City Grill offers new downtown vibe
Former Boomerang's location undergoes major renovation, rebranding
By Aloma Jardine
Times & Transcript
Published Wednesday October 29th, 2008
Moncton has a new place to eat. The former Boomerang’s on Westmorland Street is now City Grill.
Those who knew the old Boomerang's will be hard-pressed to recognize any of it in the City Grill.
Executive Chef Luc Castilloux of City Grill cooks a steak on the restaurant's new charcoal grill.
Apart from the marble-topped bar, little in the newly renovated, newly named restaurant on Westmorland Avenue bears any relation to its previous resident.
"We pretty well gutted the whole thing," says owner Brett Judson.
Gone is the Australian-themed décor and in its place is refined modern style with black and white prints of various cities, the only nod to the new name.
The changes catch one's eye from the moment one walks through the front door.
The walls that once blocked the restaurant from view have been removed, creating a welcome, open space and the hardwood floors have been refinished and polished to such a shine that they look brand new.
Judson says they wanted to make the new restaurant, which quietly opened less than two weeks ago, a more social spot, so they included lots of space to accommodate larger groups of eight or more and have converted most of the seating to booths.
Judson says the most popular tables at the former restaurant were booths by the fireplace, so in addition to the more booths, they now have five electric fireplaces to give more people a shot at the best seat in the house.
The interior isn't the only thing that has changed.
Judson says they also put a lot of work into the menu, which has been pared down but offers a much greater variety.
While some Boomerang's favourites remain -- namely steaks and prime rib -- City Grill branches out to include more salads and seafood, as well as pizza and pasta, burgers and sandwiches.
Judson says the aim was to offer competitive pricing and good value as well as to increase the number of healthy options on offer.
"We have tapas platters now, more salads," he says, as well as half-sizes on all pastas and two sizes for salads. A nightly special for $14.95 makes it possible to get a meal including drink, tax, and tip for $20 or less.
Judson says they're putting a real emphasis on trying to use as many local products as possible in their meals.
"We're trying to buy as Maritime as we can buy," he says. "We're not going to be 100 per cent (local products) but as close as we can be."
They also make almost everything -- from sauces to bread to desserts -- from scratch, something that sets them apart from many chain restaurants.
"The only thing we don't make in house is probably our wing sauce," Judson says.
A gluten-free menu will soon be available and Judson says they're also working on a nutritional breakdown for every dish, so people who choose to can better evaluate their mealtime choices.
Judson says the restaurant business is a very competitive one and eating establishments are always trying to find ways to set themselves apart.
Besides the menu itself, Judson also invested in a lump charcoal grill -- the first in the Maritimes to his knowledge -- so all grilling is done over an open flame.
"It cooks at an extremely high heat so it sears the juice in," he says, making for much more flavourful meals.
"It's an old world way of grilling product. It's not briquettes, it's real hardwood."
Judson is also aiming to bring back Friday's happy hour, an institution he says has kind of gone by the wayside in recent years.
"On Fridays, we'll have half-price appetizers and house shots and wine," he says, and starting in November Thursday nights will be devoted to wine, with different wines showcased each week, paired with particular dishes.
"Wine experts will be here and walk us through the wines," Judson says. "But it will be as casual and relaxed as can be."
When Boomerang's first closed at the beginning of the summer, Judson wasn't sure he would reopen a restaurant at the Westmorland Avenue location.
Instead, he looked to the booming Trinity Drive area and even went so far as to try to sell the building.
"Our first choice was to stay in our own building, but the lure of the power centre was there," he says, adding if they had been able to sell the building, City Grill more than likely would have turned up across town.
But he's very comfortable with the decision to stay downtown.
"We have a fair size investment in our renovation. We believe in downtown," he says, adding downtown Moncton is still in growth mode, at least when it comes to restaurants, with a new Italian restaurant coming to the old Maverick's location and The Keg, which opened in June.
Although Judson says the arrival of The Keg was the "deciding factor" in the decision to renovate and rebrand Boomerang's, he doesn't seem to mind the new restaurant coming onto his turf, so to speak.
"The Keg is nice. It is competition, but it does bring people downtown," he says.
Judson says they continue to offer meeting and banquet space on the upper level of the building.
And for those who loved Boomerang's, the Australian-themed restaurant hasn't disappeared for good. As it did this summer, it will continue to operate seasonally on the Pointe-du-Chêne wharf, sharing a building with Captain Dan's restaurant.
n City Grill is located at 130 Westmorland Avenue and is open Monday to Thurdsay from 4 p.m. to 11 p.m., Friday from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. and 4 p.m. to 1:30 a.m., Saturday from 4 p.m. to 1:30 a.m., and Sunday from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m.
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