There may not be many, but here are some off-campus resto options
Among everything else on Sherbrooke St. W, the Loyola campus seems out of place. Isolated from Concordia’s buzz, the campus has few food options: Tim Hortons, the Hive Café and two food stops in the CJ and SP buildings. If coffee and BLTs aren’t what you’re looking for, there are many other options just around the corner.
Souvlaki George
6995 Monkland Ave.
Feel like Greek food? This place will definitely have what you’re craving. Only one block East of Loyola, Souvlaki George serves traditional Greek plates such as pitas, plates, or even Quebec delicacies such as poutine. Their soft bread, well-seasoned meat and creamy tzatziki will never get old.
“Souvlaki George has this depth of flavour that reminds me of my grandmother’s food,” said Elias Grigoriadis, a Concordia student of Greek origin. “I like how you can grab something and go, as well as sit down with friends and enjoy a good meal.”
Comptoir KOYAJO 6963 Sherbrooke St. W
If greek isn’t your style, a few doors down from Souvlaki George is Comptoir KOYAJO. The restaurant offers an array of soups, noodles, rice bowls and dumplings.
The cozy restaurant (just a short walk East from Souvlaki George) serves a plate of six pork or vegetarian dumplings for $7.99. These juicy, crispy exterior, soft interior dough balls are worth the snowy trek to Comptoir KOYAJO, trust me.
NDG HotDog & Pizzeria
7363 Sherbrooke St. W.
Comfort food anyone? On the other side of Loyola, right off the corner of Westmore Ave., NDG HotDog & Pizzeria will offer you a variety of fast food options. The smell of charred pizza crust mixed with day-old frying oil will take you right back to late nights out with friends.
NDG HotDog & Pizzeria is a great spot for all circumstances; $1.25 for a steamed hot dog, $3.99 for a hamburger or a 10-inch pizza for $10.60—ideal for sharing amongst friends or for a grab-and-go meal on the way to a late night study session.
“It’s good comfort food!” said Casandra Bentivoglio, a Concordia journalism student. “It’s cheap and it’s great when you’re in a rush and hunger strikes in the middle of class.”
Café Bistro Bano 6929 Sherbrooke St. W.
With Persian tapestries and colourful lampshades as decor, coming into Café Bistro Bano feels like entering an Iranian living room. The smell of freshly infused sweet tea with hints of saffron signals to the authenticity of this Persian-Iranian coffee shop.
This is the perfect stop to enjoy a well-earned warm drink after combating the freezing cold outside. With most of their authentic teas and desserts under $10, Café Bistro Bano is worth the two-block walk from campus.
On Nov. 2, a group of Concordia students protested Food Secure Canada’s 10th national assembly. The assembly used Aramark to cater its event, which is in direct conflict to its supposed mission: to promote and develop sustainable and accessible food systems that are healthy, safe and defined by the people that live within that system, according to its website.
If you don’t know who Aramark is, you’re not alone. Even though it is the largest food provider in Canada and America and is active in 21 countries, it is extremely good at hiding its name. In fact, you may not have known that the residence cafeterias at Loyola and the downtown campus are owned by Aramark, as well as many on-campus food sites, such as the Starbucks and the Tim Hortons/Freshii area in the LB building. Outside Concordia, Aramark supplies food to many prisons in America, schools, hospitals and other cafeterias around the world.
The group’s reason for protesting the assembly was to warn attendees that Aramark was catering the event—many of whom reported not knowing that prior to the event, and were outraged to find out. According to pamphlets distributed by event protestors, Aramark is known for the following violations: serving food with maggots in it to prisoners on several occasions, 66 counts of wage, hour, labour and employment discrimination, and turning a blind eye to numerous sexual assault allegations within the company. Aramark also has a history of supporting and increasing the ubiquity of the private prison system in America with hefty political donations, undoubtedly to increase its “customer base.”
Concordia allows Aramark to rent many spaces at Concordia for surprisingly low costs compared to the estimated yield of those spaces as part of a five-year contract with the possibility of a two-year extension. This contract began in May 2015.
Luckily, there is an organization at Concordia called the Concordia Food Coalition (CFC) that is organizing a campaign to lessen Aramark’s grip on Concordia’s food economy, and to establish healthier, more sustainable and less profit-driven initiatives in its place. The campaign, which is called the Food Autonomy Campaign (FAC) attempts to amend Concordia’s contract with its food provider in order to make the food system more ethical and less profit-driven. The FAC aims to change Concordia’s food economy in ways that find the balance between what is realistic/achievable while still being effective.
According to a member of the campaign, these are the core demands: 1) to remove some spaces from the contract that Concordia holds with Aramark and replace them with student-run food providers like the Hive Café, or with other options that are more concerned with issues often neglected by the university’s current provider, like local food sourcing, fair wages, sustainability and student opportunities; 2) to increase the amount of dining dollars residence students get to spend at places outside of the cafeteria (it is currently $200) without increasing the price of the meal plan, as well as allow students to spend that money at non-Aramark owned locations on campus (which is currently not the case); 3) to allow for students to shorten their contract with residence food services and use alternative food sources from the cafeteria like open kitchens, where they could make/store their own food if they wish.
