Food & Drink

The Roosevelt Room takes the supper club back to the future

The Roosevelt Room takes the supper club back to the future

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The new meal: The Roosevelt Room, which remains under construction, intends to put the focus on food (Photo by Karon Liu)

Another supper club is opening in the Entertainment District, but before the eye rolling commences, note that The Roosevelt Room is attempting to distance itself from its cookie-cutter urban-chic counterparts. The menu is to be prepared by a high-profile executive chef, and the interior is done in a deco motif intended to channel golden-era Hollywood (rather than the slick, soulless look into the future we’ve come to expect from supper clubs).

We met visonary and Bay Street whiz Jeff O’Brien yesterday as he was configuring the lines on the patterned ceiling above the bar and giving thumbs down to wallpaper deemed too shiny. “I’ve thought for the longest time that Toronto hasn’t really nailed the supper club concept,” he says. “There have been a lot of attempts, but they haven’t really fired all cylinders on the food, service and entertainment components.”

O’Brien isn’t taking any chances with the Roosevelt Room’s cylinders. For food, he’s turned to Trevor Wilkinson of Trevor Kitchen and Bar. Much like the French menu at the first Academy Awards dinner that took place at the Roosevelt Hotel in Hollywood in 1929, Wilkinson—who was also the executive chef at Jump and Lobby—will be cooking up such bistro staples as coq au vin and duck confit. One of the signature dishes will be the Roosevelt burger, consisting of a red wine–braised short rib wrapped in ground sirloin, with blue cheese, tarragon dressing, arugula and a tiny skewer of fried pickles.

The 550-capacity club’s decor comes from the Design Agency (the firm headed by the hosts of HGTV’s Designer Guys), with a heavy emphasis on wood. Bold lines and sweeping curves are in the walls and etched into the woodwork. Downstairs, we find a long hallway lined with giant Tamara de Lempicka prints that cabaret dancers will pass as they secure their headpieces for the weekly shows in the main dining room.

Since this is the Entertainment District, modern elements are also included. A giant projection screen (on which silent movies will be shown) and an LED lighting system will serve the room well during obligatory DJ nights and celebrity events. The 20 unisex bathroom stalls in the basement are another interesting feature.

Sadly, the cinema-themed supper club that just screams TIFF won’t open in time for this year’s festival due to the six-week delay of the city strike, though there will be soft openings next month that lead up to the official opening in mid-October.

The Roosevelt Room, 328 Adelaide St. W. (at Drummond Pl.), 416-599-9000, therooseveltroom.ca.

Topics: Chefs Entertainment District Jeff O'Brien Jump Lobby menus Openings Owners Restaurants supper clubs The Roosevelt Room tiff-talk Trevor Kitchen Trevor Wilkinson

36 thoughts on “The Roosevelt Room takes the supper club back to the future”

  1. Jeff O’Brien, go meet Brad Long. You two will need each other’s shoulders to cry on in the near future.

    And before someone says Shocker, why so negative about these two projects? Well, no, it’s not that I’m trying to be negative, just call me a realist. The concept is good, it just looks like the execution is way above everyone’s head. This is not New York and this is not Chicago. The people of Toronto don’t even support 20-seat restaurants, what makes you think that 500 of them an evening will support this?

    When will restaurateurs in this city realize that our volume of people willing to go out and dine is no where near the volume of the USA. So, when these guys go around the USA and try to bring their concepts here, it usually doesn’t fly.

    Now, you really don’t need that much brain power to realize that a 550-seat ANYTHING in Toronto, no less the Entertainment District is a disaster waiting to happen. Shiny wallpaper will be the least of his worries. Where in Toronto have you seen even 200 people dining at the same time for dinner? This is not Milestones or Boston Pizza.

    But alas, they say this Jeff is a Bay St. whiz. Which often means that he’s swizzled lots o money from clients over the years so he should have a good amount of play money at hand.

    Good luck.

  2. The Roosevelt Room is a supper club with 2 separate capacities to consider; a seated capacity of 120 (including private rooms) for dining, and a nightclub capacity anticipated to be approximately 550.

