Moncton Beer Garden And Container Restaurant Will Open May Long Weekend
MONCTON – For Dieppe-native Gene Cormier, summer is the best time of the year. He and wife Susan want to celebrate that by opening Euston Park Social, a beer garden and shipping container restaurant at 5 Euston St., on the long weekend in May.
“It’s the classic weekend when people start going to the outdoors, there’s more life outside at that time of the year for sure,” he said.
Euston Park Social will open for certain events until its grand opening in May, after which it will remain open until September.
The Cormiers envision Euston Park Social as a community gathering space where Monctonians can enjoy food and drinks on a nice summer day. Euston Park Social’s kitchen and bar will be in two shipping containers, while customers sit in an outdoor patio, with some arrangements for rainy days.
“We want to call it a beer garden because it’s really more about having fun and it’s the style. There are picnic tables, it’s completely outdoors,” he said. “We just want to have a place where we like to go hang out as well.”
Euston Park Social is located close to the Hal Betts Sportsplex and the Riverfront Park Trail, and within the downtown core. Gene says he pictures people coming to have a beer or food after an active day outdoors. The outdoor space can seat around 100 customers.
“People can be biking in and stopping in and meeting up with their friends and maybe having a quick bite and something to drink, and then going off again on their bike ride or something. We just want to incorporate that sort of leisure aspect to outdoor life,” he said.
“It’s also summer season, so we’re going to have people coming in and visiting Moncton and the East Coast for the first time. And if we can be part of a memorable dining experience, with local craft beers and local foods, I think we’re right on par with any other destination.”
In colder seasons, the restaurant will open for events like Oktoberfest or Christmas markets.
The food and beverages will be “heavily influenced” by local distilleries and breweries, as well as ingredients that are available through local farms, Gene said. There will be some wine pairings, with the help of the three sommeliers on staff.
“We want to have a spot where we can showcase some of the best talents, you know? What New Brunswick has to show.”
While it will serve “classics” like burgers, hotdogs and sausages, Gene said he may add flavours from other parts of the world in which he’s worked. Euston Park Social will also serve slushies and soft-serve ice cream, among other things.
“It’s not about the fine-dining. It’s about hanging out with your friends, have a nice night or a nice day. We’ll be doing brunch. We want families coming in,” he said.
Gene has travelled the world as a chef, working in places like the U.S., Singapore and Qatar. Recently, he reached the final four in the selection of Canada’s representative for the Bocuse d’Or in 2021, an elite cooking competition in France that features 24 chefs from around the world. Cormier didn’t go on to represent Canada, but was the only chef from Atlantic Canada to make it that far.
Susan, a Calgarian who had previously worked in St. Andrews, has always liked the East Coast, so she was game on the move back to New Brunswick with their young son.
They bought the land three years ago and started the process to re-zone the property.
“We take vacations back home to visit family every year and, we just saw that [the restaurant scene had] started growing and thinking there’s a possibility here,” he said. “We’re really fortunate to be part of this growing thing on the East Coast with nice restaurants coming up here.”