Prophecy

Last May, the sexy, sophisticated revamp of the Rosewood Hotel Georgia’s basement blinked to life. The glowing room is full of touch-me textures and luxe surfaces, all dusted in flattering golden light. In place of staid framed art, a digital gallery illuminates the long back wall, beckoning to plush banquettes and private booths. On a date night or for after-work drinks, the room feels cozy and intimate, with a sound system that pads the room with velvet beats, never drowning out conversation. On weekend nights, the bar is popping.

“You say ‘high-end cocktail bar’ and some people think ‘stuffy, quiet, formal,’” says beverage director Jeff Savage (World Class Canada Bartender of 2019 and winner, when he was lead bartender of Vancouver’s Botanist, of a North America’s Best Bars award for hospitality in 2024). “We’re saying no, it can be fun,” says Savage. “We’re not a restaurant. We’re not a nightclub. We’re not technically a hotel bar. As an independent space, we have the freedom to be anything we want.”

“Anything we want” means a delightful high-low mix. It means eye-popping cocktails like the glowing Northern Lights, in an LED-lit cloche, or a smoking Souvenir 26, served in a matryoshka stacking doll, that nod to Savage’s Alberta roots. It means extravagant food, from a caviar service to a 20-ounce bone-in rib-eye. But it also means house-made kola and cream soda on tap, a Short Stories menu of mini-cocktails, daily happy hour specials and live blues and jazz nights — reasons for Vancouverites and visitors to fill this big, 200-plus-capacity room, night after night.

“If somebody wants a high-impact Instagram drink, great,” says Savage. “But I also designed this menu for somebody who just wants a delicious cocktail, nicely presented.” The menu has a quick-reference index, for somebody who wants to order without perusing the bar’s philosophy, its system of categorization by flavour or the menu’s land- and legend-based narrative streams.

With an infusion of new energy and personalities, these 1927 walls are talking again. According to Hotel Georgia history, “When it was in its first heyday, there were more deals done here than at the courthouse. Celebrities, visitors, everybody came here,” says Ted Wilkie, one of Prophecy’s three (along with Justin Mensah-Coker and Michael Rose) operating partners. “We want to create the next chapter, and have our guests weave their narrative into these walls.”

And into the mirrors. Descend the grand staircase from the discreet Howe Street entrance and the first thing you’ll see at the end of the long bar is yourself, likely looking spiffy, shiny and ready for a great night out. “That’s why we have a giant mirror there,” Savage says with a wink. “People want to be seen.”

—CHARLENE ROOKE