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Drinks Food & Drink

Lavelle: bad sangria, bad service and one helluva view

LAVELLE 

627 King West, 16th floor, 647-347-9353, chezlavelle.com

Lavelle, the month-old lounge sprawled atop King West’s latest condo development, is the kind of place where the nouveau riche parade their Louis Vuitton and pet lion cubs while young women uniformed in strappy black bathing suits and gossamer sarongs present marked-up bottles of Champagne.

It’s decidedly not my scene, but thanks to the colossal chunk of time I’ve spent on both sides of bars, I can appreciate effort in grubby dives, polished cocktail joints, bustling brew-pubs and wherever else I happen to find myself drinking. 

So the fact that Lavelle is designed for a clientele I’m not included in doesn’t bother me every metropolitan bar scene needs variety and the King West strip occupies a specific place in the patchwork of Toronto’s nightlife.

Besides, catering to a neighbourhood that lives for Instagram likes with a glitzy, expansive rooftop lounge is an intelligent if not entirely predictable business decision. Freed Developments and Trademark Hospitality Inc. are also behind the nearby Thompson Hotel, which had an unrivalled view of downtown Toronto until its prettier younger sister Lavelle sashayed onto the skyline. 

Judging by the three pools shallow enough to maximize ogling (open 10 am to 5 pm daily, with an annual membership fee of $200), three bars, a huge retractable roof and luxe dining room, Lavelle has spared little expense. 

The view is best described as spectacular – for Toronto. 

But speaking strictly, from a bar perspective (it’s not my job to address the incredibly photogenic food, though it looks like something I’d like to put in my mouth), Lavelle has a big problem: for all its flossy splendour, it’s unforgivably lazy. 

The first evening I visit, a quiet Monday, service is apathetic verging on embarrassing. Basic hospitality – a welcoming (or just visible) host, bartenders who look up from their iPhones long enough to acknowledge their guests’ presence – doesn’t seem to exist here. 

Despite the gorgeous pink afterglow of a scorching day in the Six, everyone looks bored as they sip $18 Old Fashioneds (available on tap) and nonchalantly top up plastic glasses with top-shelf vodka from their table’s private stash.

Though the cocktail menu shows modest promise – La Adelita: tequila, fresh grapefruit, hibiscus, sea salt ($16) La Premiere: gin, black tea, kaffir lime leaf, fresh lemon ($15) – it fails to translate. 

My glass of really bad sangria ($15) contains no detectable trace of three of the listed ingredients. My friends put on brave faces, trying not to wince as they tackle overpriced and unpotable whisky sours ordered off-menu. I don’t think any bartender in history has given fewer shits about her job than ours does. A second visit with an admittedly lovely bartender can’t redeem the experience.

I can’t forgive Lavelle for its indifference to offering even a mediocre drinking experience – excluding the memorable view, of course, because that’s what you’re paying for when you order an undrinkable $15 (plus tax and tip) cocktail. 

It’s a stunning shell of a bar that cloaks its lack of effort in opulence. In a city upping its hospitality game with substance, sophistication, creativity and soul, aesthetics alone don’t cut it. 

Hours Monday and Tuesday 11 am to midnight, Wednesday to Saturday 11 am to 2 am, Sunday 11 am to 8 pm. 

Accessibility Twenty stairs down to an elevator that accesses the rooftop. Washrooms at rooftop level.

drinks@nowtoronto.com | @S_Parns

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