Holiday-themed bars are popping up across Canada
From Christmapolitans to Hans Grubers
A sophisticated restaurant near the Old Port of Montreal is now an Instagramready holiday backdrop decked out with more than 350 metres of Christmas lights, wrapped presents fixed to the ceiling and Santa hats perched on chair tops.
Far from a restaurant makeover gone awry, the transformation is part of a trend in which watering holes in search of a boost in holiday traffic are converting into Christmas-themed pop-ups with at least four such locales throughout Canada and more than 90 around the world.
“The reception as a whole has been really positive,” said Kevin Demers, owner of the Coldroom. He took over the space of the restaurant Scarlet Exclusive to host the pop-up from Nov. 30 to Dec. 30.
He decorated the restaurant’s three spaces with distinct holiday themes: a classic, kitschy Christmas in the dining area, white holiday decor close to the bar and the terrace kept more simple and illuminated with Christmas lights.
Staff wear ugly Christmas sweaters adorned with gingerbread men, snowflake and holiday prints. Revellers sip on Christmapolitans, snowball Old Fashioneds or other themed concoctions.
Those not feeling the holiday spirit can select from the Grinch menu, which boasts drinks named after Christmas bad guys. The Hans Gruber comes topped with a drinkable print of the Die Hard villain.
Demers is splitting half the profits with Montreal Children’s Hospital.
“It should be more about giving back,” he said.
The month-long event is part of the Miracle pop-up chain that’s the brainchild of Greg Boehm, who owns a barware manufacturing and distributing company, as well as a cocktail bar and an eatery in New York City.
The concept started in 2014 with a phone call from his mother when Boehm was in the midst of construction on his cocktail bar, Mace. She suggested he stop renovations, decorate it with Christmas kitsch and open for a month in December.
Five years later, Mace still hosts the annual festive pop-up, and Boehm has turned the idea into a business, charging a flat fee for bars worldwide to host similar events under the banner Miracle.
Miracle provides the food and cocktail menu, teaches the bar how to create the drinks, provides professional photography and handles the public relations.
Participants also have access to Christmas glassware made by his other company, Cocktail Kingdom.
Boehm also offers a Sippin’ Santa tik i pop-up, which formed in 2015. The first Miracle pop up in Canada opened three years ago in Montreal, Boehm said.