We at The Concordian believe in supporting local economies over multinational corporations when possible, and we support the Concordia Food Coalition in their Food Autonomy Campaign to create those alternatives at Concordia. If you agree that Aramark’s monopoly over Concordia’s food system should be dismantled and replaced with ethical alternatives, spread the word about Aramark and its devious acts and support the CFC and FAC whenever you see them on campus. Both groups have Facebook pages with regular updates and more information, and you can contact foodautonomycampaign@gmail.com to see how you can get involved.
People who have chromesthesia see music in colour. I, instead, have foodsthesia. I see music in terms of food I’m familiar with.
Food and music are both cultural objects, imbued with a sense of identity and belonging. Not only that, both can be appropriated and sold to make tons of money, so they’re even more palatable for the mainstream. Both are celebrations of who we are as people.
Food is actually very evocative; it conveys culture, conceptions of class and even time, as certain food in different cultures is tied to a celebration or holiday. Almost every culture loves to share music and food. They bring people and communities closer together, bridging the gap between different cultures, even if for only a short amount of time.
So much description and identity can be gleaned from food, so this exercise in comparing it to albums can create a new layer for musical criticism. Or maybe this will be just fun.
Fish and Chips
Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967) by The Beatles
I chose fish and chips, partly because The Beatles are British, but also because Sgt. Pepper is a good album full of classic hits just like the dish. As with fish and chips, I won’t seek out this album, but once or twice a year, I have the urge to go back to Sgt. Pepper. I’ll have a good listen, and I’ll forget about it for another year.
Beef Tartare
The Money Store (2012) by Death Grips
Death Grips are generally aggressive-sounding, but they have a lot of depth to their music. I am immediately reminded of beef tartare by the band’s overall sound, because both are an acquired taste. I totally understand why people enjoy this album, but like beef tartare, sometimes its rawness is too much for me to handle. Maybe one day I’ll truly appreciate this album.
Deconstructed Cheesecake
Homogenic (1997) by Björk
Homogenic goes for a pop-experimental sound, yet what’s there is so sweet. Like the album, deconstructed cheesecake intentionally lacks the structure and shape of regular cheesecake, looking fancy and strange, but the sweet flavours still shine through.
Steak and Fries
channel ORANGE (2012) by Frank Ocean
This album is meaty and filled with so many great tracks, my favourite being “Pyramids.” Ocean’s melodies are sensual and emotional. The substantial tracks, like “Sierra Leone,” are the steak, because they are flavourful, fusing amazing instrumentals, lyrics and Ocean’s vocal range. Meanwhile, interlude tracks like the delightful “Fertilizer,” are the fries you eat in between the steak. The track proves that side dishes are just as important as the main course. And I’m always in the mood for steak and fries.
Shrimp Pizza
Uyai (2017) by Ibibio Sound Machine
Uyai is the shrimp pizza of albums. Both just hit the right notes for me. It’s the bonding of different elements that I love about this album; the electronic beats, acoustic instruments and the rhythmic singing mesh so well together. Shrimp pizza is analogous, because pizza is a melding of different elements. The crust, the sauce, the cheese and the special toppings fit together harmoniously.
All-you-can-eat buffet
MM… FOOD (2004) by MF DOOM
This album’s theme is literally food; go listen to it.
Whitewashed hummus
Reputation (2017) by Taylor Swift
Hummus has a long history in the Middle East. It’s flavoursome, dense and richly textured. But white people appropriated hummus, stripped it of flavour and history, and made it super bland. Reputation is Swift’s lacklustre hummus. She changed her sound from country music to R&B-inspired beats and melodies, meanwhile bringing up old grudges that few people care about. Swift’s album is uninspiring and tasteless, despite the fact that her other albums were pop hits and in her own style.
Concordia alumna launches free restaurant matchup app, Feed Me
Appealing or not? The decision can be made at the simple glance of a perfectly grilled avocado toast surrounded with fries. A swipe left and the dish disappears, and now a delectable sushi platter tempts you for lunch.
Searching for a nearby restaurant that suits your cravings and budget has just gotten easier and, frankly, more fun with Concordia alumna Amie Watson’s new app, Feed Me. The concept is similar to dating apps like Tinder. Rather than swipe left for a date, though, let Feed Me introduce you to a wide selection of restaurants, bars and cafés based on your indicated preferences.
“You open the app, and you will have more than 30 options in a four-block radius, but you can also plan for the weekend, look for a nice French restaurant,” Watson said about the app’s benefits. “[Feed Me] helped me discover restaurants in places I already lived.”
Watson is a freelance journalist based in Montreal who has contributed to outlets such as the Montreal Gazette, National Post, MaTV and Global TV. She graduated from Concordia University with a graduate degree in journalism in 2015. Originally from St-John’s, N.L., Watson moved to Toronto to earn her undergraduate degree in classical percussions at the University of Toronto. It was also in Toronto that she developed a passion for world cuisines while reading food reviews by Steven Davey—a food critic and musician in the city’s Queen West scene—in Now Magazine. “I hadn’t had much money, but once a week I would take myself out for lunch at one of his top cheap-eat places,” Watson said.
