Le Lab Cocktail Bar Has Big Plans for Downtown Montreal

Rejoice, downtown Montreal cocktail fans. Le Lab Comptoir à Cocktails, the pivotal Plateau bar, and de facto groomer of bartenders from Fabien Maillard, is about to open a second outlet in the Quartier des Spectacles. The Paris native divulged today that his second bar will be a Le Lab 2 of sorts, with a similar ethos to the original on Rachel, across from Parc La Fontaine: "Drink a little less, but drink better," as Maillard recently told Tastet blog. Expect a purist's take on classic cocktails then, and a large menu (Le Lab's cocktail card is prodigious) of original drinks, meticulously made with house syrups, sodas, and mixers. The Plateau Le Lab, open since 2008, regularly hosts seminars and theme events centred on different spirits, and drink components and styles — no word yet on whether the new Le Lab will do the same. Presumably the bar's penchant for potable R and D will carry over to the new address.

About that address. Maillard, who worked previously at L'Assommoir, was mum on the new bar's exact whereabouts today, but the business is registered to 279 Sainte-Catherine Est, in a former Caffè Art Java, corner Sanguinet. Two of Maillard's key cohorts at Le Lab, Gabrielle Panaccio and Anthony Berg, are listed as administrators. The new establishment, slated to open sometime this spring, has both bar and restaurant permits. Stay tuned.