A Majestic Art Deco Restaurant Is Reopening On The Montreal Eaton Centre's Forgotten Top Floor

A spectacular historic landmark located in the Montreal Eaton Centre is set to reopen to the public in 2023. The Art Deco masterpiece — a restaurant on the mall's ninth floor that closed in 1999 and later became a heritage site — will be restored to its former glory by the end of the year.

The revamp will transform the architectural gem into a dining area and event space. Ivanhoé Cambridge, the firm behind The Ring, is spearheading the project in collaboration with conservation experts from local firm EVOQ Architecture.

An illustration of the Eaton Centre restaurant published in The Journal of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (1931).Courtesy of Ivanhoé Cambridge.

"An all-important witness to Montreal's commercial history will come back to life… my colleagues and I will help give the ninth floor a new future," said EVOQ Director and Architect Georges Drolet.

The original Eaton Centre restaurant was built in 1931, featuring geometric shapes, streamlined forms and bold colours inspired by the L'Île-de-France luxury ocean liner. It was designed by Jacques Carlu, the famed French architect behind the Trocadéro and the Palais de Chaillot in Paris. Canadian socialite Lady Eaton and her son Timothy Eaton, who inherited the department store business, personally selected the Art Deco master to complete the design.

Everything from the art to the utensils remains perfectly preserved — a vestige of more prosperous times for the downtown shopping mall, and perhaps a sign of more to come.

The return of the space is sure to not only satisfy Montrealers' hunger but also feed their appetite for city history and beautiful design.

The restaurant is currently aiming for a May 2024 opening.