Crowdfunded Artisanal Butcher and Sandwich Shop Lands in Villeray

With the arrival of Pascal Le Boucher this week, Villeray (almost) officially has it all. Home to a pretty zesty restaurant, café, and bar scene, the neighbourhood now has a whole animal artisanal butcher and sandwich shop. All this from Pascal Hudon, a Montreal native, and butcher with two decades of experience. The ethos of Hudon's crowdfunded business (he raised just over $15,000 on Indiegogo) is to encourage people to eat better quality meat, in smaller portions, and less often. Hudon is an advocate for sustainable, local agriculture, and sources all his products directly, with no intermediary. More here: "The shop has chosen to collaborate with farms that practice sustainable agriculture, and husbandry that evinces the utmost respect for animals. Animals that receive natural feed produced with care, that have access to the the outdoors, and that are free to express their natural behaviour."

Hudon's partner, Julie Aubé, remarks that the couple regularly visit with, and talk to farmers, and that transparency and traceability are paramount. As such, Pascal Le Boucher has an open concept, so that customers can see the butcher at work. The shop plans to carry whole chickens, pasture pork (fresh, bacon, ham, and more), seaweed-fed lamb, grass-fed beef, offal from all of these animals, house-made sausages and stocks, organic charcuterie, and free-range eggs. The likes of goat, turkey, duck, guinea fowl, bison, venison, and more, will be on offer on occasion as well. Look, too, for farmer's cheeses, milk, yogurt, and jams.

As for the shop's sandwich menu, it will change on a regular basis, and there's a counter and small table for patrons who want to dine in. Aubé: "To give you an example, this weekend it was roast beef with onion confit, and grilled pork with marinated onions. You can accompany the sandwiches with a side salad [made with seasonal vegetables — the shop is a pick-up spot for Équiterre vegetable baskets], or potatoes fried in beef fat (always with the idea of honouring every part of the animal, without waste). There are also prepared dishes. Right now, we have a spaghetti sauce with braised, shredded beef and sausage meat." All told, a win for Villeray, and another artisanal butcher shop hybrid for Montreal, in the same vein as Boucherie Lawrence, Boucherie Dans La Côte, Ça Va Barder, and this new project from Outremont restaurant Provisions.

Status: Pascal Le Boucher, 8113 Saint-Denis, north of Jarry, now open Tuesday to Sunday, (438) 387-6030.

Pascal Hudon | Photo credit: Pascal Le Boucher