The Drake Hotel is one of the west end’s most popular spots, with a massive, trendy bar full of modern colours and classic cocktails. But, tucked away from the hustle and bustle sits a small lobby bar in the new Modern Wing, designed with a more intimate experience in mind. Old meets new, with historical influence meeting modern design to create a small, eight seat space that can accommodate cocktail connoisseurs and gin and tonic lovers alike. Drawing inspiration from Canadian connections and the history of bars, The Drake‘s Modern Wing Lobby Bar is far beyond the average.
The Food
The Drake’s Executive Chef Laura Maxwell created a menu that compliments the complex, innovative drink menu, but is still filled with favourites from the main bar and dishes that are shareable and easy to eat.
“We were in a meeting with the hotel GM, we were just kind of spitballing different ideas back and forth, and then I was like you want Bang Bang Shrimp, don’t you? So I just ran into the kitchen and I wrestled them up and brought them out to the meeting and we were so happy, and then that was instantly ready to go on to the menu,” Maxwell says. “That was kind of my spin on coconut shrimp, kind of like a Drake Bar Modern Wing’s spin on one of my childhood favourites.”
Four pieces of chimichurri marinated and char-grilled lamb meet lemon and rosemary tasting notes with this dish. The idea of re-imagining classic dishes was high on Maxwell’s priority list, which is where the blending of flavours for the lamb spiedini comes from. “The torched rosemary gives it the aroma, kind of gives you a little bit of that experience,” she says. “It’s freshened up with some chimichurri and a little grilled lemon. So simple and easy to share these, to nibble on while you’re having your cocktails.”
The shishito peppers are doused with togarashi spice, designed to compliment the cocktail menu. “I want you to enjoy the flavours and the colours and the smell the experience of it, in very small doses,” Maxwell explains.
The final dish is a staple on The Drake menu, available at the main bar and the speakeasy-style Modern Wing Lobby Bar. “The fancy fries are a great classic,” Maxwell explains. “They’ve had a lot of different iterations throughout the years.” In the lobby bar, they take on toppings of pecorino and truffle with tarragon aioli.
The Drinks
“This is a very popular African cocktail that we’ve kind of Canadian-ized a little bit,” beverage manager and bartender Gord Hannah explains. “This is kind of like our little love letter to our new GM, Shaileen Shah. It’s very similar to a caipirinha, but with African honey and vodka. ”
“Nothing’s ever permanent here,” Hannah explains. “So on our cocktail list, all the base spirits are trying to highlight partners that we love and that we’ve worked with for a long time that we form great relationships with.” For the solstice martini, Dillon’s rose gin liqueur is used as a base.
Also crafted with Dillon’s Rose Gin Liqueur, the Frontenac Martinez is finished with a maraschino cherry. “The Frontenac is named after a Canadian rose, the only Canadian rose,” Hannah says, and highlights the partnership with Dillon’s, as the two brands grew up in the industry together.
“This is a riff on an old cocktail that was served as the sixth course of the Titanic’s voyage. So it’s a bit of a riff on punch a la romaine, which is, historically, a very difficult cocktail to make, simplified here with dark rum,” says a bartender at the Lobby Bar, Sam, who presented his creation, the Sixth Course Punch, at a cocktail competition in Halifax.
The Space
A mixture of old-meets-new finds balance at the eight-seat bar, with seventies-inspired architectural pieces and modern art alike.
During the day, the space is awash in natural light, thanks to the floor-to-ceiling windows that take up half of the tucked away space. “We have the pink lights and the modern art, so it has tie-ins to the past, but we’re also trying to push the envelope as far as like what we actually need,” Sam says.
The team hopes that the Modern Wing Lobby Bar will be an intimate space for people to gather and meet, where bartenders can offer guests personalized information about the city while sipping on unique, carefully crafted cocktails.