant on the Northeast Side had opened since a man named Mohamed Barry stormed inside with a machete Thursday and attacked unsuspecting customers and employees, wounding four people.
“Right now, we’re not thinking about business,” Baransi said right after Emmagrace kissed his blushing cheek. “Right now, we’re just thinking about hugs. Lots and lots of hugs.”
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The limited service offered was a step toward getting business back to normal.
Baransi says he wanted to make sure employees and patrons are OK and show appreciation for the community support. He told The Columbus Dispatch he planned limited food service Tuesday, too.
Authorities haven’t released a possible motive for the attack or many details about the suspect, 30-year-old Mohamed Barry, who was from the West African nation of Guinea. He was fatally shot by a policeman after the assault.