Amie Watson scrolls through some photos of nearby restaurants on the Feed Me app. Photos by Elisa Barbier
After a while, she decided to learn the recipes she was enjoying so much and began to appreciate the traditions and history behind them. When Watson moved to Montreal, she was exposed to new types of cuisines that were not as predominant in Toronto. “Tunisian, French Caribbean, Ghanaian [cuisines]—I was able to find and cook new recipes,” she said.
On her path to become Montreal’s Steven Davey, Watson worked as the food editor at Midnight Poutine—a local food, indie music, fashion and arts blog—for several years, and eventually ended up doing work for their weekend podcast. “It was then that I realized I was way more into freelance food writing than into my classical percussion master’s,” she said.
In 2011, Watson launched her blog, multiculturiosity.com, to write restaurant and meal reviews and share healthy recipes. As she delved further into the food writing world, she developed an intolerance to lactose and gluten. Nonetheless, this did not prevent her from keeping at her passion. “I have recipes full of bread on [my blog],” she said as she discussed her love of baked goods.
Three years later, Watson participated in a Yelp Hackathon—a two-day event during which teams have to come up with a useful, funny or cool project that uses Yelp interface. This is where the Feed Me app was conceptualized.
“I wanted to write about all these restaurants, and I wanted somewhere to put it,” she said. The Yelp Hackathon provided participating teams access to its accumulated data about locations, trends and reviews, and Watson’s team came up with a project that improves existing restaurant apps.
When conceptualizing the app, Watson said it was important for her to have all the information—the reviews, the photos, the addresses—all in one place with an easy and simple interface, similar to Tinder. “When I first used Tinder, I thought it was fun. You get sucked in easily, kind of like a game,” she said.
Feed Me gathers reviews from restaurants in over 30 countries thanks to Yelp’s interface. Reviews and pictures of the restaurants are not selected by the establishments themselves but rather by the clients who have posted their own reviews on Yelp. “It is awesome because when you are travelling you can use it wherever you go,” Watson said. Montrealers have the added benefit of Watson’s own local reviews appearing on the app.
Some of Feed Me’s interesting features are the categories that a user can choose from to narrow down their search—everything from world cuisine, TGIF and vegetarian, to business dinners, sweet treats and even safe break-up venues. (A “safe break-up venue,” for example, includes at least one of the following elements: a back door, an affordable menu if one needs to pay for themselves or a not-so fancy ambiance.)
Watson decided the project was worth pursuing since it was a finalist at the hackathon, and she funded it herself. “I had money I could have responsibly put aside or put it into a passion project, so I put it into the passion project,” she said.
However, after a failed first attempt, Watson was told by user experience specialists that she had to redevelop the app. “I needed a new team, more money and strong business plans to get the loans I assumed I would need,” she said.
With the help of Yes Montreal—a Quebec-based organization that helps people find jobs and start or grow their business—she created a business plan and was able to get loans from Futurpreneur and Canada’s Business Development Bank.
Due to many obstacles, it took four years for Feed Me to go from being a concept to a final product, available in the Apple and Android app stores since August. Watson said she felt that Feed Me was what she needed to create, that no obstacles would make her back down. “There are moments when you are frustrated, irritated and you don’t think about it for a day,” she said. “[But then the passion for it] just creeps back into your mind.”
According to Watson, the app reached 12,000 downloads in its first three weeks and received positive feedback. Its success comes from being financially responsible, she said. “I am not just throwing money at this and crossing my fingers,” she explained, adding that mentors, financial guidance and business plans, along with the mindset of a responsible business owner, are all key to becoming successful.
Feed Me has many plans going forward, including offering discounts for restaurants and creating partnerships with food festivals. Currently, it offers a monthly give-away of $50. Users who share the app with their friends are automatically be entered in the draw when their friend downloads the app from the reference link.
“I want Feed Me to be the go-to restaurant search app, for it to be number one in the world, but in Canada first,” Watson said.
A discussion about the food industry through the dos and the don’ts of dumpster diving
When faced with the idea of diving into a dumpster to collect dinner, some may think ew. In our society, garbage is thought of as filthy. So, naturally, a stigma surrounds the dumpster diving practice. But think again.
On March 10, Concordia students Isabella Donati-Simmons and Aven Fisher organized a workshop to talk about the art of ‘diving.’
The workshop, coordinated by Les Échelles, a collective with a focus on a sharing lifestyle, explored the dos and don’ts of the practice, as well as the larger problem of food waste in Canada. The event gathered about 30 people, half of them already experienced divers.
“We are not experts. We are just avid dumpster divers,” Fisher said to start off the workshop.
The participants and organizers discussed major problems surrounding food waste in Canada and around the world. From consumer standards of food aesthetics to transportation and transnational agreements, to the lack of personal connection with food, participants discussed some of the reasons they felt food waste is such a big problem. “The food system is an extremely complex web. It is not just a straight line,” Fisher said.