  3. Thank you, Roosevelt Room! This changes EVERYTHING! I am so glad you cleared that up.

    Um, back to reality.

    Ok, your supper club will seat 120. I’m gonna tell you this again so it doesn’t shock you when the bank calls or your investors call: you will NEVER fill it! Never. This is the sad reality of our city. You might get some people in for first-time viewing, and then that’s it. Private rooms you will do better with since planners are always looking for newer, nicer looking venues.

    Uh, your nightclub? Unless you have hooches in the back for some secret rendevouz, you must be ingesting some great kush if you think you’ll even get CLOSE to that 550 number. I mean, brother, what planet are you living on? Do you not LIVE in Toronto? Or do you really have that large an ego to think that you will open everyone’s eyes? Come on, do yourself and your pocketbook a favour and scale this puppy down drastically. You should heed my free advice. You will thank me for it.

  4. who is this guru giving advice about toronto night life? only by revealing yourself can you give yourself any credibility…you probably don’t even work in the industry…my guess is you probably don’t even have a job if you’ve got this much time to compose a disertation like the above two postings. i for one am excited about the prospect of a new spot on adelaide west. good luck Roosevelt Room…

  5. Well Mike, it’s too bad you can’t read properly. Good thing it’s back to school time!

    Let’s take this sloooooowly again for you: What I actually said was no restaurant in Toronto has EVER filled 550 seats for dinner, or will they ever. Well, maybe in 100 years when our population is over-capacity. But unfortunately in 50 years, the Roosevelt Supper Club will only be a blip in Toronto’s history. Anyway, I digress. The Roosevelt Room kindly further explained that their concept was 120 for dinner. To which I replied, I STILL don’t think 120 people will go to a supper club in the entertainment district.

    Now, if this Jeff is such a whiz, he’d understand his demographic, psychographics of the area, (this all means understand your market). And what he SHOULD have done, because I do really like this concept, is put it in an area where this might actually fly. Personally, I think this would have better (and cheaper for Jeff) somewhere like Maple, Vaughan, or Woodbridge. The people there understand supper clubs better.

    Because here’s what’s going to happen, he’s going to hire someone who’s going to tell him they are a restaurant and events whiz. And they may be. But they will be fighting against a tide of low to no tourism in the city (thanks, David Miller. Thanks Tourism Toronto, way to spend those ad dollars), a shaky economy, and, quite frankly, a backlash against ‘fine dining’/$$$$ restaurants. The boys at Splendido get the picture. Ask Jamie Kennedy how hard it is to fill his small-ish (but great) restaurants? So, Jeff will have this staff of people telling him what he wants to hear, and they’ll be working hard trying to fill this place, Tourism Toronto and others will try to throw some events to him in the beginning but they’ll do it once, and then it’ll be old for them and have you seen the Convention List lately, mike? There’s more white on there than black – meaning more white space on the paper than black ink in conventions coming here. Anyway, he’ll spend $$$ on ads, it’ll look sleek. The Bay St. boys will come visit once, twice, three times, and then it’ll get old. It’ll get expensive, and it’ll get empty.

    BTW, I think the people that understand, know what I’m saying is true. I don’t need to give the big reveal.

    And in terms of how much time I have to type? I’m a fast typer, so these little dittys take me on avg. about 5 minutes to post off. I consider 5 minutes well worth my time to help Jeff et al out. Wouldn’t you agree? Oh, I also have a very flexible boss :)

    I’m glad you’re so excited, mike. You should yell from the rooftops and try to help Jeff out! I’m hoping that all your well wishes and good lucks actually translate in many, many, many visits to The Roosevelt Room and that you’re not just talking hot air here. Because Jeff needs bums in seats here, not just “well-wishers”.

