When you walk into CHILL Ice House, you are provided with a blue or red hooded designer parka and gloves, which are necessary when surrounded by 185 thousand pounds of ice. The furniture, bar and décor are all made of ice. You will immediately notice the transparent ice, which is created by jets through reverse osmosis and lit up with brightly coloured LED lights. “My uncle taught us the technology,” says co-owner Nic Bayley. Some of the ice décor even features colour, made from snow and acrylic paint.
CHILL Ice House, which opened in July 2014, was created by brothers Nic and Gresham Bayley. In 1984, their uncle launched Iceculture, an ice carving business their cousin Heidi has since taken over. When he was only 11 years old, Nic was captivated by chain sawing ice and it became his inspiration. A former stand-up comedian, Nic teamed up with his brother Gresham—a business graduate—to jumpstart CHILL Ice House. The business, which is family owned and operated, also takes into account their parents’ background as entrepreneurs and their mother’s experience in event planning. According to Nic, it was a family effort.
PUNCH
belvedere vodka, cranberry and pineapple poured
over an ornate ice sphere
MARTINI
vodka, crème de menthe, and cranberry
NEGRONI
belvedere vodka, sweet vermouth, campari garnished
over ice spheres
TORONTO ISLAND ICED TEA
belvedere vodka and twisted tea garnished with
lemon twist
WHITE RUSSIAN
belvedere vodka, kahlua, milk
CHILL & FRESH
glenfiddich 12 year, lemon juice and muddled
berries
ICEY NAIL
glenfiddich 12 year, drambuie, glayva with orange
twist in a smoked glass
MANHATTAN
glenfiddich 12 year, sweet vermouth and aromatic
bitters with orange twist in a smoked glass
BLOOD & SAND
glenfiddich 12 year, cherry brandy, sweet
vermouth, orange juice served over ice sphere
CHILL ICE SOUR
glenfiddich 12 year, lemon juice and egg white
SANGRIA
red wine, sailor jerry spiced rum, melon liqueur,
cherry brandy, lemonade, cranberry, lime and
cinnamon
RED RUDOLPH (shot)
vodka, red sour puss, red mountain dew
GREEN APPLE SOUR PUSS (shot)
Vodka, green sour puss, green mountain dew
Heinekin
Carlsburg
Grimsbergen
Somersby
Old Tomorrow
Hog Town
Coors Banquet
Steam Whistle
Canadian
Coors Light
Red Wine
Prosseco
White Wine
Think your friends might be familiar with this business? Ask your friends on Facebook to see what they think.
This Bathurst Street bar earns the prize for Toronto’s coolest theme bar. Everything at this hip ice lounge is constructed with frozen blocks of ice — the walls, furniture, chairs and even the glasses. The cool nighttime clientele sips on scotch-based cocktails and single malt scotch drams, served on the rocks of course. Don’t worry, if you start to feel chilled to the bone you can head to the adjacent warming room and nurse a boozy hot toddy to increase your internal body temperature.
View this Smart ListBeat the summer heat in the city at this cool icehouse on Bathurst Street. The frozen fantasyland features almost 200,000 pounds of ice used to create walls, furniture and even drinking glasses. The not-so-hot spot appeals to crowds of all age, serving as a family-friendly attraction during the day and a trendy ice lounge in the evening. Guests are provided with hooded parkas and gloves to wear while they chill out and peruse the ornate customized ice sculptures and martini luges.
View this Smart List