In Canada, $31 billion worth of food is wasted each year, according to a 2014 report from Value Chain Management International, a global company aiming to improve the efficiency of food chains. This marks a 15 per cent increase from 2010. The same study shows that 47 per cent of this waste comes from individuals in their homes. “It makes you wonder why some are still starving or food insecure, especially the First Nations peoples,” Donati-Simmons said.
Fisher and Donati-Simmons went through “the dumpster rules.” According to the organizers, divers shouldn’t necessarily look at the best-before dates on unopened products and packages. They say it is more important to rely on smell and look instead.
Some products contaminated by mold are still edible. The U.S Department of Agriculture established a list of food which can still be eaten if moldy. This includes hard cheese, firm vegetables, and salami. Donati-Simmons recommends cutting about an inch around and under the mold.
Dumpster divers should equip themselves with a light, preferably a head lamp, gloves and reusable bags. The best places to dive are around small grocery stores or bakeries. The organizers also recommended paying attention to garbage day schedules and store owners’ garbage habits. Fisher also pointed out that it is important not to take more than you need, with respect to other divers.
While the practice is not illegal, it is illegal to trespass. “Most tenants are okay with it and will indicate where to look or even give you wastes, but don’t leave it messy,” Fisher said.
“The best thing is to be respectful [as divers],” Donati-Simmons added.
To clean food collected on a diving trip, a bath of water and vinegar or dish soap does the trick. It must be naturally air-dried before refrigeration to avoid spores during storage. The food can then be prepared or frozen after being dried. The most common uses of recollected food are in soups, jams, smoothies, kimchi or as dried fruit.
The workshop was followed by a diving initiation in the Plateau and a meal at Donati-Simmons’ and Fisher’s house with the recollected food.
“Dumpster diving is sharing, finding new uses, changing the waste culture and realising what our society does,” Donati-Simmons said.
The relaxed, family-run spot serves up café classics, with a side of charm
John Zampetoulakis, co-owner of Kokkino Café, calls on a customer by name. “Sarah, you want a grilled cheese?” She shakes her head no and he nods. He proceeds to butter her freshly popped toast and walk out from behind the counter to set her bowl of soup and toast in front of her. At Kokkino Café, table service is on the house.
Zampetoulakis and his wife, Angela Reichman, opened Kokkino Café over eight years ago. “I worked in a lot of restaurants, I made a lot of money and I said, you know what, no more. I want to do this for myself, for my kids, for my community,” said Zampetoulakis.
Photo by Gabrielle Vendette
The spot is a family-run business- even Zampetoulakis and Reichman’s four kids participate in the action.
The concept of the café is a little different than the average grab-and-go coffee joint. At Kokkino, the customer places their order at the counter, takes a seat and the food is brought to them.
Zampetoulakis said he decided to serve his customers this way because “it’s nice and it’s relaxed—it feels like home.” Similarly, customers only pay the bill when they’re ready to leave. “They pay me before they go, that way they have time to digest their food,” he said. “When you’re done, whenever you’re done, you’ve had your experience and then you pay me.” “Relaxed” is a great way to describe the experience at Kokkino.
Photo by Gabrielle Vendette
The café’s food is freshly made every morning by the two owners and inspired by Zampetoulakis’ Greek origins. The variety of the menu is impressive for an operation run mainly by one couple.
Kokkino offers soups, salads, sandwiches, wraps and desserts. There is a wide selection of teas, and of course, an abundance of coffee. The spot also has a variety of vegan options.
At Kokkino, accommodation is the rule, not the exception. It’s not uncommon for someone to walk in and grab an order they texted Zampetoulakis that morning.
“I know everybody that comes in here. I know what they like, I know how they like it,” said Zampetoulakis. He also custom-makes sandwiches ordered at his counter. There is an attention to detail in his work. Every interaction Zampetoulakis has with a customer is genuine and shows his compassion.
Photo by Gabrielle Vendette
The owner’s vision for the café is focused on creating a calm atmosphere for people to enjoy their coffee and meal. He said he wanted to “create a place where people just feel they can relax.”
Customers who walks into Kokkino are greeted with a warm hello from Zampetoulakis. Dogs are also allowed inside, because, according to him, “it’s just chill. That’s what I want.”
When you go to Kokkino, prepare to be treated like family. Just don’t forget to bring your dishes to the counter before you leave.
The cafe is located at 5673 Sherbrooke Street West. The spot opens at 9 a.m. every day, and closes at 7 p.m. on Mondays and Tuesdays, 8 p.m. on Wednesdays, 10 p.m. on Thursdays and Fridays, 6:30 p.m. on Saturdays and 6 p.m. on Sundays.
Some popular DIY face masks are actually doing more harm than good
Lemon juice treatments, baking soda masks, sugar scrubs—type “DIY acne treatment” into Google, and you are likely to find a slew of articles that praise these treatments and other common household items for their alleged pimple-fighting benefits.
But are these trending DIY ingredients truly effective in treating pesky skin ailments? The kind of skin-care advice found in many women’s magazines, as well as in online beauty and health articles, may actually be ruining your skin.
Let’s begin with the widely-acclaimed beauty blog miracle ingredient: lemon. A health.com article titled “15 Home Remedies to Make a Pimple Vanish,” advises readers to “wipe lemon juice across your pimples with a cotton ball, and leave it on overnight.”
