The band members of Arcade Fire have ventured into a new business: eateries, and they’re collaborating on the opening of a new restaurant called Agrikol.
Joining forces with foodies Roland Jean and Jen Agg, who currently own Toronto’s Rhum Corner, the eatery will specialize in Haitian cuisine, music and visual arts. According to The Globe and Mail, the space will build on the advocacy work that Arcade Fire’s husband and wife duo, Win Butler and Régine Chassagne have demonstrated since the band started raising funds for Haiti in 2005.
“It’s more of an art project,” Butler said in the same article. “The idea is that it’s a cultural space. The thing that we were really impressed with at Rhum Corner is that it’s this space for Haitian and Caribbean culture and it’s really cool and contemporary. Régine’s family moved to Montreal from Haiti, like a lot of Haitians, and moving to this tundra, you know… you miss this cultural warmth. It’s something that I felt at Rhum Corner and it’s something that I know that we can do in Montreal.”
This isn’t the first time Arcade Fire has dabbled in the restaurant biz – Butler joined forces with La Colombe Coffee to offer a limited presale of RaRa Coffee, a specialty coffee grown in Haiti that was created to support health and agriculture initiatives in Haiti. Proceeds from the sale of these coffees support Partners in Health and Haiti Coffee Academy efforts.
The new restaurant by Arcade Fire is slated to open sometime this summer in Montreal.
Photo: Mario Mitsis/WENN.com
