July 18, 2003
Image is everything
Frobisher Inn's new
bar a classier version of the same old fare
NUNATSIAQ NEWS
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Hotel and bar staff
gathered Monday night for a celebratory drink, as well as an orientation to
the Storehouse Bar and Grill, which replaces the Tulugaq Bar.
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The line-up began outside the new Storehouse Bar and Grill in Iqaluit well
before it opened for the first time Tuesday at 5 p.m.
And many who continued to wait in line outside the packed bar as the night
progressed agreed it was worth it.
"We were busy from the time we opened to the time we closed," said
Rainer Launhardt, manager of the Frobisher Inn, which built the new hangout.
The Storehouse is the stylish replacement for the Tulugaq Bar, which is being
renovated this week to become a conference room and an extension of the Frobisher
Inn dining room.
The new bar is bright, with a kitchen serving up bar fare, separate smoking
and non-smoking sections, and a quiet lounge with leather chairs and a fireplace.
The upper level has an array of games ranging from pool and foosball, to a
deer-shooting video game called "Big Buck Hunter."
The decor includes a yellow 1950s snowmobile hanging from the ceiling, elk-horn
chandeliers and a stuffed muskox head on the wall.
The bar boasts eight different kinds of beer, and, perhaps to give the homey
restaurant a nightclub atmosphere, servers carried trays with flashing lights,
and served drinks containing flashing red ice cubes.
Aside from a few minor computer glitches, Laundhardt said opening night was
an overwhelming success.
Bar staff serve up fancy drinks in shiny new glasses.
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"It went extremely well. Guests behaved and they liked the place,"
he said.
A grand opening celebration will likely be held after the place has been open
for a few weeks.
While Laundhardt couldn't estimate how many people passed through the doors
on Tuesday night, the constant line-ups outside meant the bar was almost always
at full capacity.
And while he wouldn't say how much money the place pulled in on its first night,
he was confident it gave the Legion a run for its money.
"There is no comparison [to the Legion]," he said.
"I think we have set a much higher standard for Iqaluit."
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