This common skin care treatment overlooks an important aspect of our skin’s chemical makeup: its acid mantle. The acid mantle is the skin’s barrier to bacteria, viruses and other potential contaminants—it is measured by pH. Through their research for Wake Forest University’s department of dermatology in North Carolina, Dr. Saba Ali and Dr. Gil Yosipovitch stressed the importance of the skin’s acid mantle.
Ali and Yosipovitch expressed in their research paper some concern over the disregard to acid mantle. They argued that skin’s acid mantle is vital, and that “recognizing factors that alter skin pH and selecting products that preserve the acid mantle is of prime importance” in treating skin.
Exogenous factors, like products that are too acidic (low pH) or too alkaline (high pH), cause damage to the skin’s barrier and lead to “compromised skin,” according to a research paper by American dermatologist, James Del Rosso.
Lemon juice has a pH level of two, while human skin is roughly 5.5. Therefore, Del Rosso explained, this difference in pH levels means using lemon juice on your face can lead to loss of skin elasticity, increased skin rigidity and acne.
According to a 2014 research paper by endocrinologist Dr. Stacey E Anderson and dermatologist Dr. Barbara Jean Meade, having compromised skin can make you more at risk to toxic chemicals that irritate and further damage the skin. This is because, if the skin’s pH is compromised, chemicals can get through the outer layer of the skin, and inside the body.
Another popular ingredient seen in amateur skin care articles is baking soda. According to Doctor Oz’s website, “you don’t need harsh chemicals to fight acne. Try a mixture of baking soda and honey to help clear skin.”
Baking soda is an alkaline, with a pH of nine. Whether alkaline or acidic, Anderson and Meade’s research found that the pH of daily skin care products is very important to protect the skin barrier. Baking soda’s pH is, therefore, just too high for skin to handle.
However, some household items are proven to be good remedies. The aforementioned skin-clearing mixture of honey and baking soda, while best to be avoided, includes honey. In a research publication for the Iranian Journal of Basic Medical Sciences, dermatologists Tahereh Eteraf-Oskouei and Moslem Najafi explored honey’s benefits. They argued that topical application of honey has healing effects for superficial skin burns and operation wounds, making honey a safe ingredient in DIY skin care treatments. Honey’s average pH is 3.9, but can range anywhere from 3.4 to 6.1.
While some websites may provide acne-sufferers faulty skin care advice, online communities exist to counteract the wave of careless information. Forums on Reddit, for example, pride themselves on circulating facts about skin care discovered in scientific journals.
Trendy Cuban restaurant is serving mucho mojitos and impressive dishes
Quebecers love Cuba. It is a known fact. According to the Toronto Star, 1.2 million Canadians travel to Cuba, annually. The link between our province and the beloved communist state is so prominent that Cubans affectionately call us “Tabarnacos” and “Jean Coutus.”
That connection is what the staff at La Habanera restaurant wanted to bring to Montreal. “We wanted to create a nice vibe from Cuba,” manager Louis-Philippe Rouleau told The Concordian. Rouleau said the idea was to create “something that you couldn’t get in Montreal.”
Photo by Shakti Langlois Ortega
La Habanera is unique. Inspired by the vibrant colours of Cuban culture, the restaurant’s DIY-style décor is probably the most charming aspect of the downtown restaurant. Its vintage look recreates the antique charm of Old Havana. About 30 tables occupy the small space, and along the back wall sits a turquoise banquette. Dozens of strategically scattered picture frames filled with vintage Cuban portraits, maps and photos cover the walls, giving the space a relaxed feel. Some may even consider it the perfect Instagram-worthy backdrop to any photo.
Walking into La Habanera feels like stepping into a closet-sized version of Cuba. If you are up to it, you can even test your Spanish skills with the staff, since most of them speak it fluently.
No Cuban-inspired restaurant would be complete without a salsa playlist and this place offers one that will have you dancing in your seat. If you dare, get up between bites and show off your dance moves.
Although delicious and beautifully prepared, the food served at La Habanera is nothing like the typical food found in traditional Cuban households. On the menu, you will find a variety of creative and tasteful small, tapas-style plates inspired by authentic Cuban ingredients, such as plantain and seafood. The restaurant basically takes traditional ingredients to make non-traditional or gourmet dishes.
Plantain cups filled with rum, coconut, and garlic dulce de leche shrimps. Photo by Shakti Langlois Ortega
One of the restaurant’s signature dishes, rum, coconut and garlic dulce de leche shrimps served in plantain cups, is a perfect example of that.
To recreate the open and heart-warming Cuban atmosphere and experience, La Habanera encourages clients to order several plates to share. The spot also offers a special tasting menu for groups, which is a surprise menu picked and designed by the chefs.
You can seat yourself either at the beautiful turquoise banquette, in one of the cozy diner-style booths or at the bar, while a bartender concocts one of the spot’s exotic house cocktails, like the Bloody Maria Con Lychee. The drink translates to a cherry tomato and lychee Bloody Mary.
With more than 20 different types of rum, the Cuban liquor of choice, La Habanera offers an exclusive selection of mouth-watering mojitos made with fresh fruits and herbs.
