s jungle supposed to be the new hip? Butterfly has been adorned with a trickling Zen fountain in the main level, and a full-on jungle treatment on the second level. Surely the disconnect is a deliberate attempt to lure the hip and thirsty 20- and 30-somethings who favour the area. Or perhaps it's meant for parental visits, so an older crowd can order a premium vodka in the back while the younger throngs can rip their little livers out upstairs.

Clubs in this area are known for ballsy designs and a distinctive brand to pull off the hip identity they hope to achieve. And with über club designer Irfan Bukhari (interior designer of Club V, Budo, and Fluid) at the helm, Butterfly has gone the same route. The first step inside places you behind a waterfall cascading down the large street windows that is backlit by orange light. The upstairs hangout - of which every Toronto clubber has done time in its various incarnations - is blunt and direct in its objective: Jungle.

Fauna, bamboo, and wood fill the space, and while it is spacious and open, it can also be private. One particularly large booth at the back has a curtain that can be pulled across to separate everything from you and your dirty deeds. It also has its own volume control, which means you can turn the music down (or up) in order for you to glide your way to victory. Other than this boudoir-ish den, booths line an entire wall and along the back of the club.

If the theme upstairs is life and in-your-face nature, then the one downstairs must be the cocoon component. While it is off-white with perhaps too many mirrors, this is where the DJ works his magic; instead of being in the corner like most clubs, he is the focal point, the anchor, the party. Butterfly obviously wanted to make the DJ so much more involved that there is even a couch to house his friends. -T.F.