Joining us on the sunny, sprawling terrasse sandwiched between mostly empty, pre-pandemic office towers, Ethan Wills leans forward onto an orange metal chair and exhales. "Yeah, it's been quite a ride," he says, with the beginnings of a smile curling around the corner of his mouth.
A year since WILLS opened as a bar in Mile-Ex—having taken up residence in the large industrial space that once housed both the Brasserie Vieux-Montréal (BVM) and local favourite Alexandraplatz—the team is now gearing up for the highly-anticipated release of its beer with an official launch set for today, Friday, July 21.
But more on that later. First, a bit of history.
Like so many great stories these days, this dream started during the initial moments of the first pandemic lockdown. Ethan Wills, former co-owner and manager of Restaurant Lawrence in Mile End, took the rare opportunity to sit back (something, we understand, isn't always possible when you're at the helm of one of Montreal's most popular dining destinations) and evaluate his next move. With plans for his cousin Alex, a geochemist and volcanologist, set to return to Canada from overseas, a plan was quickly hatched to make something of their desire to brew beer in Montreal.
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