Downtown eatery raises a glass to George Hamilton
The ale is flowing again at King and Bay.
The northwest corner has been the site of a tavern for at least 160 years and owners of The George Hamilton want that tradition to live on. The restaurant, which opened Monday, pays homage to both the city’s history and its beauty. After all, it’s named after the city’s founder. The table tops feature photos of the city’s past, including the former Jockey Club where the Centre Mall now sits, a trolley car rolling past the Lister Block and the long-ago-demolished City Hall.
A large triptych features a nighttime view of the city’s skyline and there are wall-sized photos of the Devil’s Punchbowl and Albion falls, illuminated at night. There is a living wall of plants, too. Co-owners Mike Peters, 45, and Dean Pearson, 40, both native Hamiltonians, think the time is right to invest downtown. They both have stakes in The Pour House on Fennell Avenue and in Hooters on Upper James.
“Both of us love Hamilton,” said Peters, an accountant by trade, who ventured into the restaurant business six years ago. “There was an opportunity here and we saw all the construction going on (downtown) and felt it was the right time to jump in.” Pearson, a self-described foodie who owns a used clothing and goods store on the Mountain, says Hamilton doesn’t get the credit it deserves.
“We want people to appreciate the town they have here.” Peters and Pearson love the history attached to the building, which over the decades has been called Hamilton House, The Florence, The Palm, The Fairchild and The Regal. The deed to the building has Sir Allan MacNab’s name on it. In the basement, they found a gorgeous piece of hewn wood that was partially buried. They figure it’s as old as the building itself and turned it into a bar top.
The restaurant has most recently been the Muskoka-themed Cottage Living and for a long time before that, the Regal Hotel. In the latter years, there was little regal about the tavern and the rooming house upstairs. The sign billed itself as “one of the oldest hotels in Hamilton. Established 1847” and there were about a dozen tattered national flags flying above the door. Peters and Pearson have signed a 20-year lease with building owner Mick Unroth, whose family has owned the property since the mid-1950s.
Pearson, just back from a trip to Toronto to pick up the liquor licence, was drilling rustic wooden boxes into the wall at the main bar to serve as a liquor cabinet as the first customers trickled in.
The biggest kink was that the cheese didn’t arrive for the cheese tray on the menu, but the partners say all the wrinkles will be ironed out by the time they have a grand opening in a few weeks. Beyond that, there are plans to add a garden and a waterfall to the existing rooftop patio.
Peters says they will rely on the lunch crowd from nearby office buildings and events at Copps, Hamilton Place and the Hamilton Convention Centre. The menu was developed by Pearson and chef William Thompson, a contestant on Top Chef Canada last year.
Menu items include a goat cheese terrine, charcuterie tray, braised beef ragout and chicken wings — served in homemade original sauces. Peters acknowledges the newly opened Anchor Bar in Jackson Square will be serious competition. “We have been in there and it’s beautiful. We wish them well, but there’s lots of room for us downtown.”
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http://www.thespec.com/news/business/art...eatery-raises-a-glass-to-george-hamilton
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Should fit in well with Jabronies just up the street.
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