The Wednesday-night social club at Marcus, the restaurant at the Four Seasons Hotel Montreal, is a great start toward cementing the five-star hotel’s status as the coolest spot in town.
In Montreal, there are plenty of trendy “it” spots where the city’s most fascinating and attractive people gather, but there isn’t really a dedicated social club.
A social club is a multigenerational hangout where, with a little luck and magic, you meet all the most interesting and talented people in a place. And the rest just happens on its own. But that delicate balance of coolness and the effortless air of being “the” right person in the right place at the right time is very difficult to achieve and almost impossible to imitate. Not everyone can be a Soho House.
It takes very cold martinis, great (live) music, very interesting people, and the air of exclusivity that comes with a well-kept secret. And, of course, something intangible and almost indescribable: a lot of style.
I went to the first party at Marcus Social on Wednesday, April 1.
MARCUS SOCIAL
The Marcus Social Club— a jazz-infused take on the ultra-chic evenings in the lounge of the Four Seasons Hotel Montreal’s restaurant—will take place every Wednesday evening starting at 6 p.m.
The concept is a midweek oasis—a breather to recharge the creative batteries of the city’s modern “yuppies” and artists. So, naturally, it’s a jazz night.
On Wednesday nights, there’s an air of sophistication at Marcus that evokes the ’80s—something campy, architectural, and nostalgic. The band plays in front of a backdrop of potted palm trees; the musicians wear blazers with shoulder pads and oversized suit pants, and they don’t look a day over 25.
On the tables are dice games and playing cards printed with questions:“Do you believe in love at first sight?”, “Have you been surprised by anyone here?” No one uses them, of course, because the (dirty) martinis and the atmosphere already act as a social lubricant, and it’s incredibly easy for everyone who’s come to Marcus Social’s first Wednesday to chat about this and that.
Clustered around the small marble tables in the lounge are women in their fifties wearing acetate glasses, men in shirt sleeves, tattooed girls in wedge boots, journalists in T-shirts, and influencers with little digital cameras from the 2000s. Curators, artists, financiers, event planners, and publishing professionals —everyone is here. All that’s missing is a movie star to make the picture perfect…
At the end of the evening (9 p.m., because it is, after all, a weekday), I head home with two new topics for my articles, a designer’s phone number, and a crazy desire to get a membership card for the Marcus Social club.
Practical Information
Where? Marcus, at the Four Seasons Hotel Montreal
When? Wednesday evenings, starting at 6 p.m.
