by J. Brooks Terry
Staff Writer
Open for just over four weeks, Vince O’Rourke, owner of Eclate on Bay Street, said he’s been more than pleased with the response generated by his downtown jazz club.
“It’s been very exciting to see people take an interest in what we’re doing,” said O’Rourke. “We’ve worked very hard to get to this point, and we’re going to keep on working hard.”
O’Rourke, who lives downtown, said the club could be open for lunch by next week.
“Very soon,” he said, adding the recent closings of Portabella’s and the Desert Rider on Bay Street had little to do with the new lunch menu, consisting mainly of “New York deli-style sandwiches.”
“[The closings] really didn’t affect us,” he said. “We just thought that it was time, now that we’ve been here for a little while.”
Michael Munz, downtown advocate whose public relations firm helped coordinate Eclate’s Dec. 5 opening, said he’s pleased to see the start of a 24-hour resurgence on the Northbank.
“Eclate’s successful grand opening night represents the accumulation of an entrepreneur dream on the one hand, and the realization that downtown is an attractive entertainment venue on the other.” said Munz.
Following the opening, O’Rourke said things have been steadily picking up thanks to conventional marketing and word-of-mouth advertising.
“I wouldn’t want to guess on when we’ll really get going, but we’re doing pretty well right now. After the word starts to spread and the news hits that we’re down here, I think things will really pick up,” he said. “We’re already pretty busy on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights.”
O’Rourke said his search for local musical talent — already a popular attraction for patrons of Eclate — will also continue.
“It’s been amazing to see the talent that we’ve been able to get,” he said. “We’re always looking.”