Designed for millennials, with its trendy yet unpretentious vibe, La Habanera can be your go-to spot for anything from a promising Tinder date to an unforgettable birthday dinner.
La Habanera is the latest restaurant from a team of people who are also behind Montreal’s Mexican restaurants La Cerveceria and Escondite, and the Japanese fusion spot, Biiru. The team will also opening a Hawaiian poke takeout restaurant soon.
La Habanera is located at 1216 Avenue Union, Montréal, QC H3B 3C4.
The spot is open Tuesday to Thursday from 5:30 p.m. to 10 p.m., and Friday and Saturday from 5:30 p.m. to 11 p.m.
The spot offers breakfast, lunch, specialty coffees and a variety of desserts. Photo by Danielle Gasher
New Plateau business creates a hybrid of the classic dépanneur and café
It’s common knowledge that dépanneurs are meant to be convenient. However, François Ste-Marie, a young Montreal entrepreneur, thinks they should be so much more.
On Sept. 9, Ste-Marie opened the dépanneur he’s been longing to see in the city. The result, frankly, is impressive.
Dépanneur Fancé is located close to the corner of avenue Des Pins and Saint-Dominique street. Photo by Danielle Gasher
Located in Plateau Mont-Royal, just a few blocks away from Montreal’s iconic Schwartz’s Deli, Dépanneur Fancé is a one-of-a-kind spot.
At first glance, the quaint shop stands out on the residential street close to St-Laurent Boulevard. The street doesn’t have much hustle and bustle. However, once inside Fancé, the street’s quietness becomes a forgettable detail as you are immediately faced with a colourful array of carefully chosen products. Vegetable chips, locally-produced soda drinks, kombucha and craft beers share the shelves with high-quality household basics, such as organic juices and cereals. The shop also sells meals and desserts made in store, available for take-out. Most importantly, behind the counter is Ste-Marie, the owner and sole employee of Fancé, ready to serve you like he would a friend.
The store sells mostly local products. Photo by Danielle Gasher
Although Fancé offers typical “convenience” products, it is also appealing as a place to satisfy your gourmet appetite. Fancé’s tasteful creamy and nutty lattes are delicious, especially coupled with their croissants, or homemade cookies. The spot also has a breakfast and lunch menu. The breakfast menu includes classics with a twist. You can choose toast on artisanal bread with your choice of spread, or an iranian breakfast which consists of toast with feta cheese and nuts. The lunch menu includes items such as feta and watermelon salad, homemade sandwiches made with fresh, local ingredients, and salads.
Ste-Marie is an ardent supporter of local ingredients and products. Most of his products are Canadian. The coffee he sells comes from Montreal’s trendy Café Saint-Henri and Calgary’s Café Phil & Sebastian, and he buys his chips and cereals from two British Columbia-based companies.
Prior to opening his own business, Ste-Marie worked as a manager at a clothing retailer in downtown Montreal. “My dad had a dépanneur when I was young,” he said. “I’ve always fancied the idea of having mine, but with the products I’d like to find. I love good food, good beer and good coffee. I wanted to appropriate the concept.”
Photo by Danielle Gasher
Ste-Marie filled his shop with just that—you can tell right away by his small inventory that he only sells his carefully chosen, and high-quality favourites.
Fancé, Ste-Marie’s Québécois spelling of “Fancy,” is sure to become the new Plateau hotspot to grab some beer and snacks for a night in, or your go-to café to enjoy a velvety latte to help you get through a study session.
The spot’s seating consists of a stylish and sleek bar with five chairs along the large window of the shop. The bar, made of concrete, features only a few computer outlets. Wifi is also available.
For now, Dépanneur Fancé is open Tuesday to Sunday, from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m, however, Ste-Marie said the opening hours are subject to change as Fancé gets a feel for the neighbourhood.
Dépanneur Fancé is located at 3764 St-Dominique Street.
The Hive comes back with exciting projects for a new school year
It’s not always easy to find healthy food on both campuses of the university, but CSU’s popular cooperative café the Hive is back for a delicious year, as of Sept. 6.
Over the summer, the café has been working to get approved for the Concordia catering list. Finance and administration coordinator Leigh Hoffman said that being added to this list means the Hive will be able to cater at events and further grow its business. With this opportunity, Concordia’s co-op café will be able to provide their food and space for their upcoming Concordia and Hive events.
The co-op café is also revamping its menu. “We will have egg salad sandwich, grilled cheese with caramelized onions, green vegetables sandwiches, and of course our peanut butter cookies will come back,” said Hoffman.
Hoffman also mentioned that customers will now have the option to have a life membership, at the cost of 5$.. This includes a 10 per cent discount on all products, and members can vote during the Hive’s general assembly. According to Hoffman, all their members have an equal vote at the general assemblies, and the co-op wants its members to have a say in the operation of the cafés through their meetings.
It is a fun and engaging initiative that gets the members involved and creating committees. Right now, they have an art committee and a decoration committee—but they are always looking for more ways to encourage membership. These committees proposes how to decorate the Hive’s space, they can put up paintings on the walls, and also bring out plants for decoration.
