After months of planning and extensive renovations, Guelph’s new BBQ smokehouse is set to open next week.
Formerly Sip Club, the downtown spot at 91 Wyndham St. N. will open anew as Which Craft on Jan. 26, kicking things off with an evening of BBQ, live music and a drag performance.
“I cannot stress how excited I am,” said head chef Kirsten Niebler, who designed the menu.
All the food will be smoked in-house, with menu items like maple bacon smoked cornbread, saucy meatballs, jerk chicken, pulled pork and smoked ribs braised in a house-made sauce. There are vegan options for mains, sides and sauces, including a pulled jackfruit sandwich Niebler said she’s excited for people to try.
“I want to be able to make as much in-house as I can,” she said. “A little originality goes a long way.”
Owner Mike Woodley, who is a licensed mixologist with years of experience bartending, used his skills to create a drink menu with six signature cocktails, including The Which’s Brew, a multi-coloured but “not overly sweet” gin drink and Harvest Moon, which he said tastes like you’re sitting in the tropics.
If none of those catch your eye, he said he knows “how to make every cocktail under the sun.”
The tap list will include “stuff from all over,” including some local and nearby breweries, including Wellington Brewery, Farm League Brewing and KW Craft Cider.
It’s not just about the food and drink, though.
Woodley hopes to make it the new hot spot downtown for live entertainment.
“Guelph needs a performance venue,” he said. “It’s now severely lacking a lot of them. Sip Club was known for its consistency, it always had something going on. So I’m going to do my best to keep that going.”
Every night will have some kind of entertainment: Tuesdays will be an open mic night, Wednesdays and Sundays will be karaoke, Thursdays will be miscellaneous (think poetry slams, improv comedy and drag nights), and Fridays and Saturdays will be reserved for live music.
Though he’s keeping the entertainment aspect of Sip Club alive, those who frequented the former bar likely won’t recognize much.
The large fake tree that stood just inside the door is no more. There’s also more space to walk around, he said, and the ground has been levelled throughout.
The floor, wallpaper, bathrooms and bar were all redone, and Woodley brought in new tables, chairs and light fixtures, all of which bring a modern Gothic look to the space.
He said the stage and performance area in particular has been “completely redone and soundproofed and designed for actual live performances.”
The patio is next on the agenda; he plans to build a freestanding structure for an all-season patio.
Both Woodley and Niebler worked at Sip Club in the past, though never together, and always had ideas for improvements. This was their chance to execute those ideas.
“We both definitely put our heart and souls in this place,” Niebler said. “We want this place to thrive.”
Woodley said he always loved the “warm and comfortable” atmosphere of Sip Club, and feels he’s done it “an even better service opening it up. It feels even cozier.”
“I want (patrons) to feel at home. This isn’t a turn and burn place. This is a sit down and enjoy the experience, especially later in the evening when live performances start.”
He said guests will be treated the same as in a high class restaurant, but for affordable prices.
“I’m not here to make millions of dollars. I need to make a living, I need my staff to make a living. But as long as I keep a roof over my head, keep my kids fed and healthy, that’s all I care about,” he said.
So what makes Which Craft different from other downtown spots?
“We’re not for college students,” he said. “Ninety per cent of the places downtown I find are catering to university students, and that’s fine. I see so many posts of people being like, there’s lots of bars and stuff downtown but I feel so old in them. That’s what this place is for.”
Their target audience is late 20s to mid 40s, though he said people younger and older are welcome, too.
Open hours will be 4 p.m. to 2 a.m. Tuesday through Sunday.
Woodley noted they aren’t taking reservations just yet, but instead will have a waitlist that will notify you when your table is ready.
On opening night, doors will open at 4 p.m. At 7:30 p.m., Chimaera and friends will take the stage for a drag performance until 9:30 p.m., followed by live music with The Hot Karl’s from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m.
There is no cover to get in, but Woodley said to be patient if there are wait times, as he’s expecting it to be busy.
“I’m just asking everybody to please be patient, please be courteous, please be kind, and just know that we’re just starting out. It’s going to be a madhouse until we hit our stride,” he said.
