Seen in passing (and then, for a pourover): Café Lali, inside a former branch of the Bank of Montreal. (One owner spent some time in Australia, hence the logo.) The café is taller than wide or deep; spiral stairs lead to a mezzanine lounge, too snug for a good photo.
Baguettes — ours needed no adornment, only eager fingers — at La Meunerie Urbaine, Montreal. Also: olive focaccia.
A sausage sandwich from Charcuterie Hongroise (a.k.a. Boucherie Hongroise), Montreal. Nowadays the shop is broadly European — the owner and the two counterwoman I met each have roots in a different Balkan nation — but the housemade sausage and cabbage are Hungarian at heart.
A vintage box of Wing's Yet-Ca-Mein at La Maison du Quartier Chinois (Chinatown House), a museum established by the Jia Foundation beside the now-shuttered Wing's Noodle factory, Montreal. Lots to see and hear for such a small space; well worth a weekend visit.
Dessert dumplings, filled with sour cherry and drizzled with honey, at Perogie Lili, Montreal. Also shown: Ukrainian-themed artwork (Kur & Kul Arts, 2024) along one wall.
Seen in passing: A reminder that French has been the official language of Quebec since 1977, on storefronts and signage in particular. Apologies to the colonel, but I didn't have the capacity to try Poulet Frit Kentucky.
Mint tea; lentil soup, bread, and hummus; and, over couscous, a trio of Mauritanian sauces — chicken with olives, beef with dates, and chickpeas with cassava — at La Khaïma, Montreal
Seen in passing: two Montreal corner stores, one in paint (Annie Hamel et. al. for MU, 2012, after a painting by Miyuki Tanobe) and one in brick and mortar.
Camerise is something "like a blueberry" the counterwoman explained; in Quebec the fruit is also called haskap and various honeysuckle names. The complex flavor of camerise sorbet evokes raspberry and currant, too; vanilla ice cream is an apt foil. At Havres aux Glaces, Montreal.
Knife and fork really is the way to go: a pair of Michigan hot dogs, accompanied by first one, then the other, of the house spruce beers, at Paul Patates, Montreal
A basket of Bancroft apples — when maple is all around, it's nice to have something tart, even sour, close at hand — at Les Vergers Alain Dauphinais, Marché Atwater, Montreal. Also shown: the farm's eye-catching display of pumpkins and squashes.
"Kimmel" was the name on the sign behind the counter; "carvi" was printed on my receipt. If, like me, you speak little Yiddish and French, "caraway" will also do. At Fairmount Bagel, Montreal
"This is the one-day coffee shop for Paul's birthday," a present to himself and an invitation to friends and passersby, Dans l'Espace, Montreal
Poutine à la Schwartz's, topped with smoked-meat trimmings, and several hand-painted murals a short walk from Schwartz's Deli, Montreal
Not only for seafood lovers: a particularly elegant example of an "only rain down the drain" storm-sewer grate, reminding us to protect the health of our waterways, Montreal