The Hive has also managed to become sustainable. The cafés compost, recycle and encourage students to bring their own mug for hot beverages. They both operate as non-profit cooperatives, and they are financially self-sustaining, according to Hoffman.
For their upcoming events, the Hive will hold an open mic night, and a board games and trivia night during the CSU’s orientation. They will also continue their poetry nights later this semester. They will be continuing their free lunch program, which offers a free, vegan, nut-free lunch every school day at the Loyola campus between 12:30 p.m. and 1:30 p.m. Since the Hive is a co-op, students are in charge of cooking together to ensure that the meal is healthy and served on time.
All students are welcome to volunteer at the Hive. Responsibilities include preparing, cooking and serving food, and cleaning at either location. The Hive can provide references for volunteers and they also encourage students to put the experience on their CVs.
Students can visit the Hive at the Loyola Campus (2nd floor of the Student Centre building) and at the downtown campus (in the mezzanine of the Hall building).
Our round-up of this week’s featured restaurant menus
The third annual Taste MTL week is upon us—from Oct. 30 until Nov. 9, some of Montreal’s most revered and creative restaurants offer tasting menus at either $19, $29, or $39, allowing even the most frugal of us to dine like Kings and Queens. Here are some of our favourite and least favourite of this year’s offerings.
La Société – $29 – 9/10
by Sara Baron-Goodman
Photo by Sara Baron-Goodman
This new French-style bistro, attached to Hotel Leows Vogue, promises to transport patrons to Paris while never straying from the heart of Montreal. Its creative take on classic Continental dishes could certainly impress even Parisian standards.
I started with the octopus terrine, garnished with chorizo and piperade (a concoction made from peppers and tomato). The octopus was tender and flavourful, and the chorizo and piperade gave the dish a nice Spanish zest. The portion was small, but the flavour was big. My dining partners both tried the spiced pumpkin soup appetizer, which was deliciously rich and creamy, and served piping hot.
Next, I had the roasted squab served with butternut squash puree, wild mushroom ragout, and a pinot noir reduction. This was my first experience with squab, and while the flavour was nice, there wasn’t enough meat on this bird’s bones for my liking. The velvety butternut squash and meaty mushrooms, all drizzled in the decadent pinot noir reduction, more than made up for what was lacking in the squab. The combination was rich and absolutely heavenly.
For dessert, I opted for the pain perdu, served over warm creme anglaise, and topped with foie gras ice cream, salted caramel bits and pistachios. After the first bite, I was seeing stars in the best possible way. My friend had the orange-infused “mega macaron,” which was equally superb.
A special shoutout goes to the beautifully-crafted cocktails at La Société, which were not included in the tasting menu but definitely worth the extra investment.
La Société is located at 1415 de la Montagne St.
Laika – $19 – 6.5/10
by Sara Baron-Goodman
Photo by Sara Baron-Goodman
A hipster staple on St-Laurent Blvd., Laika is part lounge, part café, part restaurant. Its Taste MTL menu was creative in theory, with hints of Asian-inspiration, but nothing memorable in practice.
I started with the ricotta crostini with chanterelle mushrooms, garnished with arugula. It was good, with the earthy mushrooms balancing the lightness of the ricotta, but the crostini was a little soggy. I’ve made a better version at home. My friends started with the lobster bisque, which was thick, creamy, and extremely rich.
We each decided to order a different one of the three main courses offered, so we could all try everything. I had the seared tuna, drizzled with sunflower oil and served with pickled red onions and roasted potatoes. The tuna was slightly too well-done, and could have benefitted from a sauce with a little more oomph. The potatoes and onions were more flavourful than the fish.
One of my friends ordered the beef bavette, which was served atop a cold edamame and rice salad. The meat was tender and cooked nicely, and the salad was interesting but would have been nicer served warm. It somehow just didn’t quite go with the hearty meat.
A third friend had the risotto with roasted carrots, radicchio, and green apple. This was by far the best dish of the night. The apple and radicchio added an unexpected burst of flavour to the risotto, balancing out the richness of the dish with a fresh fruity punch.
For dessert, I had the orange crème brulée. The top was perfectly torched and the crème was nice and fluffy, but the orange flavour was slightly too overpowering for the dish, and made it all a bit too sweet. My friends had the cheesecake, served with wild berry coulis. It was a nice, classic dessert. Good, but ultimately nothing earth-shattering.
Laika is located at 4040 St-Laurent Blvd.
Taverne F par Ferreira – $29 – 7.5/10 by Frederic T. Muckle
Photo by Frederic T. Muckle
Named after its well-known Portuguese chef Carlos Ferreira, the Taverne F offers Mediterranean delicacies to its customers. Thriving on tapas-style small portions and numerous plates, the Taverne F’s Taste MTL menu was designed for people willing to share. This may be a horrifying thought for Joey Tribbiani and like-minded individuals, but for groups of friends willing to try out a variety of plates, the formula works beautifully.
