pened just a few weeks ago, the team behind the notorious Time Supper Club takes their chances on Saint-Laurent Blvd. This same address has had many monikers throughout the years – but knowing their luck, this restaurant will stick around.

Some may have questioned their choice of location for their supper club on Saint-Jacques St. when they set-up shop years ago. Now looking back, their timing (please believe me, no pun intended) couldn’t have been more perfect. The downtown core lacked in high class, high priced places to party after the tourists went back to their high-rise hotels. Now with a place on Saint-Laurent, one could question their timing once again. Why now? Why there? Why not the increasingly trendy Mile End area where rent, although skyrocketing exponentially by the second, is much less? Well, I guess the answer would simply be why not.

Although this resto-lounge is surrounded by some of the city’s original heavy hitters, Time Café seems to offer something different. The décor, although a little random and over the top, seems to work. Larger than life art, red Plexiglas panels and gilded everything – you feel like your walking into a high-end furniture showroom. Everything, including the patrons seems to be on display in a nonchalant sort of way. From the oversized quilted banquet by the door, to the pristinely lined bar stools at the middle island, every corner of the Café is meticulously thought out.

The menu and cocktails follow through on this formula. My martini glass was properly chilled with ice water before the initial pour, and the slight flame to the orange rind before it was dropped into my Cosmo was a nice touch. Food-wise, the salmon and tuna tartare entrée I decided to try was tasty and well displayed, but tiny. So if you’re out for a full dining experience - be prepared to pay for it.

The Café is putting the finishing touches on an intimate, closed-in terrace and it should be opening any day now. At least during the city’s sweltering summer, there will be a little spot to escape to on this strip of restaurants so lacking in patio space.