Just Opened: FOMO, Adelaide Street’s newest bar, tries a “zero douche policy”

Just Opened: FOMO, Adelaide Street’s newest bar, tries a “zero douche policy”

Inside the "anti-douche" force field (Image: Fraser Abe)

There’s a new development on Adelaide Street—and this time, it’s not a condo tower. Tucked in a downstairs corner at the corner of John Street, right where Up and Down Lounge used to be, is FOMO, which stands for “fear of missing out.” This newest addition to clubland comes from Eve Fiorillo, the self-described “party artist” known for throwing hipster bacchanals like Circa’s Randomland under the name AD/D. She’s joined forces with Patrick Hodges, Luke Vitale and his brother Gregory Vitale to open this “fantasy luxury spaceship boutique champagne lounge.” Beyond the string of random descriptors, FOMO tries to set itself apart from such larger clubs as Mink and London Tap House by having a “zero douche policy.” That’s mighty big talk for a bar located right across from Hooters.

“Douchiness is a social epidemic,” Fiorillo says. But what is a “douche,” exactly? When asked how she’ll keep out unwanted visitors, she tells us that the doorman won’t be judging on the basis of how someone is dressed because “that in and of itself is douchey.” Basically, she wants to avoid the “stag parties of 10 dudes” and Vegas mentality of drunken buffoons. She’d like to think there’s an “invisible anti-douche force field” protecting the 50-person-capacity bar from the other denizens of clubland.

Though its anti-douche properties are yet untested, bubbly is the bevvy of choice at FOMO. The out-of-this-world cocktail list offers items all made with prosecco, such as the Liquid Stardust ($10), with passion fruit purée; the Lucid Hologram ($15), with orange juice, cranberry juice, triple sec, amaretto and cassis; and the Dream Dimension ($10), with sweet pear nectar. Says Fiorillo, “Champagne and disco go hand in hand, and we’re going for a sort of disco vibe. Disco’s back. It will be like electro was.”

FOMO, 270 Adelaide St. W., fomo.ca.