Growing the Rossland Music Scene - The Red Room Lounge Debuts in Rossland
By Andrew Zwicker
Rossland’s slowly emerging music scene got another boost this week with the opening of another live performance venue in town. While not, strictly speaking, a new venue, the former lounge and restaurant in the Prestige Mountain Resort has been re-branded, renovated, renamed and will re-open tonight as the Red Room Lounge and the Goldtown Dining Room.
Towards the end of this summer entrepreneurial couple Tim Lapointe and Gabriella Bellie-Lapointe were contacted by the Prestige after the current food and beverage operator wanted to get out of the business. The upshot of that discussion is that tonight, Thursday evening, the hotel’s food services will re-open under new banners and new management.
“It happened very quickly. In the end of July the previous operator of the space wanted to get out. I was in Italy and I had Tim calling me and they asked me if I could put together a plan for how we would run it,” explained Bellie-Lapointe. “When I got back from Italy I drove over to Rossland to meet Tim and we met with the Prestige two days later and now here we are.”
The first item on the new menu was some small renovations and touch ups to the physical space of the lounge and dining room. The most notable changes came in what is now the Red Room Lounge. The previously tight entrance and bar/seating area has been opened up with open air windows punched through the wall that separates the bar side and the pool table area. The four large windows open up the space, connecting the two sides of the lounge into one cohesive space.
On the other side of the dividing wall, the pool table area has been transformed with some fittingly red paint and a new hardwood dance floor and stage. The pool table has been removed, replaced by an intimate live performance venue. The new windows allow patrons sitting at the bar or along the banquet seating area to see the stage and take in the tunes.
Tim Lapointe, in particular, wants to really grow the music scene in Rossland through the Red Room. He’s already got the stage and mixer patched into his laptop, which runs Pro-tools, a piece of software that allows him to record the performances on the new stage.
“We really want to create more of a music scene here. Anyone who plays music or has any music projects in mind I really want to speak to them and see if we can work something out together,” added Tim. “I really think that if we focus on making it good for the musicians than it will naturally grow and people will follow.”
This past Wednesday night Tim and Gabriella opened up the lounge to some lucky locals for sneak preview of the space. A healthy crowd of 40 or so folks took up the offer, soaking in the intimate ambiance, listening to some live tunes from The Toques’ Graham Tracey, and sampling items off the new menu.
The Red Room Lounge will feature a tapas-style menu with a number of unique items bringing in some standard pub elements with an international twist as well some fine dining type dishes all at affordable prices. Of particular note is the Poutine in the Red Room lounge. Far from your standard fries, gravy, and cheese, the curds at the Red Room’s take on the French Canadian classic incorporates an Indian curry sauce that is sure to become a crowd favourite.
On the dining room side, the Goldtown Dining Room has been refurbished with some bright new paint that fits naturally with the artwork of Stephanie Gauvin which now adorns the walls. The raised wooden booth seating has been fixed up with smoked glass now dividing the booths, creating an even more private atmosphere.
Chefs Colin Poffenroth, formerly a co-owner of the Trails End Café, and Gabriella will be cooking up the tasty treats all from scratch on site and promise a new angle on dining in Rossland.
“I can’t make up my mind what my favourite thing on the menu is yet,” said Bellie-Lapointe. “There are way too many good things. We are making a beef souvlaki with tenderloin that is very good. We do Cornish hens and a chopino which is seafood done San Francisco style that I really like.”
You can check out the new menu at the Red Room and Goldtown Dining Room at this weekend’s Taste of Rossland event.
