Velvet

Draped in black with colored fluorescent lights and corrugated metal highlights, Velvet has the bohemian-industrial chicness of a Berlin nightclub -- without the smoke. Heavy catwalk boards hung overhead link the old Grand to the new Velvet in a zig-zag pattern, while the second-floor lobby houses a large, unisex washroom. The menu is contemporary Canadian, including smoked bacon-wrapped beef tenderloin, maple-marinated black Alaskan cod, and cayenne penne with bison and elk. Velvet’s downtown location makes it popular for business lunches, after-work drinks, and before-theatre dinners.