Le Slang Brings Retro Food and Cocktail Lab To Monkland

If you are a real foodie or mixology aficionado, you have definitely heard of Le Slang (5669 Monkland Avenue), Monkland’s newest addition. The space itself is a sight to see, bringing sophistication and vintage elements to its design with a cozy terrace perfect for summer nights. We caught up with Brynley Leach, Le Slang’s master mixologist and local rockstar, to get the scoop on this gorgeous new hotspot.

Why did you pick the name Slang?
The name slang relates to the way we are doing things. Taking classic techniques and flavours and putting our style into everything we’re making. Like when you’re speaking in slang.

Who is involved behind this venture?
Our dream team is Robert Sigler, Shawn Dascal (Chef), Brynley Leach (Bartender) and Pierre Munger (GM).

Why did you pick Monkland as the area of choice?
Because Monkland is such a beautiful, happening, vibrant and community-oriented street that we felt was in need of a little slang style.

What was the design idea behind building the space?
Retro-style food and cocktail laboratory is our design theme and inspiration.

There are numerical formulas on the tables; can you talk about that?
Some of our tables have giant numbers on them to resemble the periodic table of elements, others have little formulas and equations etched on them going with the lab theme. Funny thing, though: some of our actual scientist guests have told us that some of the formulas are incorrect. Table 42 actually has on it the formula explaining the meaning of life.

How important is mixology at Le Slang?
The art of mixology and love of fine wine and spirits are the heart and soul of the bar at slang. We have equipped ourselves with an arsenal of bar, kitchen and laboratory equipment such as a 4-litre Refrigerated Centrifuge, an Ultrasonic Cell Disruptor, a Homogenizer, and an enormous tank of Liquid Nitrogen (LN2). With this extensive collection of tools and apparatuses, we have created a wonderland for our insane bartenders to play in. Our bar is set very high!

Do you have a signature drink?
From our list of in-house signature cocktails, our 7 times Smoked Caesar and our Ultrasonically infused Mojito Granita have quickly taken the titles of our most popular drinks. The Caesar is all about smoky, bacony goodness. First we take double smoked bacon and smoke it five more times in-house with a mixture of hickory and mesquite wood. That goes into our Worchestershire sauce. What’s left of the bacon is dehydrated and powderized and then goes into our rim mixture. After that we place the Caesar in a smoking dome and smoke it once again. Then we garnish it with a delicious strip of house smoked, candied and peppered bacon jerky. Mind blowing! The Mojito Granita is a slushie for adults. We take loads of fresh mint and cryo-muddle it and then ultrasonically infuse lime juice with the mint using our cell disruptor. It goes into our slushie machine and voila. Craziness! You have to taste it to believe it.

What about the menu?
The idea we had behind the menu was to present completely new tastes on familiar items. In essence we wanted to slang style them. A good example of this is Korean fried chicken and waffles. Chicken and waffles are an item that most people have heard of, if not tried, but to fry the chicken using traditional Korean methods – cornstarch wistbreading, gochuchang bbq sauce, and julienne of scallion – gives what we hope is a unique and exciting take.

Are you doing brunches yet?
We will do one like the west end has never seen. Stay tuned!

Anything notable coming up that you can share with us?
We’re concocting some special nights and promotions including an official grand opening as well a doctor’s night in association with the Jewish General, supporting them with the proceeds from our vintage laboratory.

Le Slang is open Monday-Saturday from 5pm-11pm.

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