It’s been six weeks since Shawn Soole last shook a cocktail for a paying customer.
Despite the lack of action, the well-known Victoria bartender doesn’t appear to be suffering from mixology withdrawal.
To be fair, he is probably too busy to have noticed.
Soole has been swamped by details and decisions as the finishing touches are applied to Little Jumbo, his own soon-to-be-open restaurant tucked deep into the 500-block of Fort Street in what was once the India Curry House.
“People won’t stop screaming at me,” Soole said with a laugh, once again hitting the ignore button on his phone.
Soole left his position as head bartender at Clive’s in the Chateau Victoria Hotel in June having established the lounge as the de facto epicentre of cocktail culture in the city.
Now he’s branching out beyond the bar, insisting Little Jumbo is not a step out of his comfort zone.
“I’m known in Victoria for what we did at Clive’s, but in Australia, this is what I did — I opened restaurants and set up beverage programs,” said Soole, who has been working in Canada for nearly 10 years.
But as confident as he may be in his ability to pull off this latest endeavour, he knows there are plenty out there who think of him as a bartender first and foremost and he will have to work hard to establish himself in a new role.
“I know there are people either waiting for me to succeed or waiting for me to fail, and that goes back to the whole ‘are you a bartender or a restaurateur’ thing,” he said.
Soole credits a strong team of partners and supportive group of investors with helping him maintain an even keel as opening day approaches.
“I’m staying relatively calm for how much stress I’m going through,” he said.
Making it easier will be familiar faces among the 12 staff, particularly bartender Nate Caudle, who worked alongside Soole slinging cocktails at Clive’s, and head chef Justin Hardiman, who also joins from the Clive’s staff.
Soole said Little Jumbo will also share some traits with Clive’s. It’s likely to be more of a winter destination. It will also boast an impressive menu of spirits, with more than 500 as the bar builds, not to mention, a broad whiskey collection and knowledgeable staff.
But given the focus on food, it will also be a departure. The style is being billed as international, modern and rustic, which will change with the seasons and source ingredients locally when possible.
“We’re also hoping to introduce some new things to Victoria like offal, junk fish like mackerel and herring, while also having more mainstream dishes,” said Soole. He noted the menu will be set up in French à la carte style allowing people to build their own meals and experiment.
As for pricing, he expects it will be middle of the road, and hopes it will establish itself as one of the city’s go-to restaurants in the calibre of Zambri’s and Brasserie L’ecole.
“We’re not trying to compete or be better, but we want to be in the same category. I don’t think there’s enough restaurants of that calibre in the city,” he said.
The room is small with 10 seats at an impressive, large wooden bar and 40 seats on the floor. It is appointed with wood and brick to create a warm feel, which Soole hopes will establish Little Jumbo as a destination restaurant that is inviting and comfortable in a city that leans heavily toward the laid back.
“I wanted something that reflected me and Victoria. It has to feel right,” he said. “Victoria is laid back and we have to keep that in mind but I still want it to be a sexy room.”
Though he would not divulge the cost of tenant improvements, given the room was stripped down to studs and the expensive touches already evident the investment is clearly in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.
As for the name Little Jumbo, it’s partly an homage to a New York bar opened by renowned barkeep Harry Johnson around 1900, but it’s also descriptive of what Soole hopes will be the experience when the restaurant opens — a big experience in a little space. Little Jumbo is at 506 Fort St. An opening date has not yet been set, but Soole expects it will be within two weeks.
