Pax Romana
Neighbourhood: Commercial Drive
Address : 1608 Commercial Drive (Entrance is via the alleyway at the corner of Commercial Drive and Graveley Street)
When I caught wind of Pax Romana’s closure on Commerical Drive some months ago, I was gutted. Alongside that devastation, however, came a worthy reminder that the content of headlines are usually worth a second glance. I soon discovered that Pax Romana’s closure was never set to be a permanent measure, but rather a seized opportunity to expand into a kitchen more suitably sized for the team’s culinary ambitions. I fear I was captured by clickbait for a moment there, but my brief moment of honest heartbreak did make the news of Pax Romana’s relocation all the more exciting.
“While we truly loved our old home, when the opportunity arose for use to relocate Pax Romana to a new space with a larger kitchen, we couldn’t turn it down” says Stefano Magagnin, Co-Owner of Ionian Hospitality Group. “This new location will allow our team to expand the menu and give our culinary team the opportunity to share many more dishes that weren’t technically possible in our former space.”
Many of Pax Romana’s team will return to the fold, including Head Chef George Lesner. The tapas bar-style menu will carry into the new space, holding true to the Mediterranean-focused cuisine that returning guests know and love. Lesner will be keeping some former favourites on the menu, such as the patatas bravas and arancini, while utilising their expanded kitchen space to flex his creativity with some seasonally inspired features.
Bar Manager Prateek Balraj will be back in the mix as well, offering up favourites like the Pax Negroni, Martini & Tonic (yum), Rebujito, and an extensive list of aperitivi.
Maintaining that feeling of familiarity amidst a location change is of particular importance to Balraj, who notes “that feeling of the familiar neighbourhood bar where guests have a sort of kinship with a bartender who can observe the entire room was one of the best features of the original Pax Romana, and one we wanted to preserve in the new space”.
While there will be some significant continuity between Pax Romana’s prior locale and their new home, the arrival experience will be amongst the most impactful shifts. Now located in the same building as Loula’s, entry will be through the alleyway at the corner of Commercial Drive and Gravely Street. With it, Pax Romana has taken on something of a speakeasy feel for new guests. Once you’re seated inside, however, a mural by local artist Adeline Poufong will trigger some fond nostalgia, and carries over the sense of timelessness, romance, and cheekiness that was such a pillar of the original Pax Romana.
“We feel lucky to be able to write a new chapter for Pax Romana in a familiar space,” says Magagnin. “The roots we’ve put down in the Commercial Drive neighbourhood run deep and it was important for us to remain here as part of such a warm and welcoming community.”
Slated to open on Friday, November 6th, guests can look forward to returning to an old favourite. Pax Romana will be open for service Thursday and Sunday from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m., and Friday and Saturday 5 p.m. to 12 a.m.
