Initially teased two years ago, after the lease was signed for the large space at the base of the Grosvenor Ambleside development in West Vancouver, Earls Restaurants has only just released more information about its new endeavour, as well as a rendering of the facade. The concept, Earls Ambleside Beach, will be the first new Earls to open in B.C. in over seven years.
The design of the space has been done by the company's in-house team, led by Wendy Tait and is being dubbed as "West Coast Modern meets California Beach". One notable difference with the approach of this design compared to other Earls locations is that the design team also commissioned Vancouver-based visual artists to create works of art for the restaurant. Earls Restaurants' president, Mo Jessa, hopes this location will show a new side of Earls to Vancouverites, one they have never seen before. The menus at the concept will be dramatically different than other Earls in the province, further adding to its diversity from the rest of the chain.
This isn't the first time Earls has branched out and tried something new. Calgarians will likely remember the luxuriously designed Earls.67 (image below), which opened in an aging Earls location in downtown Calgary. Designed in partnership with Ste. Marie Art + Design (Kissa Tanto, Pidgin, Homer Street Cafe), the sheer aesthetics made the concept one of the nicest looking restaurant interiors of 2016. However, after a few stumbles on both the food and drink menus, it reverted back to a standard Earls format in less than a year.
"There are a lot of things that worked and some that didn't work for us. Our philosophy was to succeed fast and fail fast," explains Jessa. "Things that were successful at Earls.67 were quickly rolled out to our other restaurants, things that didn't test well were immediately removed. About nine months after we launched the prototype, we felt that the test was complete and switched it back to Earls (vs. a test store) incorporating feedback and input from our guests about what they wanted from Earls Bankers Hall. Earls Ambleside Beach is the full iteration of our learning from our U.S. openings and the prototype in Calgary. We are excited [for it]."
Earls Ambleside Beach is slated to open in early May.
