BUSINESS MIX

NEW TORONTO HOTSPOT’S CONCOCTIONS BUILT IN A LAB

Toronto’s Rush Lane tests its concoctions in an on-site laboratory.

On a warm night, Rush Lane’s front façade is just one big open window, allowing patrons to breathe in the swirling air of Toronto’s Queen Street West, with all its clanging streetcars, taxi exhaust and motley pedestrians. Inside is meant to serve as a sanctuary, a cool disco-era vibe attempted through dusky lighting, a wall of LPs and a fish tank. “We call it ’ 70s- inspired, as only someone who was not around in the ’ 70s could,” says Jordan Bushell, an experienced but still young bartender, who serves as the public face of Rush Lane among several partners. Bushell’s father, asked if it felt authentic, replied: “Not at all.”

Never mind. Most of the clientele will also be too young to remember. Bushell imagines they’ll use Rush Lane as a place to feel unrushed — after the meeting but before dinner, after dinner but before the club, or on a date that’s meant to feel comfortable.

In the back awaits another window, this one revealing a relatively bright, closet-sized laboratory filled with scientific equipment that can be used to blend flavours or test the chemical properties of food and drink. Rush Lane happens to share a block with BarChef, a cocktail spot that has won fame for its wild molecular mixology. But at Rush Lane, which opened in July, the gear is put to use measuring such practical matters as the Brix value of syrups and the pHof citrus juices, for the sake of consistency.

Some of the cocktails are exquisite, testifying to the wisdom of this conservative approach for now (ongoing experiments should lead to zanier tipples later on). “It’s not meant to be smoke and mirrors,” Bushell says. The lab “looks complex but it does simple things.”