Rockwell Lounge ready to shake up traditional dining experience

Stratford’s newest restaurant wants to bring a personal approach to dining in the Festival City by breaking down the barriers between diners and the people who cook for them.

“The biggest thing about this restaurant that we’ve developed is we have a really great interaction between the entire team and the guests,” said Jack Beers, head chef at Rockwell Lounge. 

“It's one of our strong points – we really want to create that personal relationship with people here,” added Beers, explaining that he and sous chef Djordje Blagojevic like to come out of the kitchen during service to talk with diners about their experience. 

Beers cut his teeth in notable restaurants like Cambridge’s Langdon Hall and Copenhagen’s Geranium before teaming up with Blagojevic and mixologist Alex Archer to launch Rockwell Lounge, which opened on June 3rd.

“Everything that’s on the menu is a passion project,” said Blagojevic. The restaurant aims to offer a fresh but approachable take on classics ranging from beef tartare to pappardelle pasta. 

Dishes at Rockwell Lounge emphasize locally-sourced ingredients, such as heritage pork sourced from New Hamburg’s Church Hill Farm, as well as scratch-made products. “We make our own bread in-house – we do basically everything here,” said Blagojevic. 

The shareable flatbreads, one of which is topped with Church Hill Farm cured meat and Buffalo mozzarella, have already become a popular item, according to Blagojevic.

“We offer some really beautiful dishes and really high-quality products at a reasonable price point,” said Beers, although the menu also includes high ticket items like caviar and oysters. 

The drink menu nods to Archer’s previous occupation as a touring musician with cocktail names like “Glastonbury” and “Notorious F.I.G.” that reference music culture. “We have something that’s geared towards everybody because some people like bitter and some people like sweet,” said Archer. 

The trio completely renovated the restaurant’s home at 38 Albert St., adding a new ceiling and a fireplace, as well as refreshing the bar area, which backs onto an open kitchen. “It's definitely a bar you want to sit at because you're getting the experience of watching the guys in the kitchen as well as the guys behind the bar,” said Archer. 

“We’re going for a modern speakeasy that we’re telling people about,” he added, describing the restaurant’s ambiance. 

Rockwell Lounge is open for dinner from Wednesday to Sunday, and recently also debuted a weekend brunch that features dishes like asparagus served with a Parmigiano bread crumb gratinée and an open-faced steak sandwich. 

Beers said themed events, tasting menus, and other special programming will likely roll out in the coming months. “It's just keeping up that momentum and continuing to develop and progress,” said Archer, noting the restaurant’s initial reception from Stratford diners has been positive. 

“We want to really showcase what we've put our heart and our soul into,” said Beers. “I think that, for us, it's really important that we connect with people on a personal level and really create that experience.”