Thomas Gofton knew exactly what vibe he was looking for in his latest Guelph business venture.
Lumus and Nox: Breakfast House and Chamber of Spirits is set to open in a few days at 105 Wyndham St. N., the old West End Bakery location, and it will be an homage to wizards and all things magical.
Dragons and other mythical creatures adorn the dark coloured walls, a cauldron smoulders slowly in a corner and the banners of the businesses self-created houses cover a back wall of the space, which seats roughly 35 people.
Just don't call it Harry Potter-themed.
While the Harry Potter nod is apparent, Gofton says that's just one of the influences, from Harry Potter to Merlin, Gandalf and everything else that has ever featured a wand, staff, long beard and pointed hat.
"It's just a wizardly thing," Gofton says. "An homage to all things wizard, but Harry Potter is at the forefront of that obviously. The Potter universe has really enriched our culture in wizardry and you're going to see a lot of influence of that culture."
"We've got to keep our naming conventions, and what we showcase in there, has to be licenced. You'll see some Harry Potter stuff in there on display, but these were licenced products that were purchased through a proper licenced vendor.
"You just have to follow a bit of integrity," Gofton says.
"If you pay homage to something, people respect when you are paying homage to something as opposed to being cheeky and trying to rip it off," Gofton says. "Usually when people are being cheeky and trying to rip something off, the line is crossed."
Gofton is a local businessman whose other ventures in town include the Round Table on Essex Street and Afterlife gaming lounge on Wyndham Street.
You can be sure when the menu is released it will have some mystical naming conventions on it.
Lumus and Nox will be a breakfast and brunch restaurant seven days a week and a cocktail lounge at night Thursday, Friday and Saturday.
The menu will not feature the traditional bacon and eggs. Its focus will be on several types of waffles (savoury and sweet), crepes, a variety of yogurt and fruit bowls.
"Your greasy spoon breakfast places are going to have all your bacon, different kinds of eggs, ham ... all that stuff. While that's still part of what we can do, we're trying to make it more of a waffle, granola, yogurt, fruit kind of place," he says. "We've got six different sweet, six different savoury waffles, four different crepes and fruit bowls, yogurt bowls and our own in-house granola."
The night cocktail lounge will serve only desserts from the kitchen.
