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Sky Yard
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Sky Yard, The Drake Hotel’s rooftop patio, is the feel-good spot you’ll want to make your steady summertime destination. Revamped with an Italian-via-Drake look, a catchy menu of shareable eats and treats, it’s the ideal place to refresh, refuel, and relax, all summer long.
Repeat visitors to The Drake Hotel, Queen West’s perennially-cool hipster hub, are no strangers to its seasonal patio. Steps above the street, the Sky Yard offers easy escape from the city without leaving it too far behind. In fact, a large part of its appeal is the way it invites visitors to relish their view of the chaos below as it cocoons them in creature comforts.
Given a Mediterranean glow-up, in partnership with Malfy Gin, this year’s iteration of the Sky Yard glitters, thanks to what bar manager Dylan Turner calls its “disco fruit salad” accessories, and breezy menu of treats.
“It’s an Italian seaside coastal vibe,” explains Turner, of the sun-soaked spot, teeming with a soundtrack of lively chatter and uncomplicated tunes. “It reminds me of happy days in the sun.
Spent at the Sky Yard, those days have every chance of being happy ones, especially if savoured with one (or a few) of the team’s long, cool, aperitivo-inspired drinks at hand.
“We have three different expressions of Malfy Gin,” explains Turner, detailing a list of options made with Malfy Gin Con Arancia, Rosa and Con Limone.
First up is the Salerno Sour, a coquettish, frothy eye-catcher with a base of Malfy Con Arancia and Campari. “It’s like an adult creamsicle,” rhapsodizes Turner. “To me, it’s perfectly balanced between that tart, citrus with a little bit of that bitterness from the Campari. The vanilla really comes in to smooth things over.”
A lighter take on tradition, the Agrumi Negroni finds Malfy Gin Rosa, a grapefruit-spiked pour, mixed with Aperol, Lillet Blanc and warm, spiced orinoco bitters.
Perfectly matched to the patio’s lemon-themed back corner, the Lemonata Spritz was made “in keeping with the theme of the Aperol Spritz,” says Turner. Here, the team was “going for more of a lemon, tart vibe. It’s nice and fresh, really easy to drink. The inspiration was a passionfruit Italian ice.”
An option for abstainers and those who value clarity, the Nuda Spritz relies on Bella Aperitif for its spot-on resemblance to the original. “It’s crazy how similar it is to a regular Aperol Spritz,” enthuses Turner.
Order any of the above and meet the need for nibbles with executive chef Taylor McMeekin’s thoughtful snacks. Ideal as an ensemble cast, you’ll want one of each of the Bruschetta, Fritto Misto, Melon and Prosciutto, and Marinated Olives. Innovative? Perhaps not. But each relies on quality, seasonal ingredients and a from-scratch approach for its significant lustre.
Layered onto crisp, garlicky bread, local stracciatella and summery sweet tomatoes feel like the bite of the season. Fritto Misto, meanwhile, is a happy tangle of petite Fogo Island shrimp, calamari and banana peppers dredged in gluten-free flour and cornmeal. Spritz the lot with fresh lemon, then bask in every fragile and bright, light, sweet morsel.
Compressed with olive oil, for maximum flavor, chili-dusted honeydew is a mild, aromatic contrast to salty, translucent ribbons of 12-month prosciutto.
From the dinner menu, available from 5 p.m., Drake Shrimp Cocktail is the type of food that sweltering temps demand. A combo of black tiger prawns with house cocktail sauce, and Marie-rose sauce-coated Fogo pinkies, this sassy little appetizer surpasses others of its kind.
Visit the Sky Yard on a particularly sweaty day, and you’ll want to join Irish Point Oysters on their beguiling bed of ice. Instead, slurp them up along with their shallot mignonette and house-made fermented mango and habanero pepper hot sauce.
When happy hour (which runs from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.) merges with dinner, the team’s entrées will assure you don’t leave hungry. Short Rib Bolognese is a rib-sticking meal that’s rich and indulgent, sultry with a hit of tang from charred goat cheese. If you want to move after eating, you’d be wise to share.
Riffing off a Canadian classic, the team roasts chickens until their exteriors are burnished and golden, and they’re succulent and tender within. Order a half or a whole, and you’ll be invited to devour it with crispy, ketchup-seasoning-coated potatoes, house slaw, pain au lait and cabin sauce that’s zestier and more savoury than its source material.
Gelato, flavoured with vanilla and honey or lemon with a faint whisper of rosemary, is the best reason to linger.
Whether you stay even longer, in one of The Drake Hotel’s impossibly chic, comfortable rooms, is entirely up to you.
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