  6. Dear Shocker. What a relief to have someone articulate so well how odd and boring this city is when it comes to Toronto restaurants and nightlife. I have to agree with you Shocker…on all fronts. I am a Bay st exec who entertains tons of clients on a nightly basis and I’m always stuck on where to take them that is new, fun original and actually still in business. Bay st restaurants and Yorkville and College st. for that matter, get really boring, and dry after a while. Hmmm..maybe its time to move to NYC or Chicago :)

  7. wow, this “shocker” idiot is a real loser. i’m guessing he has unrealized lofty ambitions to become a restauranteur or just plain jealous. look at how long his posts are…FREAK – get a life. who the hell uses words like “puppy” to replace nouns. gee, ii think the bay stret exec who is opening this new place probably is successful for a reason, leave him alone, they don’t need your inane “advice”. and it makes sense to have a dining and event venue in a convenient part of town, 2 revenue streams. i don’t think they’ll have trouble with seating or booking in this niche market that they are serving. i hangout in upscale bar/restaurants when i visit the city and its always packed. i don’t think the restaurant/dining business is going to fade much in toronto- the goods ones are still there,its the poorly financed “living my dream of running a bar/restaurant” that go under in “neighbourhoods”.

  8. by the way yo idiot, you just proved how stupid you are “Shocker” by actually thinking in the first place that they made a restaurant that expected to pack 550 people in for dinner per night plus….suggesting they move it to Vaughn, Maple or some other lame suburb, those peopledon’t eat out unless its a wedding birthday or anniversary…they’re busy taking the kids to soccer or mowing their lawns….god you’re so stupid!!!! and “psychographic” oh please you can’t even pull off pretentious in an intelligent way.

  9. Let’s try a realist perspective. The Roosevelt Room will end up a big joke. “Shocker” is right on the money for the most part. TO just doesn’t have the market. The latest TO resto success stories are gourmet burger joints – LOL. It doesn’t matter if your space is designed by The Designer Guys or (vastly superior) Yabu Pushelberg or II by IV. The failure of TDG’s 111 Yorkville, smaller and better located, is proof.

    The pathetic “selling points” touted in this article speak for themselves. Trevor Who? EC at at Lobby (just sold to owner of shot-up Brunswick House) and Jump? Their success was never due to food – rather, location.

    Bay Street “visionary” Jeff O’Brien? CEO and President of (defunct?) ONE Financial. The website’s latest update is from June 2008. They list Société Générale as a partner – who suffered a $7 billion loss from ONE trader in 2008. LMFAO.

    So the financial backer (O’Brien) is a clown. The Executive Chef (Wilkinson) is a joke.

    The most important factor relative to success – LOCATION – is an obvious failure waiting to happen. EAST of Spadina, off ADELAIDE??? All the new hotspots are far WEST of Spadina — ie. Ossington (Foxley/Pizzeria Libretto/Levack Block), West Queen West (Drake/Gladstone), Liberty Village. And Adelaide, once Richmond’s equal is a dismal, dead street.

    I took the time to write this because I enjoy the coverage of nightlife on Toronto Life, BlogTO, Torontoist and Martini Boys. I work in finance and have been going out and taking people out for about 10 years in TO. Trust me, #2 Drummond St. is long way from *St. Laurent* in Montreal – where you will find the nearest real supper clubs. :) Cheers,

  10. Sadly, Shocker is right. We USED to weekly, North 44, Fifth,Bymark, Colbourne LAne, the no longer in existance Avalon,Susur, etc, ect, etc and spared no expense on the covert wines that miraculously found their way to our table. Within the past 5 years we have sat in rooms that were once full houses and thinned out considerably.. from classic restuarants to the’cool’ and funky
    And sadly again,as x-patriots of Manhatten, this wonderful idea won’t fly here. Bathazar’s have their ‘regulars’ who walk there for lunch and dinner ( and have a few mill for pocket change) but Bathazar’s will always have the rest of the Manhattenites AND tourists to fill the place to capacity for most part of the day and night. ( And Bathazar’s doesn’t even have great food, but the atmosphere is intoxicating !!! )Toronto is simply not populated enough and Canadians are SO VERY VERY conservative in spending their nest egg on dining , save a special holiday once a year.
    And to be competitive, you would need an Allegro or Opus wine list that can’t be duplicated in this day and age.

