Griffintown Club New City Gas is Now Housing Two Art Galleries and a Mediterranean Restaurant | Eater Montreal

"Housed in the 1863 New City Gas building, I see Bazart as a remade multipurpose space that combines indoor and outdoor art galleries, a new Mediterranean restaurant, and a boutique selling artisanal goods. The restaurant is a collaboration between chefs Massimo Piedimonte (formerly of Le Mousso), Athiraj Pharsavath (previously at Mercuri), and Guillaume Daly (chef and partner of Soubois), and focuses on charcoal-grilled meats, fish, and veggies, mezze-style dips including muhammara, labneh, and an almond-tahini-peas-and-mint dip, and plenty of raw fish. For drinks they’ve tapped Maison Boulud sommelier Maxime Laliberté and Montreal mixologist Laurence Picard (most recently with non-alcoholic bubble tea outfit Boba Boba). The restaurant aims to be transportive—evoking boho beach spots like Ibiza, Mykonos, and Tulum—with woven wicker pendant lanterns and sand-coloured flooring conveying seaside vibes. The venue also houses an NFT gallery curated by 0x Society, billed as the first of its kind in Canada, where five of the twelve NFT works on display have already sold (the least expensive went for $8,000, per Silo 57), alongside an outdoor gallery showing traditional visual art from Galerie S16 and a boutique selling jewelry, clothes, plants, and perfumes. With dancing still banned and alcohol service cut off at midnight in Quebec, this revamp feels like a promising pivot for the sprawling Griffintown nightclub; the art installations are intended as a temporary summertime affair but New City Gas is considering integrating the concept more permanently, and the restaurant is said to be here to stay. Bazart is open from 5 p.m. to midnight Wednesday through Sunday at 969 Wellington Street." - Valerie Silva