New bridge restaurant chosen, pending approval

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This article was published 01/05/2015 (3788 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The winning bid to replace Chez Sophie on the Esplanade Riel pedestrian bridge has been chosen.

Wow Hospitality, the owners of the Peasant Cookery and Muddy Water Ribs and Wings, plus five other local establishments, were chosen by the city and will open a French-themed restaurant called Mon Ami Louis, if the proposal is approved by council.

They plan to operate the restaurant five months of the year in the warmer months, while during the other seven months hosting events.

Mon Ami Louis would be open for brunch, lunch and dinner service during the summer months (May 1 to September 30).

The proposal will first go to the city’s downtown development, heritage and riverbank management committee for consideration next week.

The committee’s chair, Coun. Brian Mayes, said the decision to only operate the restaurant five months of the year will hopefully stave off the financial difficulties faced by Chez Sophie.

“I think it is good financially and it is good culturally, it has a French component and we don’t want that sitting empty. That is the marquee photo now of Winnipeg, to take a picture of that bridge and the museum behind it,” Mayes said.

“It makes good business sense (to only operate five months of the year) and I think also there will be more of a walk-up crowd because of the Canadian Museum for Human Rights, as opposed to two years ago when it wasn’t fully open, so I am certainly hopeful they can make a go of it.”

Despite being given one year of free rent, the owners of Chez Sophie had to close up shop in February, citing the “extraordinary expenditure relating to a restaurant on that bridge.”

Chez Sophie opened June 2013 after the first restaurant operator, Salisbury House, did not have their lease renewed.

The owners, Sophie and Stephane Wilds, were given free rent for the first year of a five-year lease, in exchange for extensive renovations totaling $150,000 to $200,000.

If approved, the Wow Hospitality would invest $100,000 in tenant improvements, with an opening date targeted for mid-July of this year.

In total, eight proposals for the location were given to the city.

The aim is to have the proposal on the council agenda for May, so the restaurant can be operational by summer, Mayes said.

St. Boniface Coun. Matt Allard said he was pleased with the choice the administration made for the space.

“I am excited with the option that they are proposing,” he said. “I think it fits with what the St. Boniface community expects and I think the proponents have a strong reputation in Winnipeg.”

kristin.annable@freepress.mb.ca