As part of the $200-million revitalization of the Place Ville Marie Esplanade, Montreal foodies will soon enjoy a brand-new concept: A gourmet biergarten in the heart of downtown Montreal, Le Cathcart Restaurants et Biergarten. Imagined by Sid Lee Architecture and A5 Hospitality, and executed by Sid Lee Architecture and Menkes Shooner Dagenais LeTourneux Architects in consortium, Le Carthcart Restaurants et Biergarten will open at Place Ville Marie in late 2019.
Seven days a week, all year round, Le Cathcart Restaurants et Biergarten will be the place where Place Ville Marie’s business people, the Montreal community, foodies, tourists and culture lovers will gather to eat, have a drink or simply enjoy time with friends. Le Cathcart Restaurants et Biergarten will quickly become a destination of choice for business lunches, happy hours and festive evenings.
The 35,000-square-foot (3,252-square-metre) space will come to life under the future glass pavilion of the Place Ville Marie Esplanade. It will offer seating for more than a thousand people with 15 unique restaurant concepts, such as resto-bars, bistros and cafés, including three restaurants with table service. A wide variety of wines and cocktails, along with an impressive selection of local beers, all carefully chosen by renowned mixologists and sommeliers, will also be on offer. With highly skilled chefs from Montreal’s culinary scene, including Antonio Park, Le Cathcart Restaurants et Biergarten will offer an immersive gourmet experience while fulfilling a social and cultural vocation. The site will also have a multifunctional space featuring an appealing program with one-of-a-kind events.
In the spirit of the biergarten, the space will have a convivial atmosphere inspired by the fresh, bright and spacious interior garden. It will be the venue for major celebrations open to all. As a lively urban square in the heart of a busy district with festive terraces, Le Cathcart Restaurants et Biergarten will echo Montreal’s lively street vibe, acting as a true indoor extension of the city.
“We want to celebrate Place Ville Marie’s central location by creating a unique point of access to the underground city,” said Jean Pelland, Architect and Senior Partner at Sid Lee Architecture. “The glass pavilion is an ideal setting for the interior garden, a space bathed in natural light and filled with greenery, where gourmet and festive gatherings will take place.”
“This project stems from our desire to constantly renew the client experience and deliver the most unique and appealing entertainment offering to our clienteles, while contributing to Montreal’s social and cultural development,” said Alex Besnard, co-founder of A5 Hospitality. “Our collaboration with Sid Lee Architecture was a natural alliance, given our common objective of developing an innovative concept where the environment – atmosphere and design – is as important as the quality of the food. Thanks to the high quality and originality of the proposed service, we are proud to offer a new key venue in Montreal,” Mr. Besnard added.
“We’re delighted to be working with Quebec entrepreneurs to offer a whole new gastronomic experience at Place Ville Marie,” added Bernard Poliquin, Senior Vice President, Office, Quebec, at Ivanhoé Cambridge. “Le Cathcart Restaurants et Biergarten will become a place of choice for business networking in downtown Montreal.”
Le Cathcart Restaurants et Biergarten is part of the Place Ville Marie Esplanade revitalization project, which is the cornerstone of Projet Nouveau Centre, Ivanhoé Cambridge’s plan to invest more than $1 billion in downtown Montreal.
