When Northern Vision Development bought the Edgewater Hotel earlier this year, it had big plans to upgrade food and beverage services.
That’s why Corrina Lotz was brought on board.
Formerly the owner and operator of Volare at the SKYY hotel, she’s now in charge of The Edge Bar & Grill and The Cellar Chop House & Martini Bar, both at the Edgewater.
She brought her chefs and her staff with her.
“Anybody who was familiar with Volare, we were No. 1 on Trip Advisor, and we were known for having a really good team and great service and good food, and that’s what we plan to offer here,” said Lotz.
While the main-floor restaurant has remained open through the transition, The Cellar downstairs reopened this month after being closed since December.
Lotz dreams of turning it into the late night hot spot for a mature crowd.
“For my generation there’s really nowhere to go in this town,” she said. “If you want to go have a nice drink or something, there’s Lizards, or there’s ... Everywhere is really super loud and full of young teenyboppers, or young people.
“It’s true. I totally feel like a grandmother when I go out. And I like to go dancing.”
The martini list has more than 80 recipes, and growing.
“It’s ever expanding, I’m always doing research, that’s always fun.”
Two-ounce martinis are $9 until 8 p.m., and $8 after eight.
Lotz hopes to bring live music in as well, but said she would wait till a little later in the summer after the tourist season has quieted down.
“Typically in the summer the locals are going to their cabins, they’re camping, they’re barbecuing, so when I bring the music in and things like that, that’ll be for the locals.
Fans of Volare will be happy to hear that the new menu at the Cellar will have all their old favourites.
And fans of the old Cellar should be happy too, said Lotz.
“It’s the Cellar, and you have to have prime rib, so I put prime rib on the menu and a few other additions, but basically it’s the same menu that I had up at Volare.”
The prime rib on offer is even better than locals will remember it, said Lotz.
She used to work at the Cellar around 25 years ago when the Stokes family still owned the hotel, she said.
“Back in the day when the Stokes had it, the standards were up here,” she said, gesturing with her hand. “And that’s where I want to bring the standards back to again.”
Upstairs at the Edge, the breakfast menu remains the same.
“It was a really good breakfast menu, but I took two dollars off of everything, so it’s a little more reasonably priced now,” said Lotz.
But she has revamped the lunch and dinner menus completely.
The upstairs patio remains closed, except to hotel guests.
Lotz wants to focus on the two restaurants before figuring out what to do with the patio, she said.
It’s a tricky spot because it’s difficult to run food up from either kitchen.
The previous owners solved that by putting a barbecue on the roof.
So far, Lotz is thrilled with the move from near the airport to downtown, she said.
“I’m very excited. Very excited. It’s the best location. The Cellar has been here for so many years, it’s sort of a staple and we need to breathe some life into it and get it going again.”
And since opening the Cellar on June 1, things have been going very well, she said.
“I haven’t advertised yet, because I’ve been scared to. But now I’m ready. Let’s get some bums in the seats.”
The Cellar is open 5-10 p.m. for dinner and later for drinks, seven days a week.
The Edge is open every day 7 a.m. through 9 p.m. Children are welcome until 11 a.m. All-day breakfast is available on weekends.
Contact Jacqueline Ronson at
jronson@yukon-news.com