Bar Cart is the hidden second act to Eloise — a buzz-in speakeasy tucked just beside its sister restaurant on The Esplanade. Where Eloise announces itself, Bar Cart doesn't. Guests have to know to look for it, and that small ritual of entry — no sign, just a buzzer — sets the tone before they've even ordered a drink.

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Our work started with the mood. Taking cues from the neighbourhood's history as a 19th-century rail hub, we developed Bar Cart as the golden-age bar car to Eloise's dining car — an intimate, hidden space built around discovery rather than display. We built moodboards and curated playlists to define the atmosphere we imagined for the space, sharing both with the interior designers as creative reference points. We don't design the interiors ourselves, but we help set the emotional direction the space is built around — the feeling a guest should have before the furniture and lighting even go in.

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From there, we designed the touchpoints guests actually hold and see: the cocktail menus, signage, coasters, and napkins that carry Bar Cart's identity into every detail of the experience. One of our favourite pieces was a custom neon sign in the shape of a cocktail glass, a small but unmistakable nod to what the space is all about.

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What we're most proud of is how much trust that kind of work requires. Setting a mood early, before a room even exists, means ERL had to believe in a feeling before they could see it. Bar Cart is proof that when that trust is there, the details can do a lot of the storytelling.

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