After nine years, Ultra Supper Club, the restaurant-cum-club that replaced Queen West’s long-time tropical standby Bamboo, has made way for something new, albeit from the same owner: Cube, Charles Khabouth and Ink Entertainment’s latest nightclub. “We did everything we could with Ultra,” Khabouth, who’s gotten a little sick of his “King of Clubs” moniker, told us. “And as time passed, the neighbourhood changed and I thought it was time we did, too.”
Cube presents itself as a mature nightclub for the 25-plus crowd that wears designer-everything rather than plaid-everything. It’s a group that wants bottle service in a booth, an attentive waitstaff and premium liquor (bottles start at $200, but the sky’s the limit). A small menu of late night snacks, at $9 a plate, includes chicken satay with peanut sauce and tempura shrimp with a Thai dipping sauce, as well as mini desserts served on “Asian spoons.” Cube boasts a state-of-the-art D&B sound system that should handle the all-house-music Friday nights just fine, and a 12-by-6-foot LED wall, which comes with a hefty $100,000 price tag.
Cube’s retro aesthetic is thanks to Alessandro Munge of Munge Leung, Khabouth’s go-to design man. Custom-made bronze shelving behind the 50-foot polished black bar is matched by bronze beams and lighting fixtures throughout. Curved vintage yellow-green booths are spread all over space for ample seating and lounging. Floating above the room and along the back walls, there’s a “film-strip” mural made from the spliced segments of old 70’s porn for an appropriately cubist bit of racy, retro fetishism. The 3,500-square-foot rooftop patio will open once the weather allows it.
Next up for Khabouth are two restaurants on King West: Patria, a Spanish tapas joint, and Wes Lodge, a modern saloon that promises a large selection of spirits that are a good deal browner than you’ll find at Cube.
Cube, 314 Queen St W., 416-263-0330, ink-00.com
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