Montreal's Barroco Restaurant Group to Open French Diner in Saint-Henri

One of the city's buzziest districts for new restaurants is about to get livelier, thanks to the man behind Old Montreal's Barroco and Bocata. Roberto Porres and some partners will take over the old La Belle Province on the corner of Notre-Dame and Atwater, and convert the space into what the restaurateur describes as a "French diner."

Other principals include Christophe Beaudoin of La Societé (ex Barroco), and Marcus Gnosiam (chef de cuisine at Bocata). T & T Gauley will undertake the space's redesign. More from Porres: "Basically Barroco (Jérémie Falissard, Louis Koorevaar, and myself) is joining forces with these super passionate people so we can still focus on the daily tasks at Barroco and Bocata and be able to deliver something great to St. Henri.” Falissard, executive chef and business partner at both Barroco and Bocata, will also serve as executive chef at the new venture.

The news is another harbinger of Saint-Henri's commercial sea change; a metamorphosis engendered, in large part, by developers like Stephen Shiller and Danny Lavy. The duo own numerous properties containing bars and restaurants on Notre-Dame, from de la Montagne all the way to de Courcelle. (Shiller and Lavy have also been busy snapping up buildings on Saint-Viateur Ouest in Mile End, as well as key Montreal landmarks like Le Faubourg Sainte-Catherine.) Indeed, the address that will house Barroco's forthcoming Saint-Henri project—3001-3007 Notre-Dame Ouest—is owned by Brandon Shiller (Stephen's son) and Jeremy Kornbluth. Both were involved in the Laurier BBQ-Gordon Ramsay experiment with Shiller père and Lavy.