Bar food and cocktails are celebrating a nostalgia-fueled resurgence of decades past: deviled eggs and potato-chip-dusted hot dogs, anyone?
Retro decor at Bar Mini. Jenna Salmers photo
Liquor brands once published cocktail and snack recipes in pocket-sized home entertaining guides. In the 1970s, these kitschy booklets featured grey deviled eggs, powdered soup-mix French onion dip and jellied salads that were gelatinous interpretations of edible disco. The recipes faded into nostalgic memories, waiting to be elevated.
“I’ve always thought: If somebody was able to bottle nostalgia, they would be a billionaire,” says Ryan Tanner, co-owner of Vancouver’s Breeze Bar. “If you are able to do something … where one bite brings you back to a dish you had when you were a kid, then it is a pretty special moment.”
Caviar bumps at Breeze Bar. Photo courtesy of Breeze Bar
Such special moments are shaping bar food and cocktails in a nostalgia-fuelled resurgence of decades past. For younger generations, the trend feels fresh, while seasoned guests return to bars to relive happy memories. Bold flavours are trending in playful adaptations of classic food and drink, as modern passions contemporize the passé, bringing them back to the future.
Stirring this revival is Toronto’s east-end Bar Mini, where the snack menu is built around a 1970s cocktail-dinner menu—it’s like they discovered a time machine. For owners Maty Gignac and Dave Still, the flavours had to be authentic, something they would serve guests in their own home. “The quintessential hosting snack is the deviled egg,” says Maty. “The quintessential bar snack is the pickled egg. How can we mix them together?”
Nostalgic snacks like corn dogs at Simpl Things. Pat Ozlos photo
The pickled eggs on Bar Mini’s menu answer the question. They enhance the idea by pickling the eggs in beet brine, turning the whites magenta, then adding contrast and salinity with bright orange salmon roe. Dressed with a swirl of devilled egg filling, Bar Mini’s retro eggs bring an unexpected but delicious nostalgic flavour explosion to the palate.
Meanwhile, in Vancouver’s historic Gastown neighbourhood, Breeze Bar’s trashy-and-classy concept channels the same playful mood that began a decade ago at Ryan Tanner’s apartment parties: think Astroturf and free hot dogs (trashy) alongside sous-vide ribeye, grilled and served with caviar (classy).
Cheesy fondue at Trinity Market. Photo courtesy of Trinity Market
Breeze Bar’s hot dog menu has plenty of fun with nostalgia. “One of my favourites, which I just call a Kid, reminds me of being six years old.” The hot dog with Cheez Whiz, ketchup and crushed chips evokes gee-Whiz nostalgia for many guests. “I often hear: ‘I haven’t had that since I was a kid,’” says Tanner.
At Evelyn Chick’s Simpl Things in Toronto, the all-day cocktail, wine and snack bar is a homey space which feels like a well-kept apartment, says bar manager Morgan McLaughlin, one that elevates comfort and familiarity. Its retro 1990s Cosmo-revival menu has been so popular that they’re taking nostalgia to the next level with cocktails inspired by childhood sodas, such as root beer floats and cream soda. “Whether that’s a cocktail like the Cosmo, or if it’s a flavour concept that they know, a lot of people need a little pick-me-up right now. Nostalgia makes people happy,” says McLaughlin.
Reviving the Lemon Drop at Meo. Photo courtesy of Meo
Adding to Toronto’s nostalgia revival: fondue. Trinity Market’s Matt Dean Pettit shares: “We have family in Lausanne, Switzerland. I went over as a young teenager and had cheese fondue. It blew my mind.” Trinity Market is a cafe by day, and by night a snack-and-wine bar serving classic cocktails. The bar supports local businesses, including buying cheese from the Cheese Boutique for fondue. “It’s something that has disappeared from a lot of menus,” says Pettit. “It’s fun. It’s playful.”
In Vancouver, Meo channels the lively, decadent spirit of the 1970s and ’80s with a playful TV Guide-inspired cocktail menu. Cocktails nod to classics like 21 Jump Street’s Liquid Cocaine and a rum-based Miami Vice 22, each saturated with nostalgia plus humour. Rather than reliving the past, all these bars reimagine it, blending familiar flavours and memories with modern techniques and flavours to stir up a fun-focused trend. “The world’s pretty serious,” says Pettit. “It’s good to get people smiling together.”
RETRO PAIRINGS
Fried sardines at Bar Mini. Jenna Salmers photo
Fried Sardines with a Tiki Negroni at Bar Mini
Think fish sticks with potato chips, lemon pepper, Old Bay tartar sauce and pickled pepperoncini peppers with a rum-soaked Negroni that has Hawaiian Punch-like notes. barmini.ca
Corn Dog with a Simpl Cosmo at Simpl Things
Not a Pogo from the freezer, but a hand-dipped, cornmeal-battered pork sausage with hot mustard and wasabi, plus a ’90s energy Cosmo remodelled with vodka, fino sherry, cherry cordial, Cointreau and lime. simplthings.ca
Trinity Swiss Fondue with a Classic Negroni at Trinity Market
Cheesy goodness of Swiss Emmental, Swiss Gruyère and 3-Year-Old Canadian Cheddar with white wine and grainy Dijon; the Negroni’s sharpness stands up to the cheese. trinitymarket.ca
Signature hot dog at Breeze Bar. Photo courtesy of Breeze Bar
Signature Hot Dog with Long Island Iced Tea at Breeze Bar
A fresh-baked sesame seed bun with a Wagyu beef wiener, Cheez Whiz and caviar pairs with an on-tap Long Island Iced Tea, from an elevated proprietary blend of the 1980s throwback. @breezebaryvr
Basque Cheesecake with a Lemon Drop Martini at Meo
The cheesecake is technically not yet retro, but it’s more comforting than polyester. The drink is inspired by I Dream of Jeannie circa 1965: it’s a Technicolor, eye-winking gin Martini enhanced by bergamot, preserved lemon and lemon sable. meochinatown.com
