Grange, Montreal

f Grange, the new baby of restaurateurs Martin Beauchamb and Dave Bernier, were to pop up in Calgary, a visiting Montreal-er would have one look at it, chalk it up as a pedestrian hick-bar and take the next flight back east. But Grange – down-home, country feel et al – works (oh does it ever work) precisely because it is located in Montreal. Grange (vin + bouffe) is a humorous, without being kitschy, tribute to the old west with the perfect levels of irony, alcohol, and food.

The space – which feels almost like dining inside of an old shipping crate or a cabin in a Walter Huston movie – relies heavily on a sloppy, rustic aesthetic. Beauchamb and Bernier are neither rustic nor designers, but they nevertheless are wholly responsible for Grange’s milieu. After travelling around Europe and spending a lot of time in “almost all of the wine bars in New York,” Bernier decided it was time to grab his partner Beauchamb and set-up shop. A pile of design books, a lot of wine bottles, some bald Edison light bulbs, and one deer head (which hangs on Grange’s wall) later, Grange was born. And, when it came to coming up with the ambience, Beauchamb wanted nothing more than for the place to have a warm feel, so that “people could feel comfortable for two or three hours and not want to rush out.”

As owners of Café Des Eclusiers, boasting the largest Patio in Montreal, B and B are no strangers to warmth or for that matter, the restaurant biz. In other words, these “B”-Boys know wassup’. Of late, what is up in being down with the resto-biz is a bountiful menu packed with cheese, charcouterie, and petit plats. Add a raw bar to it, a DJ booth, et voila, instant gastro-glam.

But fear not, this is not the kind of glam that intimidates, Bernier would simply not allow his customers to feel any discomfort when sitting in his new-world deli. Even the waitresses cart out the platters of meats and shellfish on wooden slabs, wearing plaid shirts and converse sneakers in a kind of send-up to Hooters. If nothing else, says Bernier, the restaurant takes care “not to take itself too seriously” and with 50 wines on the menu – 30 available by the glass – by the end of the evening, the patrons, like it or not, will be on an equal playing field with Grange.

Address: 120 Rue McGill, Montreal, QC
Contact: 514-394-9463
Area: Old Montreal
Venue:
Hours: Tues. – Sat. 12:00pm – 12:00am
Price Range: $$$ (Within Reach)
Payment: Master Card, Visa, American Express

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