Prince Takes BYOB Up A Notch on Rachel, and Other Openings

PLATEAU — Montreal’s supreme monarch of bring-your-own-wine restaurants Georges Blais has brought his own jewel to add to the crown with the Tuesday night opening of Prince on Rachel Street at St-Hubert. Billed as high-end BYOB (check those tablecloths and light fixtures), Prince’s menu, pictured below in French, gives off both seasonal and bistro vibes. There are some strikingly rich options on the menu from chef Charles Antoine Malenfant (formerly involved with L’Atelier d’Argentine and Salmigondis), such as steak-frites with foie gras sauce, seafood bisque and duck breast with béarnaise sauce. But it’s lightened up with some hors-Europe ingrediential nods — the beef tartare with jalapeno and burnt squash, or shrimp spring rolls with avocado, tonkatsu breading and yuzu — nice touches without going into wild fusion territory. Prince is open from 6 to 10 p.m. Tuesday to Sunday.

Prince

DOWNTOWN — Parma Cafe is open as of this week on Bishop Street, and between this one and Westmount’s Parm, food related to all things “parm*” could be an upcoming trend. Run by stepbrothers Eric Petraglia, who has worked on borderline clubby spots such as Somwhr, and David Castro, it’s an Italian casse-croute dedicated to the foodstuffs of the Italian town of Parma. Obviously, that’s parmesan, but also balsamic, and prosciutto. The menu places heavy emphasis on comfort with meatballs, sausage paninis and chicken cutlet sandwiches figuring prominently. It’s open seven days until 10 p.m.

Samantha Cutler

MILE END — Greg Paul, the chef behind the Motherfu**er Burger at Restaurant Mile-Ex has a new project in motion. Details are scarce, but work is underway, and it’s going in across the street from Lawrence in the former Café Kilo space. Named Elda, the team aren’t ready to dish yet, but expect more in the coming weeks.

ST-HENRI — Croissant whiz Frédéric MacGuire has expanded his NDG bakery Chez Fred to Notre-Dame Street in St-Henri, and his team tell Eater it’s just a matter of expanding to meet demand. The new spot is right in next to New System Bar-B-Q and is open Wednesday to Sunday until 7 p.m.

DOWNTOWN — Do you like Celine Dion restaurants with a history of tax raids? Well, it’s your lucky day, because there’s a new Nickels on Peel Street, bringing downtown dining down to the “kids eat free” level.

It’s peak fall opening season right now, so stay tuned: we’ll bring you details on two spots, one Plateau bar, one downtown restaurant, tomorrow.

• The 22 Hottest Burgers in Montreal [EMTL]
• St-Henri Resto Says It Will Decide When Transgender Women Can Use Washrooms [EMTL]
• Celine Dion-owned restaurants raided by Revenue Quebec [CBC]