    All that said, I wish you well..I truly hope to see you succeed

  11. lol. went to the roosevelt over the weekend. awesome space.great crowd. Major buzz all over the city with all the right people, oh. and good prices. 7.50 rail. so much for the armchair critics. as for location? I live 5 mins. away. love the fact that I have somewhere like this so close to my condo.

  12. Great crowd, huge buzz is a given for all new openings …. This crowd needs to spend big money and stay as regulars and not hop to the next new venue that opens in order for the restaurant to survive..I hope it is successful and will eventually try it…
    Toronto ( outside of Toronto) doesn’t hit the list of big cities .. WE don’t even have a Zagett’s anymore .. It was out for 1 year and then nothing.
    We have GREAT restaurants scattered thoughout Toronto and I have spoken to many chef/owners..People do not want to drop $500. a night on a regular basis to keep the restaurants alive..and the BYOB didn’t help either since the markup on liqour is the more profitable for them

  13. I’m not sure why Shocker feels so strongly about this. If he/she really doesn’t like it, after going a few times, that’s fine. The place isn’t even officially open yet!

    I agree with Shocker that maybe the capacity seems a little over-ambitious, but I do think that T.O. needs a break from the cookie-cutter supper clubs. I think that this will be a breath of fresh air; and it is very Manhattan.

    In addition, saying that The Roosevelt Room will do well in Vaughan and Woodbridge is like saying The Box in NYC should have been located in Jersey. I’m not sure if putting an urban hotspot in a suburb full of soccer moms is the way to go.

    Tba, I’m not sure how you can misspell Manhattan if you’ve lived there, considering its dwellers tend to have a lot of pride.

    Trevor Wilkison is a pretty talented chef, and if having worked in Centro, Lobby, and Jump doesn’t mean anything to you, then you obviously doesn’t understand food, nor the importance of food to a club.

    Bottom line: No one will know how well this concept will pan out, just don’t knock it til you try it.

  14. OH !! I stand corrected !Not only can I not type , I can’t spell either ! I’ve been away far too long, but then again I’ve been known to spell Toronto incorrectly as well..

    and ” then you obviously doesn’t understand food ” makes us both lazy in our proof reading :)

    I don’t think the concept is being knocked, the concept is great … it’s the recent history of wonderful retaurants with exeptional food, service , location and atmosphere that brings us to the population #’s and conseravtive spending … It’s looking at the big picture of GTA, not simply a new high end restaurant ..and on top of that EDO brings in ManhattAn’s NOBU chef for a fundraising event ?.

    I think all of us wish all openings to be successful and STAY successful… It seems to me most are questioning the size and timing to be the critical ‘make it or break it’…(didn’t prrof-reed )
    Enjoy your week !

  15. I’m back.

    I went. I saw. It will fail.

    But first, let me get some housekeeping out of the way: Lynn dear, go to the Learning Annex and take a couple classes. You can’t spell and you can’t write for shit. You know what they say about glass houses. You fault me for using the word “puppy” and “psychographics” but just look at how and what you wrote. C’mon Lynn, have some pride in a public forum.

    Nobody: Your name fits you to a tee.

    T.O. Lover: Well, I guess I feel strongly because I too am a T.O. Lover and would love to see my great city flourish and thrive. I get so depressed when I drive around the city these days and see everything shuttered with a FOR LEASE sign in front. And sadly, we will be seeing this with Roosevelt Room too. But really I’m just a passionate realist about everything in life.

    As many can see, the majority feels the same way I do about the state of our city’s restaurants and this one too. Roosevelt Room has an identity crisis before it opens its doors. They do not know the business and they do not know what they are doing. I had the chance to go see Roosevelt Room for myself recently. I will say this: it LOOKS beautiful. If I didn’t know what great China knock-offs you can get these days with wood and trimmings I’d say they spent quite the pretty penny. I know these people and I wish them well. But they are not really restaurateurs, they are poseurs. And it will reflect when you go there. Go there and see. Don’t take my word for it. I also tried a sampling of food. It was average at best. And the prices from what I know are way too high.

