The Wednesday Room steps back in time to revive lounge culture
Are “lounges” making a comeback? According to the team behind The Wednesday Room at 118 Stephen Avenue S.W. (403452-5080) it’s time for a renewal of lounge culture. William Yeung, Chris Fotopolous, Ashley Cay and Tomi Mustapic have waded into the restaurant world with a stylish, double-decker, 1960slooking, 2018-tasting spot that is meant to help us get past hump day in our workday week.
They’ve taken the former Trib location and washed it in Hungarian mahogany panelling and orange-and-brown carpeting and dotted it with plush orange (orange is back, too!) lounge chairs. Walker McKinley of McKinley Burkart Design has taken the lead in turning the historic sandstone structure — the 1892-built home of the Tribune newspaper — into an updated ’60s lounge. Adding to the Mad Men decor is a wall of vintage typewriters, a collection of Scandinavian-influenced wood chairs, a softly underlit bar and a grand piano.
The piano sits at the bottom of the stairs to the lower lounge, a sultry cave if ever there was one. Visions of gold chains dangling over open shirt fronts and widebelted bell bottoms flash before your eyes as you descend the stairs. Live music, offered on occasion, is piped through the building.
Behind the bar, a large mirror is inscribed with the words “All Work and No Play ...”, an appropriate slogan for a downtown lounge and also a harkening to Stephen King’s The Shining. The typewriters echo the theme of the novel/film as well as the newspaper heritage of the building. And the carpet is eerily familiar until Cay points out that the orange-and-brown squares are identical to the carpet in the hallways of Stanley Kubrick’s rendition of The Shining’s Overlook Hotel. (Spooky.)
Loungey though it may be, there is more on offer than Cody Goss’s swish Vesper Martini and Bulleit Old Fashioned. ( Yes, there is a Red Rum cocktail, too.) There are craft beers and an international collection of wines, including five bubblies.
Plus some serious food coming out of chef Derek Wilkins’ kitch- en. Wilkins, formerly of Rouge and Workshop, has assembled an eclectic menu that spans the world to include charred cauliflower with lemon, truffle and pine nut aioli ($15), pounded prawns in a blood orange ponzu and chili aioli ($10), duck confit bao ($14) and rib-eye carpaccio ($14). Built for sharing, the menu also includes larger dishes of penne with sausage, red sauce, pecorino and peaches ($21) and smoked pork loin with chimichurri ($58). Lunch rolls out sandwiches, salads and soups for the on-the-clock downtown crowd.
Stephen King aside, The Wednesday Room is a casual and comfortable operation that will help put the word lounge back into your life. The Wednesday Room is open Tuesday through Friday from 11 a.m. until late and Saturdays from 5 p.m. until late.
Almost directly across the avenue from The Wednesday Room, a pocket bar has launched at 109A Stephen Avenue S.W. Leslie Echino has taken over the tiny former nail salon next to her Blink restaurant and opened Bar Annabelle, a destination for wine, whisky and tapas.
At only 20 seats, it’s a spot where it will be impossible to ignore your neighbours, and where no cocktails will be mixed. Bar Annabelle is about pure spirits; rare whiskies and wines selected by Echino. Keeping it simple, price tags are hung around the necks of the bottles. The food is straightforward, too — oysters, cheese, charcuterie, popcorn, nuts and Northern Divine caviar. Bar bites suitable for a “kitchen” that consists of a hot plate and a cutting board.
Annabelle’s look is swanky, especially considering the size. The onyx bar is trimmed in brass and a curved pass-through to the back area is covered in brass sheeting. Subtle lighting gives it a discreet, off-the-grid tone and LPs played on a Panasonic turntable take you back a few decades.
Bar Annabelle is open Monday through Saturday from late afternoon until at least midnight.
And if you like your lounge with bubbles, Untitled Champagne Lounge at 620 8th Ave. S.W. has dozens of proseccos, cavas, cremants and, of course, champagnes poured by the glass or bottle or mixed into cocktails. The food menu is a short collection of oysters, caviar and light bar snacks.
Untitled is attached to The Derrick and leans on their neighbour for food service. The Derrick itself has recently refreshed their menu following chef/owner Marc-Andre Bourgeois’ research trip to Chicago. His new menu includes sweetbreads served with sunchoke purée and fermented vegetables ($15), smoked beef tartare ($19), grilled cauliflower with miso-citrus glaze ($12) and elk rack with blueberries, juniper, celeriac and brussels sprouts ($42). There are large sharing plates and a section of vegetables as Bourgeois aims to take The Derrick to the next level.
Gin fans needn’t worry that The Derrick, known for its commitment to the clear spirit, is taking its eye off their favourite botanical drink. With over 90 gins in the bar and an endless supply of cocktail recipes, The Derrick remains one of Calgary’s key destinations for the ginoscenti.