'MO - February 2009 - (Page 23)

PHOTO BY DAVID ILIFF PHOTO BY MARYN LIDDEL PH OT O MA BY RY ID NL DE L has such amenities as parking, laundry, gym, hot tub and massage (by appointment), and serves a continental breakfast. Formerly Hotel Godin, the architectural landmark on the corner of Sherbrooke and “the Main,” as the vibrant St. Laurent is known, has been reborn as Opus Montreal (10 Sherbrooke Ouest, Latin Quarter; 514-843-6000; www.opushotel.com; C$179+). Attracting a similar stellar celebrity set as its Vancouver sibling, the 136-room hipster haven features a sleek lobby with a circular caramel velvet couch and sliding wood panels. Rooms boast Egyptian cotton sheets, down duvets, Gilchrist and Soames amenities and ambient low-level lighting in the shower. Old Montreal and the Gay Village are five minutes in a cab or fifteen to twenty minutes on foot. EAT The Gay Village’s newer restaurants can be seen as entries in the hot category of “world cuisine” or “fusion cooking.” Restaurants such as Area (see below) are, perhaps for the first time, drawing diners to the Gay Village for the food and not the crowd or location © WWW.OLD.MONTREAL.QC.CA near gay nightlife—something of an anomaly in gay ghettos in Canada and the States. Area (1429 rue Amherst, The Village 514-890-6691; C$21–34), the first chef-focused restaurant in the Village, in a beautifully designed space. Chef Ian Perrault fuses many different ﬂavors, and uses fresh, local products to produce elegant food, and all of this is served in a luxuriously minimal room. There’s nothing splashy about gaypopular O Thym (1112 De Maisonneuve Est, The Village; 514-525-3443; www.othym.com; C$19–32), a BYOW (bring your own wine: Apportez votre vin) restaurant tucked away just off Amherst, a short walk from Ste-Catherine. With less than 50 seats and its name simply scribbled on a chalkboard in the window, it’s easy to overlook—but that would be a mistake. This bistro doesn’t hit a wrong note. PLAY Montréal’s gay nightlife scene has two faces: one is determinedly “New York,” as evidenced in such giant clubs as Unity, Parking, Stereo, and Sky, where muscle boys groove to DJ-spun music, and the other is, well, Montréal, found in the innumerable taverns, or pubs, where locals belly up to the bar and while away the hours chatting to each other over their favorite beers. Although there is an amount of overlap, bars and clubs are mostly male-dominated. The excep- Top left: A panoramic view of Montreal, taken from the Chalet du Mont Royal at the top of Mount Royal; top right and above: Montreal celebrates Pride on St. Catherine East, the main drag of the Gay Village. tions to that are Parking on Thursdays and Sundays, when women are allowed, and Le Drugstore, the unofficial women’s haunt. On Friday nights, the four stories and 12 levels are crammed with a diverse crowd of women. GETTING THERE Fly American via Chicago, Delta via Cincinnati, United via Denver, or Air Canada via Toronto to reach Montreal from SeaTac in six to seven hours. Aefa Mulholland is Editor at Large with The Out Traveler. Marché Bonsecours and City Hall at night. moseattle.com 23 issue #2 | february 2009 http://www.opushotel.com http://www.othym.com http://WWW.OLD.MONTREAL.QC.CA http://www.moseattle.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of 'MO - February 2009

'MO - February 2009 Contents Letter From The Editor Voices Pet Project Gay Softball League Seeks New Players Instant Activist: Two Opportunities to Make a Difference Bailey-Boushay’s Chefs’ Dinner Pulls in More Than $285,000 GLSEN Releases Report on LGBT Students of Color Gay City Health Project: Race Relations Form & Function: Partner Workout Power Couple: Senator Ed Murray and Michael Shiosaki Montréal The ’mo Interview: Joe DiPietro New on DVD: Tru Loved Coming to CD/DVD: The Annie Lennox Collection SceneOut: People@Places AIDS Awareness & Action Day 2009 Capitol Hill Guide

'MO - February 2009

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