    But I stand by my original comment. Too big, and not for Toronto.

    And btw, for all the geniuses that don’t know this: Vaughan, Maple, and parts of Richmond Hill have the most wealth of this province. If you think the profile is just soccer moms then you are all reading the wrong papers. Forget what they say about Oakville. It’s all up north. Oakville may be the wealthiest on paper, but you know how that goes.

  16. Pingback: Michelle Obama on Iron Chef, Lea and Perrins recipe revealed, Canada’s cod comeback | Read All About It | torontolife.com/daily

  17. I just got the Dine.To notice about the grand opening of this place and checked out the menu:
    $18 for an omelette. (Eggs are dirt cheap.)
    $22 for a shrimp appetizer (Not the entree.)
    $5 for a side of horseradish (Not a joke.)
    Why? Is it because this place employs “superstar” DJs? Considering the average lifespan of a Toronto nightclub is under 6 months, it doesn’t seem like great long-term planning to try & promote an upscale restaurant as a trendo spot for disco hipsters.
    In this economic climate, when so many other really good restaurants that have proven themselves throughout the years are offering cheaper & cheaper options just to attract customers, I really don’t think prerecorded dance music and a pretensious website warrants charging $5 for something that every other place in the city gives away free.
    If this place realy wants to attract business, maybe it should try being inspired by the dinner prices of the 1920’s instead of the music.

  18. Wow Shocker, you’ve managed to accomplish the unthinkable; you’ve mixed the perfect amount of dork with the just the right amount of douche. That’s some amazing feat! It’s not often those two characteristics go together. In fact, you’ve inspired me. My new favourite quasi-derogatory term is “dorche”, as in “Wow, Shocker is such a frickin’ dorche”. Stop trying to dazzle us with your writing and typing skills and get a life. You took daily asskickings growing up didn’t you? And by the way, I typed this in MS Word first and then copied it here. So if you have a problem with my typing, grammar, punctuation, sentence structure, or writing skills, take it up with Bill Gates. You obviously have the time on your hands, you opinionated dorche. I know what you’re thinking right now and you should stop it. Stop pondering whether “asskickings” is a real word and get on with your ridiculous life.

    Sorry folks…had to be done. Having said that, I look forward to giving this place a shot.

  19. Went to The Roosevelt Room for dinner, the food was amazing. Had the coq au vin ($28) – worth every penny. My friend had the infamously expensive shrimp, I tried some as well and I have to say – best shrimp I’ve had in my life.

    Let’s just say I hope this place stays open because it is my new stomping ground…

  20. Oh man. I just read this and it was too funny. STFU Shocker, you should be a comedian and I am so stealing “dorche” to use from now on. So I also went to the Roosevelt Room and I must admit the food was great. The atmosphere was cool and we all had a great time. If it stay s open or not, who really cares? Lets enjoy life and this city while we are here. if a new concept comes out and someone has the cojones to try it in Toronto then lets try it out and enjoy it and if you hate it then keep it to yourself. As for Shocker, I just feel sorry 4 u. Are you a disgruntled generation x guy or girl? Feel like life has dealt u a shitty hand? Cause it seems like you hate on everything in toronto and yet can somehow manage to sound dispondent like you like it? Weird! Dude please get a life or just simply end yours so us happy go lucky people who like new stuff in toronto can actually read a decent review with out your background talk of how everything sucks and will fail. LOSER! And yes I know my grammer sucks and guess what….. I couldn’t care less! Get a life dude!

  21. Shocker: your name says it all – like c’mon “THE SHOCKER”????? How are you making fun of other people??? Ur obviously a loser that has ZERO friends. Man, I can’t believe you call yourself Shocker and then diss other people? LOLOLOLOL!!!!!!

  22. Regardless of the outcome of the Roosevelt Room, I thoroughly enjoyed all of the above banter.

    Hey, if it doesn’t pan out, who cares?

