Chez Tousignant, Impasto's Snack Bar Game Changer, Is Now Open in Little Italy

A spirited Stefano Faita stood outside his new restaurant today, and ventured to describe how his third, after Impasto, and Pizzeria GEMA, was different. “Well, we own the building this time, so that came with some additional challenges. But we have a neon sign, and that's a first!” After months of work, recipe tests, and suspense, Chez Tousignant opens today at 11:30 a.m. for lunch. The new wave snack bar/casse-croûte homage is the brainchild of Impasto chef de cuisine Yann Turcotte (Tousignant is his mother’s maiden name), with support from Faita, and his Impasto/GEMA partner, chef Michele Forgione.

“We're ready, and we're excited,” Faita exclaimed. “The place looks great—Zébulon Perron did a terrific job. And we're really happy with the way the menu turned out. Pricing things like hot dogs, hamburgers, and breakfast items is tricky. But we think it's fair, especially considering that everything's homemade.” That's an understatement. Chez Tousignant's from-scratch approach covers all the bases, with a few crucial exceptions. “We can’t compete with the taste of Heinz’s ketchup, French’s mustard, Hellmann’s mayonnaise and Kraft cheese,” Forgione recently told the Montreal Gazette. “That taste is etched in our brains.”

Chez Tousignant's menu (below) covers all the snack bar bases too: burgers, hot dogs, chicken, poutine, doughnuts, pies, milkshakes, and greasy spoon breakfasts are all present and accounted for. There's even beer, and cider. Faita hopes to establish a swift takeout business as well. “We're packaging hot dogs to go. You can pick up desserts, chickens from the rotisserie, you name it. And we'll probably have delivery in place by February.”

Status: Chez Tousignant, 6596 Drolet, corner Bélanger, close to Jean-Talon Market, (438) 386-6368. Now open Tuesday to Sunday (closed between December 21 and January 4 for the holidays).

Sneak peek.... @micheleforgione 's donuts #cheztousignant #parcequevousleméritez

A photo posted by @cheztousignant on Dec 5, 2015 at 2:54pm PST

POUTINE! #cheztousignant #parcequevousleméritez

A photo posted by @cheztousignant on Dec 5, 2015 at 4:14pm PST

Club tousignant . Rotisserie chicken #rosedesvents , freshly cut potatoes, homemade potato #pullmanloaf , homemade bacon , tousignant sauce #touscheztousignant #parcequevousleméritez

A photo posted by @cheztousignant on Dec 8, 2015 at 3:54pm PST

Montreal .... Are you ready ? Flat top has been tested. #soon #cheztousignant #parcequevousleméritez @micheleforgione @sfaita

A photo posted by @cheztousignant on Dec 1, 2015 at 4:16pm PST