/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/49866467/vertuoutside.0.0.jpg)
A concept that seems a lot better-suited for Mile End than greasy calorie bombs has replaced the short-lived, ill-conceived Phillies Cheesesteak on Saint-Viateur, across from Café Olimpico. The sleek Vertu Bar Santé, from principal Nick Parasiris, is part juice bar, part health food restaurant, part licensed grocery with alcohol permit, and, hence, a competitor for the nearby Mile End branch of Crudessence. On the menu at Vertu: custom-made salads, burrito bowls, açai bowls, vegetarian tartares, infused waters, smoothies, juices, and fortified health shots. The new business has been in extended soft launch mode for a while now; a self-styled "VIP media event" planned for June 20 will change all that.
Status: Vertu Bar Santé, 125 Saint-Viateur Ouest, (438) 387-3717. Open Monday to Sunday, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.
Photo credit: Vertu