The venue, first called George’s, would bear several names (Stiche’s, Maxwell’s) and concepts to satisfy an ever-demanding clientele.
Old Montreal, amid venues such as French restaurant Les Serres, Rhythm & Blues bar, Le Bijou, as well as the upscale Club Monte Carlo. Ideas and ambitions, entrepreneurship and art, fused together to give birth to House of Jazz in 1980.
Oliver Jones, Oscar Peterson, Billy Georgette and Skip Bey - to name a few-vigorously publicized… Audiences relished this ever-changing alchemy. Another secret success: the Louisiana-style chicken and ribs combo.
The sauce’s house recipe in which the ribs simmer was so perpetually sought after that daredevil Durst decided to share his famous combo with the La Cage aux Sports chain, which he also founded. The dish is still the pride of the chain’s 42 restaurants.
Word got around fast; House of Jazz was all over the media worldwide and in no time was being referred to as the “Mecca of Jazz” by Canada’s most finicky journalists. During Montreal’s annual International Jazz Festival, some of the biggest international stars have found refuge at the resto-bar (shhh… it’s a secret), even offering impromptu jamming sessions! Who could forget an easily persuaded Liza Minnelli taking the stage on one of the resto-bar’s most memorable nights?
To late-niters’ delight, and end-of-the-night menu has been added. The House of Jazz also offers the famous Cage aux Sports steak. By the end of the 15-year lease he has just signed, Georges Durst will have rocked the joint at 2060 Aylmer for 50 years, a feat seldom accomplished in the entertainment world!
Let us treat all or your senses such as: the taste, with our Louisiana-style chicken ribs combo, the sense of hearing with our prestigious jazz artists who perform nightly, and last but not least, the sense of sight, with our enchanting décor that creates a warm and inviting mood.
So sit back, relax and enjoy!
