Meet Bleu Nuit, Montreal’s Amorous New Rum Bar

The St-Hubert Plaza welcomes a new rum bar this week, as Bleu Nuit moves into the commercial strip.

It comes from Anthoni Jodoin (who has had a busy year of bar openings, with tiki bar Snowbird, and cult-themed Idole) and Jean-Maxime Giguere (see also: Le 132 Bar Vintage in Ahuntsic), and the set-up is a little unusual. Bleu Nuit is a bar within a bar — it’s at the same address as Jodoin’s most recent opening, Idole, and almost part of the same space.

Those familiar with the space housing Idole would remember that past incarnations (most recently as no-phones-allowed bar/club Le Félix) featured two bars — one in the larger, cavern-like space at the front, and a second, cozier room down a corridor at the back. That smaller room is where Bleu Nuit is opening, although it will be totally different, with a separate design, drinks menu, and sound system to Idole.

“It has always been used as a private area or just not used at all. So we decided to create a second identity within Idole,” explains Jodoin.

The drinks will look south, with rum as a big focus on a cocktail list put together by Giguere, an established mixer on the city’s cocktail scene. Think pina coladas, mojitos, and dark and stormys, for example.

“It’s like a beachside bar with a lot of rum, Red Stripe beer, and cool Caribbean cocktails,” says Jodoin.

On the design front, it’s a little sultry (as the name Bleu Nuit implies), although perhaps fortunately, it’s not themed after the erotic Quebec TV series. But it does throw back to the era when Bleu Nuit was popular: Jodoin calls it “like an ‘80s art déco Miami bar”.

The walls are thoroughly white (with an aqua-green bar), all the better to enhance the pink and purple lights that bathe the space in a neon ambiance — take a look.

Bleu Nuit (supplied)

Bleu Nuit (supplied)

At present, customers will have to enter Bleu Nuit via Idole, but Jodoin says he’s working to get access opened to the space from the alley behind St-Hubert Street, converting Bleu Nuit into something of a secret hideaway.

STATUS — Bleu Nuit holds its grand opening November 16 (Thursday) from 9 p.m. at 6388 St-Hubert. It will open 9 p.m. to 3 a.m. Thursday to Saturday.

• Bleu Nuit [Facebook]
• Party d'ouverture officielle du Bleu Nuit [Facebook]
• Idole Will Bring Cult Vibes and Cocktails to Plaza St-Hubert [EMTL]