Still, it seemed that the menu, including grilled octopus, cod cakes, and Alentejana-style pork with clams among other things, was more focused on its variety than on the quality of the individual plates. Don’t get me wrong, the food was good and the experience was really enjoyable. The restaurant looks good, the service was fine and the general atmosphere was nice. They even had a screen showing you the kitchen, Big Brother-style. However, nothing was impressive. For such a well-known restaurant, one would hope that the food would be wonderful, not just good.
It may be that an efficient marketing campaign makes us think that such an establishment lives up to higher standards, but in the end, the Taverne F Taste MTL experience was pleasant for people who like to share, but not much more than that.
Taverne F par Ferreira is situated at 1485 Jeanne-Mance St.
L’Alexia – 29$ – 9/10 by Frederic T. Muckle
You probably don’t know about L’Alexia. Hell, I did not even know about this place, situated at 1021 Fleury St., north of our wonderful city, before randomly choosing it from the numerous participants of Taste MTL. Proximity notwithstanding, L’Alexia is one restaurant you really want to try out.
With its simple yet elegant ambiance, L’Alexia offers a somewhat modest menu for Taste MTL, including food inspired by the Mediterranean regions of Greece, Portugal and Italy. In its simplicity, L’Alexia provides delicious plates that are all about the little details.
From fresh fish served with homemade pesto to lamb cooked with coffee and black garlic, its Taste MTL menu has something for every kind of customer (except maybe for the vegetarians). Adding to the pleasurable experience, was the fact that the staff was kind and attentive to our needs. Sarah, our delightful waitress, was obviously very busy but still managed to make us feel welcome and comfortable.
The only thing that could be considered a negative point was the fact that it was a bit too hot in the restaurant. I guess it is bound to happen when you get a relatively small establishment fully packed with hungry customers.
You have probably never heard of L’Alexia—you would probably never just walk in on a whim—nonetheless, you definitely need to overlook your cocooning winter habits and venture to Fleury St. to discover this hidden gem. You won’t regret the little expedition.
Explore the relationships between food, nature, and the human body
Imagine an exhibit where you’re not only encouraged to touch the artifacts on display, but to actually smell and taste them too.
Such is the case at the Poetic Food exhibition, part of the In The Mouth event for the next two weeks at the Phi Centre.
The exhibition plays with the relationships between food, nature, and the human body. Guided by a trail of plant votives suspended from the industrial ceiling, visitors follow biology PhD Brigitte Hough on her journey to discover the rare cases of people who literally became what they ate.
Hough has made her living studying curious incidents throughout history when humans had food and plants growing inside of them, after having ingested the item in question.
Each of the case studies is beautifully illustrated with a watercolour drawing of the organ where the plant is taking root.
Photo by Mim Kempsen.
A counter towards the centre of the exhibition beckons visitors over with a plate full of what look like gummy candies. Being the glutton for free food that I am, I didn’t think twice before picking one up and popping it in my mouth. Instead of a gummy, I was surprised to bite into a gelatinous, plasticky feeling dome, which exploded with a piney flavour as I chewed.
The plaque next to the dish explained that I had just eaten a living thing, being in this case a plant seed, and that I should begin to feel a new life taking form within me. Essentially, if I am to take this literally, I may have become pregnant with a tree. Or, as I’m hoping the case may be, I was just supposed to feel naturally invigorated after eating this live matter.
Next to the counter was a small wooden chamber, where visitors were invited to step inside and be pollinated, accompanied by the sounds and smells of nature. Upon entering the small wooden box, I was enveloped in darkness as floral scents were piped through the air and sounds of crickets and whistling winds played around me. It was a strangely relaxing experience, sort of like an aromatherapy session, but not to be recommended to the claustrophobic.
Further into the exhibition, visitors were encouraged to open up and smell (or taste if they dared) from mason jars that hung from the rafters. Each one was labelled with an identifiable smell, but filled with unidentifiable substances. The smells ranged from places to people to food to nature, for example, “Montreal,” “roses,” “grass,” “tuna,” and “rockstar.” None of the scents were especially pleasant, and all were extremely pungent, but it was an interesting exercise on how certain smell-associations can be broken apart and put back together using different materials such as the spices, herbs, and food particles that were found in the jars.
The main event, however, centres on the case of Chef Nuno, who is affected by the rare condition of dysgeusia. Essentially, this means that he has a mixed-up sense of taste, and cannot identify flavours the way the average individual can. From the description, this condition is the taste-equivalent of being colour blind — instead of a sardine, his brain tastes an artichoke.
Patrons are invited to dine for a night in Chef Nuno’s world, during nine Food Nights over the course of the exhibition’s stay at the Phi Centre.
During these Food Nights, each guest will be offered an experimental and tailor-made three-course meal. The meals will be prepared in order to evoke psychological responses from each dinner, based on a questionnaire that must be filled out prior to the event.
Because of Chef Nuno’s garbled sense of taste, no dietary restrictions can be implemented for the dinners, so picky eaters or people with allergies beware.
The Poetic Food Centre exhibit runs from Oct. 15 to 31 at the Phi Centre, and is free to enter.
Reservations for the Food Nights inspired by Chef Nuno must be made in advance for specific dates, and cost $75.
The Phi Centre is located at 407 Saint-Pierre St., in Old Montreal. For more information, visit inthemouth.ca.
