Toronto gets in on the secret bar trend with a mysterious new spot from Sidecar’s owners

Toronto gets in on the secret bar trend with a mysterious new spot from Sidecar’s owners

Toronto has been slow to get in on the underground nightclub trend underway in San Francisco and New York, but that’s all about to change: a modern-day speakeasy is set to open on College Street this June. Bill Sweete and Casey Bee, the masterminds behind Sidecar and Negroni, have teamed up with writer Christine Sismondo to launch the Toronto Temperance Society, a venue of “fine drinks, good music and good company.” Membership can be obtained only through an application process and an annual fee of $285. The TTS harkens back to the days of Prohibition with its own list of prohibitions: nobody under 25, no cellphone gabbing and certainly no cosmopolitans (anyone who orders one will be asked to leave). The inner goings-on of the place are to be kept secret from the media.

In return, the bar claims to offer one of Toronto’s best selections of liquors, along with vintage and innovative cocktails made with locally sourced ingredients and house-made mixers. As for the exact location, only members will be told, but things like this never remain secret for long: even Please Don’t Tell—New York’s choice underground bar, accessible only by saying one’s name into a fake pay phone—had its secret entrance revealed on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon.

• Whatever you do, don’t order a cosmopolitan [National Post]