    Let’s not get our (NY) knickers in a knot here folks! :)

    Shocker, you’re worth your weight in (Dep hair gel) in gold. You’re too much…

  23. I was looking to see the buzz on RR, but instead found some angry little fella who apparently whittles away his time on the interweb instead of working. He attributes his ability to do this to his “flexible” boss. Well kudos to you, your mother must be so proud of this situation you fell into.

    There are only two reasons I can think of where a boss would be so “flexible” to let you piss away your day on a 10,000 word treatise.

    The first is that you are sooooo fking unimportant that it isn’t worth his time to watch over you. You are at the bottom of the bottom tier of a bottom level organization. And your boss, afterall, has more important things to do with his time. Like clean the grease trap.

    The second would be if you worked your ass off on Bay street and started his own effin’ bank in your late twenties, and are so filthy rich now you can do what you want. Given that you seem to have all this time on your hands to tweet away your day and make zero dollars for your boss, this seems very unlikely. Also, that description would also make you Jeff O’Brien.

    Don’t take this personally. I hope we can be friends… really. We should be friends. I even have a rad name just like you.

  25. The Roosevelt Room is elegant and cozy. The food is superb.
    Me and my friends will visit this club again ad infinitum.
    Thanks Roosevelt Room and good luck!

  26. Made it to The Roosevelt Room on Tuesday and it was excellent! Not a single complaint from our party of four. Everything was great, from the service, to the delicious food, to the design. And the place was well over half capacity…on a Tuesday! Not bad at all for such a new restaurant. In fact, most restaurants I patronize on a Tuesday (or just look inside as I’m passing by) aren’t usually this full. The value was definitely there too.

    Shocker, your sarcastic apology shows your immaturity. You know sarcasm is the lowest form of wit. Your comments that TRR will fail are speculative and your review is subjective. You had already decided it won’t work before you even went. You HAD to dislike it. An insecure no-it-all like you would rather be disemboweled than eat his words. You were inherently unable to be objective, making your opinion meaningless. Next time, do yourself a favour; try to be a little more positive and first ATTEND the new establishment before forming your negative opinion. You might surprise yourself. You might even enjoy some time during the course of your miserable, petty existence.

  27. Tried getting into Roosevelt Room last night for a birthday. The bouncers are straight out arrogant pr!cks. Not only did we call in multiple times and received confirmation for our guest lists, but we also waited outside like everyone else in the cold trying to get in and were still denied entry.

    I knew some others who were inside already and they said it wasn’t anything special. Think the novelty of this ‘new’ place will wear off quickly and the true colours of this business will be begin to show on the top line of O’Brien’s financials.

    Disclaimer: We had more women then men, we weren’t rude or out of line. I’m not new to the club scene and know how this works. We were all in front waiting before our guest list expiry time.

    Not going back, wouldn’t recommend the place to others.

  28. Just went to the Roosevelt Room for a Christmas function. I had read the negative reviews posted prior to the visit but wanted to keep an open mind because in theory, I liked the concept.

    Well…

    It didn’t take long before the reviews I had read all manifested. The food was terrible. I’ll explain it like this; Salads were warm, entrees were cold.

    The servers were all the usual pretentious Toronto types with the bad attitude and general apathy towards paying customers.

    This is just another sub-par Toronto venue with sub-par service and food. Do not be mislead by the “romance” the idea presents. The Roosevelt room is a lot like the Overlook Hotel if you know what I mean.

  32. I will summarize this club in few words: Rude stuff, over priced drinks, and lousy DJ. You will get more value for your money somewhere else :)

  33. Went on a Friday for dinner with a group of 6.
    Venue: 3.5/5 (didn’t live up to all the hype)
    Food: 3/5 (small portions, average food)
    Service: 3.5/5 (slow, even though it wasn’t busy)
    Overall experience, value for your money: mediocre at best.

    Will not visit again.

  34. omg, so good! great music, bouncers opened the cab door for us and we all had a great time last week. Tough getting a cab when you’re leaving though!

  36. Pingback: Then & Now: The Living Room – Then and Now

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