hat clues do you consider when searching for a great new bar? When all you want is a fun spot that has the clout to attract a good crowd and the ability to whip that crowd into a frenzy with fun-loving enthusiasm. You must take more care than you’d take on an upscale lounge. A bad attempt at a bar in unfamiliar territory could land you in a dirty room with Celine Dion skipping on the turntable.

Ground rules: It must attract a quality crowd. Since a bar is only as good as the crowd that inhabits it, this is an accurate gauge. You want a mix of downtown and uptown, beer guzzlers and martini sippers, Beethoven, AC/DC and Duran Duran lovers alike. Location is another consideration: King West, for example, is still a hotbed of activity. But west of Bathurst is generally weak, with little late-night muscle - just a Tim Horton’s vibe, no meat. All void.

Until now. LOFT, a new, loft-ish bar with a namesake interior, has broken the barrier with an attractive line-up of goodies. Loft is a glaring product of fanatical self-improvement (this location was a Bloor Street Diner), aimed at attracting those who genuinely want to have fun.

Sporting the pseudomacho design, Loft is self described as a new take on the pub - a press release calls it a “lounge-style, modern day pub.” But this is not the generic ‘pub’ template; nor the beer stein behavior or geriatric old-school bar-rooms. LOFT wants you to laugh at them - not with them, at them: at their physical staleness, at their gentrified blandness.

Brought to us by Olivier Centner of Eatertainment Hospitality, this pub makes its mark via the most direct route: it lampoons by adopting a tried-and-true formula and tweaks it a little. Centner’s tutelage in the school of Bloor Street Dinerism has taught him the importance of design and substance. You can buy limitless razzle-dazzle; you can't buy a strong foundation in fun.

“LOFT was created with idea to be an extension of local residents’ lofts,” says Centner. By creating a loft-type space, we wanted to offer a place where locals can easily have a loft party... in someone else’s loft.”

Designer Mehran Foroughi, who specializes in residential loft design, has filled the interior with playful décor features including adjustable-height patio tables mounted on industrial car jacks. Lennox Lewis’ old punching bag hangs from the ceiling. Large projection screens hang on opposite ends of the room, and an authentic morgue lamp looms in a corner. Eames chairs and Navy bar stools tidy up the room, and for no other reason except for fun, a pommel horse is thrown into the centre of the room.

Press release withstanding, LOFT is sweet at its core but it's far from being a pub. And you can't even call it a lounge. Ostensibly, Loft is really about something else. A bar that captures the egotistical charm of both distinctions and drops it into a shell that allows it to bask in its own newly-minted take.

Of course, the primary reason to go to Loft isn't for a marketing lesson, nor for the underplayed elements of the room, nor to see whether a bar can pull off the role of a pub (it doesn’t). Instead, Loft is just about having a little bit of fun, a goal that the owners pursue relentlessly, pausing only occasionally for short bursts of sleep before getting the adrenaline pumping again. - DE




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ALoft!
Ada, Toronto
Sept, 2, 2004
Loft - just like your arty designer friend's place but without all the pretension! We sampled Loft on both a Tuesday and Saturday and were very pleased on both visits. The martinis are tasty little things, and some decent wines are available by the glass. Bar service seemed a little stretched but table service was just perfect - friendly and efficient. Loft managed a strong crowd for a Tuesday and were completely full for dinner. We had to wait our turn at the bar, sipping on vodka martinis. Saturday was full to the rafters but service was still on the mark. The crowd was good fun (bit more warmed up than tuesday) and we got chatting with quite a few people. Verdict - three & a half stars for a friendly local that's masquerading as a well-designed bar/restaurant (four stars if the martinis get filled up a bit higher next time). Finally, love the look guys, but what's with the chair in the air?