By Vivian Collings

The Rockcliffe bar, restaurant, and hotel is making a momentous comeback on July 1, but not in downtown Minden.

Owners of the Rockcliffe recently purchased what was formerly the Summerkiss Restaurant in Moore Falls to fulfill their dream after meeting road blocks with the original location.

The plan was for the original Rockcliffe to be demolished and a new bar, restaurant, and hotel to be built in its place.

There is no foreseeable timeline for the Bobcaygeon Road Rockcliffe location to open. In the meantime, the owners are using their original ideas and implementing them at their new location at 1014 Lois Lane off of Highway 35 in Moore Falls.

The Rockcliffe owners – Mark Dracup, Lise Dracup, Dan Gosselin, and Johnathan McMahon – have been busy renovating the space over the past eight months to be ready to open for the July 1 long weekend.

“We have live entertainment, a fireworks display, a new menu, and it’s going to be a great party. We have our liquor licence to serve up to 260 guests at any given time. We expect a good crowd throughout the entire weekend, and it should be a lot of fun,” Dracup said.

Their goal is to be open seven days a week if they are able to acquire enough staff members.

Dracup expects both new customers and people that knew and loved the original Rockcliffe to come and enjoy their Moore Falls location.

“It may take people a little while to understand that it’s not the old location, but it’s just down at the other end of [Gull Lake], and I think seasonal cottagers and visitors will drive by it right on Highway 35, the gateway to Haliburton,” he said.

The group hopes to offer a place in the county to “Eat, Play, and Stay,” past the closing hours of other businesses.

“If people come in to Haliburton, they’re going to see something new and exciting. The reality in Haliburton today is that if you want to go out anywhere past 9 p.m. on a Saturday night, nothing is open. We will stay open as long as business dictates,” Dracup said. 

“We have a very, very high-end chef. We’re going to have mainstream pub food, but also high-end food as well. We expect to have the best wine, cocktail, and food menus in Haliburton.”

The Rockcliffe Moore Falls will also have seven rooms for rent with their own en-suites for visitors to stay after enjoying the restaurant and bar, and there will be boat access on Gull Lake. 

In the future, the Rockcliffe hopes to utilize their seven acres of space for camping, weddings and events, games, and more.

“We’re just trying to get phase one done, which is the buildings, the rooms, the kitchen, and the entertainment set up, and then we’ll move on to everything else.”

Merchandise can be purchased at www.therockcliffe.ca and you can find the Rockcliffe on both Instagram and Facebook. Their menus will also be posted on their website.

Manager Kirsty Goodearle said that her vision for the Rockcliffe Moore Falls is to “bring an elevated level of service, food, and beverage to the Haliburton region, and for [the Rockcliffe] to get back to being the heart of Haliburton’s entertainment.”