A New Legend (October 2009)

You’d be mistaken for thinking that winter is the dead season in Monaco. The harbour isn’t jam-packed with mega yachts as it is in the height of the summer, visitors in huge sunglasses no longer fill the terraces & loungers, and the sun terraces themselves have been packed away for the cold season.

But as I said before, you’d be mistaken…

As all good Monaco residents know, the winter party season can be one of the most stimulating times of the year, with different events, shows, art openings and theme parties filling the calendar. This coming week is no exception, and sees the grand opening of a brand new venue in Monaco. I say ‘venue’, as pigeonholing this particular establishment is no easy task.

Black Legend is a new nightclub, bar, restaurant, lounge & live music venue, and is the latest venture to join the renaissance of Port Hercules in Monaco. Conceived and realised by Antoine Chevanne, the director of Groupe Floirat, Black Legend has an impressive pedigree from the outset, coming from the same stable as St Tropez’s Les Caves du Roy & Byblos. Chevanne’s business vision includes the likes of chic clubs and exclusive luxury hotels, however Black Legend has quite a different theme than the Caves du Roy’s sumptuous Mediterranean after-sun clubbing.

Chevanne is passionate about great music, more specifically the kind of soul, funk, disco and R&B that came out of the likes of Motown in the US of the 1970’s. Keen to capitalise on the universal appeal of this music and to recapture the authenticity of this era, Chevanne has hired live musicians to recreate the atmosphere, and the interiors of the club itself have been meticulously designed to mimic the era, down to adding original 70’s spotlight elements to the modern lighting rigs. And let’s not forget the glowing dance floor – guests will feel like they have arrived in a chic 1970’s disco party (think Saturday Night Fever, Shaft) and can give their platform boots or Jimmy Choo’s a good work out until 5am every morning. The notoriously fickle Monaco crowd won’t have time to get bored with varied musical offerings planned right throughout the season, and DJs will follow the bands with more funky music into the early hours of every morning.

In addition to all of the entertainment being laid on, hungry visitors will not be disappointed either – the brasserie will serve a mixture of healthy Mediterranean and all-American cuisine with a ‘Byblos’ twist, and the daytime clientele will also be welcomed from 12:30 onwards every day to try out the lunchtime menus (one of our favourite pastimes in Monaco) not to mention early evening aperitifs.

One has to think that all of this will be a great addition to the selection of bars and restaurants we have here…a few years back, Jimmy’z or Sass café were the only places to go after the bars closed,.. it’s always nice to have an alternative, especially one so central.

So this coming Halloween (31^st October 2009) is the night to dust off your flares, and get on down to Monaco’s groovy new nitespot. See you on the flipside folks…