New drag lounge aims to highlight the queer history of St. John's

A new queer-owned and operated space opening on George Street this summer is the culmination of a lot of dreaming.

The Kaleidoscope Drag Lounge and Restaurant is owned and will be managed by four friends: kitchen consultant Bethany Sears, general manager Matt Strong, executive chef Forrest Sandifer (also known as drag queen Lavender Blonde), and entertainment manager Jacques St. Pierre (also known as drag queen Barbra Bardot).

"We've been dreaming about this for a long time," said St. Pierre. "Matt and I were in Toronto for five years; there's a huge community there. You can go out and see drag seven nights a week. We moved back here, got involved in the drag scene, and met amazing friends who shared our dream of offering a safe, queer space."

Sears, one of those friends, said the business is something they've wanted to do for a long time.

"I've always dreamed of having a restaurant, and so has Forrest, so we're thrilled to be able to offer our menu. Who doesn't want to watch a drag show and eat amazing snacks? Opening this space was a dream, but what was stopping us? We're young. This is a great time to make things happen."

Handheld, shareable menu

The menu will be mostly handheld and shareable plates.

"We're happy with the menu we've landed on; it's perfect for drag," said Sandifer. "They'll be no slippin' and slidin', no steak dinners; it's an inclusive menu with vegan options and options for people with food allergies. We're pretty excited."

Sears agrees, and says buying equipment and picking out things for a restaurant has been exciting.

"It changes my whole mood. Picking out equipment for our spot makes us giddy, but my favourite part of this journey so far was when we got our keys and entered the space, and we screamed, danced, and then I just came and sat in the kitchen."  

Both Sears and Sandifer say their kitchen will be run a little differently from the typical image of an intense, aggressive work space.

"This kitchen will have no aggression either, no yelling. It's going to be friendly, gentle, and encouraging. When our first plate goes out, it will be the best feeling."

Decor to showcase St. John's queer history

"The space layout, the bones, are already in good shape," said Strong. "We want it to be more accessible, so we're making tweaks and working on a plan. We also want to showcase some of St. John's queer history on our walls. St. John's is so queer, and it always has been. We're hoping to have some of that interpretation available for our guests."

As for the programming, St. Pierre says they'll have events like "sickening" — drag slang for "amazing" — lip syncs, drag bingo and trivia.

"Forrest and I are excited to host drag karaoke. They'll be queer movie nights, bachelorette parties, and birthday parties, and we'll rent the space out for corporate experiences," said St. Pierre. "Educational outreach, we're hoping that'll be a big thing, but we also want to leave space in the plan to see what the community wants. We know that other people are going to have great ideas."

Kaleidoscope Drag Lounge will also be an all-ages venue until 8.30 p.m.

 "Queer is not 19-plus; it exists everywhere," explained Strong. "We want young people to come out and enjoy a drag brunch with their families; we want people to see the history of queerness in St. John's on our walls. Young people will have to be accompanied by an adult, but they can come and enjoy, and we're so excited to offer that."

New performers will be welcome at Kaleidoscope too. In fact, building the community and offering a safe space is the overall goal, St. Pierre said.

"We are going to host open stages pretty often. This gives new performers a safe space to try drag out. And if you need someone to get on stage with you, if you're nervous, whoever is hosting that night will get up there with you and support you. If you're interested in trying drag, come hang out at a safe queer space."

Opening date up in the air

Just when people will be able to hang out is unknown, as the opening date hasn't been set yet.

"The goal is to be open for St. John's Pride, but you know delays, surprises, and challenges happen. We're meeting them head-on, but it's safer for us to say that we're planning to open this summer," said Strong.

St. Pierre said they think George Street is ready for their space.

"We've done events on George Street, we've done photo shoots, and people always ask us where we're going, where they can see us perform, now we can tell them about our bar. We're hoping people see it as their new queer home base."

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