After a year’s delay, Voya is set to open next month
Joanne Sasvari
Sun
Bartender Jay Jones displays a Polomino Cocktail at the new Voya Bar at the Loden Hotel in downtown Vancouver. Photograph by : Steve Bosch, Vancouver Sun
One of Vancouver‘s favourite bartenders has, at long last, found a new home. And what a spectacular home it is. Next month, Jay Jones, who’s poured drinks everywhere in town from West to Nu to Salt to Donnelly Nightclubs, is opening the bar at Voya, the much-anticipated restaurant and lounge at the new Loden hotel.
The launch is a bit later than hoped for, as countless construction and other delays held up the Kor Group property by over a year. But with Jones behind the bar, chef Marc-Andre Choquette in the kitchen and what Voya’s general manager Robert Herman describes as “a very, very hip, groovy lounge,” it seems it will have been worth the wait.
“This is going to be a real gem in the city,” Jones says happily.
When at last the tall doors swing open on Melville Street, they’ll open on a scene of sleek glamour that’s at once thoroughly modern — with sexy banquettes, dazzling chandeliers, soaring ceilings and dramatic décor elements — and chic in a way we haven’t seen since the stylish early 1960s or even the daring deco of the 1920s and ’30s. You could easily imagine The Thin Man’s Nora Charles lining up martinis on the bar or Mad Men’s Don Draper stopping by for a Manhattan before heading home to the ‘burbs.
Then again, they wouldn’t have been able to enjoy the kinds of cocktails Jones will be shaking up here. Like any good barman worth his Hawthorn strainer, Jones is inspired by the classics, so naturally, the bar will feature the great historic drinks, such as the Sidecar or French 75. He’s also inspired by the bounty of the seasons and plans to work closely with Choquette, noting, “There’s going to be a great link between the seasonality of the kitchen and the seasonality of the bar.” Of course, Vancouver already has plenty of bars trying to do classics and seasonal drinks, so Jones wants to take things even further. He wants to focus on the customization of cocktails, carefully choosing and crafting drinks for one customer at a time, depending on their likes, dislikes and secret desires.
“That’s where a bar really sets itself apart,” he says, adding, “Who doesn’t want a drink that’s made especially for them?”
As one of Vancouver‘s original great bartenders, Jones feels a responsibility for the bar scene in this city, and he sees Voya as his “medium for making an impact in a new way.”
“This is getting close to my ideal of the kind of bar I would create,” he says. “We’re going to have fun. It’s not going to be overly serious.” And then, as he looks around his glamorous new home, he breaks into a big smile. “We’re going to romance the drinks,” he says.
Somehow, we suspect the city is ready to return the favour.
POLOMINO COCKTAIL
Named for the main grape in sherry, this refreshing, seasonal cocktail is a taste of what Jay Jones plans for the bar at Voya at the Loden Hotel.
2 oz. Belvedere vodka
4 to 6 whole ripe strawberries
1 /2 oz. premium sherry vinegar
1/2 oz. agave syrup (or sugar syrup made with equal parts sugar and water)
wedge of fresh lime
With a pestle, crush strawberries completely in a mixing glass or cocktail shaker. Squeeze lime wedge into the glass and drop it in. Add vodka, sherry vinegar and agave syrup. Fill with ice and shake thoroughly. Strain into a chilled old-fashioned glass filled with ice. Garnish with a sprig of fresh basil. Serves 1.
© The Vancouver Sun 2008
