Café Perko Coming to Villeray This June

Villeray's coffee options continue to expand with the addition of Café Perko, opening at the corner of Villeray and Chateaubriand this summer. The roughly 1,200-square-foot space, which formerly housed an architectural firm, is located between Archicrème ice cream shop and breakfast spot Le Toasteur. Owner Émilie Lebel, a 27-year-old former lawyer who quit law to open the café, says she envisions Perko as "the perfect space that I would want to work in," with high-quality Wi-Fi, comfortable seating, a conference room available to rent by the hour and late evening hours. Coffee will come from local micro-roaster Kittel, served on a US-made Slayer Espresso machine. The machine is only the second one on the market in Montreal, in addition to recently announced Café Pista in the Petite-Patrie, Lebel says. Overpriced sandwiches, however, are not on the menu: "I’m tired of expensive grilled cheese and panini sandwiches. We will offer affordable and homemade lunch options to our customers, in addition of course to the traditional pastries," Lebel says.

Status: Café Perko, 753 rue Villeray, corner Chateaubriand, Villeray, (514) 776-7537, opens in June.