Oak Room barman Patrick Appave on 35 years at the Palliser

The Oak Room in the Fairmont Palliser has become a downtown Calgary icon, serving up drinks to visitors, dignitaries and celebrities for over a century.

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It opened with the hotel in 1914 as the Palm Room, at the time described as "a room with reading tables and furniture of dull oak and brown leather, to be used for afternoon teas." 

By the early 1940s, it had become the Oak Dining Room, and in 1958 it was turned into a licensed cocktail lounge and was rebranded as the Range Room.

In 1962 it was redesigned to look like the inside of a big top, and renamed the Big Top Lounge.

In '66 they toned it back and called it the Rimrock Lounge, and in the '80s it was remodelled in Tudor style as the Oak Room.

Bartender Patrick Appave has been around for much of its evolution, having started working at the Palliser back in 1976, at the age of 19.

Appave was born on Mauritius, an island in the Indian Ocean off the coast of Madagascar, where his family had a tavern he'd often help out in, so he got to know the industry early on.

"It was an easy transition for me," Appave said of his move to the Palliser.

"I've always been in this environment. When people ask how long I've been bartending, I say for all my life."

An 'unpleasant' change in weather

He arrived in Calgary from Mauritius in late February, having never experienced cold weather conditions. "I went from 46 degrees to the middle of winter," he laughed. "It was unpleasant."

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He arrived on a Tuesday. On Wednesday his sister, who worked at the Palliser, asked him to come downtown with her to pick up a package.

On Friday, the Palliser's banquet manager called him at home and offered him a job.

"I don't even know how to get downtown," Appave reminisced. "I had just moved from an island to the city! We were living in Forest Lawn, so he told me to take the number 1 bus downtown, and when I saw the Bon Ton Market, which was on 7th Avenue at the time, to ring the bell to get off.

"He told me to get out at the Bay and walk up the street until I saw the hotel, and so I did."

A windowless, low-ceilinged dining room

Appave trained on the job, starting out in banquet. He made friends with Giovanni (John) Bruno, a well known master tailor who spent over 23 years at the Palliser, who taught him how to dress and develop his own elegant style.

When Bruno left the Palliser in the late '70s to open My Place Restaurant on Edmonton Trail, Appave went with him — he offered 50 cents more per hour, plus weekends off. 

Appave returned to the Palliser to become the dining room and lounge manager in 1981, and has been there ever since.

He recalls a time the Oak Room had low ceilings and no windows, and when they removed an old false ceiling and wallpaper in the lobby to reveal its original ornate wood arches.

Appave isn't the only one who has spent decades in the Oak Room. "There are a few of us: myself, Ophelia, Anna and Renata," he said, "and between us we've spent 100 years here." 

Serving the locals

In the decades since he arrived, Appave has seen the city's population quadruple, witnessed 35 Stampedes, the '88 Olympics and the transformation of Calgary's core.

He has served celebrities and politicians including Peter Lougheed, the chancellor of Germany, Queen Elizabeth II (twice), the Dalai Lama and Sophia Loren. Still, he likes serving locals best.

Although they're still known for their martinis (the Perfect Palliser is made with vodka, Mission Hill ice wine, Moët & Chandon champagne and Chambord) the cocktail program at the Oak Room has evolved too.

Where they used to use bottled syrups, they now use fresh ingredients, plucking fresh herbs, squeezing their own citrus juices, and even making their own shrubs, sweet vinegar-based syrups, to add to cocktails.

Behind the bar sits bottles of locally distilled spirits, like vodka, gin and EquineOx, a spirit made from prairie-grown prickly pears, from Eau Claire Distillery in Turner Valley.

At 61, Appave is just a few years away from retirement — a tough transition, as he considers the Oak Room his home.

"It's a dream job," he said.

"When I came here, people told me if I wanted to be a bartender, I had to find two things — a good company, and people who believe in you. And I found both."