Bridge eatery to open soon

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This article was published 04/06/2015 (3798 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

WINNIPEG’S Wow Hospitality chain has tapped a former Red River College culinary instructor to run the kitchen at its new casual French restaurant on Esplanade Riel.

Luc Jean, a 36-year-old chef who’s worked in Australia and as the executive sous-chef at the Fairmont Winnipeg, plans to open Mon Ami Louis next month on the pedestrian bridge connecting St. Boniface with The Forks.

The Wow restaurant will be the third establishment to take a stab at operating on Esplanade Riel since the bridge opened in 2003. It follows a Salisbury House outlet that struggled on the span for seven years and the short-lived, independently owned Chez Sophie sur le Pont.

“Going onto the bridge is kind of scary, because it hasn’t worked out before. It just hadn’t been done properly,” said Jean, who has also apprenticed at restaurants in Europe.

He’s planning a menu featuring salads, poutines and sandwiches, as well as tartes flambées, the Alsatian flatbreads that serve as the French counterpart to pizza. There are also fusion touches such as tempura frog legs and Buffalo duck wings among the appetizers, as well as traditional French entrees such as duck confit and savory crepes.

“This is approachable food,” Jean said. “I’ve worked in every spectrum of the business, from Michelin-starred restaurants to small hotels… We want to be a neighbourhood hangout as well as a destination.”

Under the terms of Wow’s lease with the City of Winnipeg, Mon Ami Louis will open for brunch, lunch and dinner from May 1 to Sept. 30, as well as for special events during the rest of the year.

Wow is slated to invest $100,000 into the space and pay rent equal to five per cent of gross sales during the summer months. Wow president Doug Stephen said he needs the restaurant to be open by the second week of July in order to operate long enough to get a sense of revenue.

“I have to give the city an answer by the end of the summer,” he said, referring to the rent.

Unlike its predecessors on Esplanade Riel, Mon Ami Louis has applied to operate a 60-seat outdoor patio on the bridge. It also plans to take advantage of a year-old relaxation of provincial regulations governing evening liquor sales and operate like a club on Friday and Saturday nights.

‘Going onto the bridge is kind of scary, because it hasn’t worked out before. It just hadn’t been done properly’

— Luc Jean, who will be running Wow Hospitality’s new Mon Ami Louis restaurant

“We’re calling it Pont du Nuit. We’re going to have DJs,” Stephen said. “We want people from both sides of the river to walk over and have some fun.”

St. Boniface Coun. Matt Allard said he hopes the restaurant will add to the vibrancy of Provencher Boulevard and is pleased French food forms the basis of the menu.

“The strength of the application was the consideration for the St. Boniface community,” he said, even as he acknowledges the restaurant is actually situated halfway between his ward and Fort Rouge-East Fort Garry. “I guess it sits in a no-man’s land. Anyway, I look forward to going.”

bartley.kives@freepress.mb.ca