Buonanotte Explains Why Artists Have Signed The Plates That Are Hung On The Wall
Bono from U2 inspired the very special tradition.
Located at the corner of Sherbrooke and St-Laurent, Buonanotte is one of Montreal’s most renowned institutions. The Restaurant is known for hosting artists and celebrities who come to town.
Over the course of the past 23 years, a very special tradition has emerged. Funny enough it all started with one of the most influential artist of all time, U2’s Bono.
When an influential figure comes to experience Buona, management gets them to sign the plate they ate on. Typically, they write a quote or an inspirational message and then sign it. Afterwards it gets hung on the wall of the dinning room to be admired by patrons and staff.
The plates act as decorations, giving the restaurant a warm vibrant charm. It also allows clients to let their imagination run free… “Who will we potentially bump into at Buona tonight?”. It is all part of the promised experience when you reserve for a night out on the boulevard.
Bono from U2 has been in Montreal this past week, spending quality time and enjoying our fantastic city. He was visiting due to a concert he hosted last week at the Bell Center. He decided to kick it for a few days before taking off.
His unannounced appearance at Buonanotte last night provoked the reminiscence of a great tale.
The story of Massimo Lecas and his staff coming up with the signed plate tradition.
Massimo Lecas, Co-Founder of the Buonanotte group, posted the tale to his Instagram account last night (see here).
“Father’s Day just got a little better. So here goes a good story: March of ’92 I get a phone call on a Sunday night and at 27 years old I was little cockier, so I get a call telling me there’s a fm famous person that would like to come tonight and they need a private room. I’m telling this person we don’t have a private room and if he wants to come he can come. If not it’ll be for another time. The man puts me on hold and I’m thinking, wow this guy has balls and I’m thinking let me hang up. He picks up the phone and says: fine we’ll come! I head over to the restaurant and we’re there waiting and wondering who the heck is this famous person. Back in 92 Bono and his mates were still young lads who were looking for a good time. Well you had to see my mouth when out of an white Econovan comes Bono out with a Heineken in his hand! Everyone ran in the kitchen and just hid from being star struck. While we were serving them the restaurant was slowly filling itself to capacity. All I kept on saying is please no pictures, no autographs, no nothing… Oddly enough I had a: “act like you belong attitude” and just thought were cool like that and we won’t ask for anything. So my chef at the time, Matteo knew we couldn’t let them leave without a memento of the evening. He came up with the idea of having them sign the plate in which they ate in. Yes, this is how it all started! Well, now it’s 23 years later and they come back totally unexpected without much fanfare and remember the events of 23 years ago to a tee. Seeing Bono point out his plate to his guests was a really cool moment for me. In the picture you have the before and after plate, my kitchen staff and my partners and I . Btw when Bono is on stage and says he loves MTL…. He really does he’s been here 12 days and his last concert was on Wednesday.”
Photo credits:Buonanotte
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