[PHOTOS] Reuniting with Maurice de la Grande Allie this summer

After more than two years of construction, the Hotel Maurice de la Grande Allée will come back to life this summer, while the first customers will be able to eat, drink and even sleep in the new “Complexe Maurice”, from 1^any June.

If the name sticks, the entire building, which previously housed the restaurants Cosmos and VooDoo Grill as well as the bars Maurice Night Club and Charlotte, upstairs, has been completely remodeled.

“We removed everything, and there was nothing left,” explains Yannick Parent, one of the co-owners and promoters of the project, during a visit to the imposing construction site at 575 Grande Allée that is now nearing completion.

Everything inside the defunct Cosmos restaurant on Grande Allée has been removed. The space will soon make way for the new Complexe Maurice restaurant.

Photo by Didier Debuscher

Mr Barnett would like to restore the letters of nobility to the Grande Allée this summer. “Expectations are high and I know that. Maurice is a name and place with a great reputation in Quebec,” he says.

Co-owner Yannick Barnett, one of the promoters of the Complexe Maurice project on the Grande Allée, wants to revive the popular institution this summer, in a new, chic and modern decor.

Photo by Didier Debuscher

Restaurant and space Lounge

There will now be a restaurant and Lounge It has about a hundred seats on the ground floor, plus a secret bar in the back. A stage will also be set up in the restaurant to allow for shows.

“For me, Morris has become an all-in-one hotel where everything is possible, whether coming and spending a nice evening with friends, coming to see a show, or organizing a conference for example,” says the co-owner.

Image courtesy of STGM Architecture

The menu, developed by the trio of chefs Sébastien Labrie Lacroix, Luc Ste Croix (Bello), and Stéphane Modat (Le Clan), will have French and Italian influences.

“We will have plenty of appetizers to share, as we are working with caviar, oysters and burrata as well as prime rib,” says Yannick Parent.

The restaurant will be open daily, morning to evening, and lunch to dinner, including a late night menu.

Charlotte: Speak easily

The small “Speakeasy”-style bar with about two dozen seats, available by reservation only, can be accessed through the complex's back door, thanks to an exclusive code that expires at closing.

It would bear the name that “was very difficult to get rid of,” that of Charlotte, Maurice Duplessis’s alleged mistress. The atmosphere will be “chic and relaxed,” asserts Mr. Barnett.

Hotel and terrace

The 24-room boutique hotel and terrace are located three floors above.

Photo by Didier Debuscher

The terrace created in the former VooDoo Grill will also be available for private groups upon reservation. “We want to rent it for example during the Quebec Carnival, during the parade, and during the Quebec Summer Festival,” says Mr. Barnett.

The rooms and suites in the future Morris complex will be decorated in an elegant and modern way. Here's a preview of the sequel.

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Image courtesy of STGM Architecture

It is difficult not to remember the festive evenings of the late Maurice and Charlotte while visiting the furnished rooms and suites throughout these two former establishments. “Here, it was a long bench from Charlotte,” Mr. Barnett points out, pointing to the pavilion overlooking the Grande Allée.

Neighbor too

Neighbor Société Cigare has also been completely renovated. It will now be separated from the complex by a huge basement.

80 employees

To be ready for summer, now is the time to hire, Mr. Barnett stresses. In total, 80 people will be hired to work at the Morris complex.

“Interviews are underway, I'm sure. It's going well,” says the man who also owns six other restaurants, including Le Clan, La Bûche, Bello and Don Vegan.

Includes Morris Complex

• Luxury boutique hotel with 24 rooms and suites.
• A balcony accessible for groups of about a hundred people, overlooking the Grande Allée. It will include fireplaces and high tables.
• A restaurant that includes a “lounge” section and a central bar that can accommodate about one hundred people.
• A terrace with a capacity of approximately 100 seats, which will be created on the ground floor.
• The cigar company is located in the same location and has a capacity of about thirty people.