After sitting dormant for months, a former employee is finally breathing a smokey new life into the former Sip Club on Wyndham Street.
The restaurant closed around September, and was officially purchased this week by Mike Woodley, who plans to turn it into ‘Which Craft,’ a BBQ smokehouse joint with craft beer, cocktails, live music, drag shows and more. The name is a play on his love of craft beer and witchy aesthetics.
Everything will be smoked in-house, he said. But non-meat eaters are welcome, too: many of the meat-based options can likely be substituted for things like tofu or jackfruit.
“Sip Club was always known for vegan and vegetarian options,” he said. “So I’m trying to keep the spirit of Sip Club, but still a new place.”
Woodley has been in the service industry for more than 20 years, and has done everything from serving to bartending to managing. In Sip Club’s last days, he was one of the head bartenders, as well as a “self-injected manager.”
While he may be trying to keep the spirit of Sip Club alive, he’s scrapping the interior in favour of a more modern Gothic look, with a laundry list of renovations he hopes will start in the next couple weeks.
For one thing, he’s planning on finishing the patio out back. Inside, all the floors will be ripped up and made level, some tile will be ripped out, the bar will be redone and the giant, fake tree will be torn down.
The new space will have brand new tables and chairs; he’s going to update the bathrooms as well, which will be gender neutral.
Most importantly for Woodley, he said he wants Which Craft to be a registered safe space for the LGBTQIA+ community. That means it will show up online as a registered safe space, and they will have a sticker out front saying everybody is welcome.
The smokehouse will be closed Mondays. Tuesdays they’ll have an open mic, Wednesdays and Sundays karaoke. Thursdays will be miscellaneous, reserved for things like poetry slams and drag performances. Fridays and Saturdays will be for live music – likely blues or rock.
If all goes well, he hopes it will be open around late August.
You can follow along on their Instagram for updates.
