POINTECLAIRE
New owners sought to revive Resto-show bar
Want ed: A business owner with experience to operate a supper club in a West Island shopping plaza.
Needed: Experience running a restaurant and live music venue.
That pretty much sums up the status of the Calistoga Grill in Pointe-Claire, which has been closed for more than a month while owner Jeff Tierney searches for the right buyer.
After 14 years of showcasing cover bands and other Quebec rock legends such as Michel Pagliaro, Tierney said it’s time to hand the show bar keys over to someone with a fresh, dynamic outlook.
“We put the place up for sale because the time has come,” Tierney said. “We haven’t been as involved in it in the last five years. You know, grandchildren. It’s time and it needs some fresh blood and more energy.”
Tierney wrote on Facebook that more than 20 parties had expressed an interest in maintaining Calistoga’s “entertainment tradition, which was our prime directive. They were primarily from the music business with little to no experience in running a restaurant.
“In order to make this work and generate a profit, experience in both is a vital requirement. There were two interested parties but finance became an issue in the end.”
“Our time frame to wrap this up is quickly coming to an end,” he added. “Our outside option is to sell to a party who is interested in Calistoga Grill as a restaurant and not entertainment venue — which is not what we wanted.”
Tierney said the task of successfully running a 150-seat supper club is not an easy one.
“It’s a lot of work to run a supper club,” he said. “And you have to be the right type of person. I don’t have any restaurant experience or entertainment experience or anything like that. I came from a theatre background as a techie. But I’ve always loved music. My wife (Laurie Scott) is a music fiend as well. That’s why we did it: for live music.”
The 61-year-old Tierney, who grew up in Dollard-des-Ormeaux and now resides in Pierrefonds, recalls patronizing local bars like the Maples Inn in the 1970s and ’80s.
“I went to all of them, from the Brasserie des Sources, Pierrefonds Tavern, the Manoir. My first date with my wife was at the Edgewater.
“But I lived at the Maples (Inn). The musicians there were great. April Wine used to play there; it was tremendous and, yes, it was full of drugs.”
The Calistoga Grill, which originally opened as Clint’s, featured an impressive array of retro art that paid homage to the Montreal and West Island bars and night clubs of yesteryear. Displayed on the walls are posters and signs from the Maples Inn, Naps, the Edgewater, Marilyn’s Lounge, Quai-Sera in Ste. Anne’s and downtown clubs such as Mustache on Closse St., the Esquire Show Bar on Stanley St. and Rockhead’s Paradise in Little Burgundy.
Tierney said the bar artwork from a bygone era hopefully will remain on site after a new buyer is found.
Calistoga has featured cover bands for The Beatles, Rolling Stones, Elton John, The Eagles, Led Zeppelin and James Taylor. In some cases, the cover bands sounded better than the original artists, he said.
Is there a market for a baby boomer supper club in the West Island?
“Yeah, there is because we don’t draw from the West Island. West Islanders are not our best crowd. They spend so much less than other people. I live in the West Island and grew up in the West Island, so I’m allowed to say that,” Tierney said with a laugh.
“It’s the English West Islanders that are the cheapest crowd,” he added. “A slightly younger crowd you get from the French market is much, much better than the English market.
“It wasn’t always like that. The money that the slightly younger French market spends ... is about 20 per cent higher, maybe more, than for an English West Island (crowd).
“Perhaps they are more secure in their financial future, as opposed to older West Islanders who open their coin purses and it squeaks,” he added.
The supper club business model also presents unique challenges.
“People were coming out for a 7:30 p.m. meal and they’re staying ’til midnight. So we don’t turn tables like bars and restaurants do, so that makes it harder for us, too.”
Tierney said the next owner should cater to a younger audience.
“About 15 years younger. So take it from 55 and bring it down to 40, let’s say. That’s a good age for people who are getting into going out again.”
Meanwhile, the search for a buyer goes on.
“Our goal is to find someone to continue it, but just do it better,” Tierney said.
We put the place up for sale because the time has come. We haven’t been as involved in it in the last five years.