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Meet Maesmi and Esquina, Two Hot New Montreal Cafés

Café Saint-Henri's Jean-François Leduc makes another big move

Dave Arnold, a.k.a. Mr. Sign, at Esquina on Papineau
Dave Arnold, a.k.a. Mr. Sign, at Esquina on Papineau
Esquina

Montreal's independent café scene has produced more than two dozen new coffee shops over the past year alone. Third wavers have colonized coffee bereft pockets of the city in Mile-Ex, Villeray, the Village, and beyond (Park Ex and Montreal North are next, surely). Now Masson's commercial strip in Rosemont has a new café to champion, from none other than Jean-François Leduc of Café Saint-Henri. Maesmi (for Masson à l'est de Saint-Michel) is part coffee shop, part bakery and pastry shop. "The café's ambitious goal is to produce all of our pastries and baked goods on site, from A to Z," Leduc recently told RueMasson.com. "My challenge is to make sure that all of it is as good as the coffee." After a rough patch at his original café on Notre-Dame Ouest in Sud-Ouest Montreal, Leduc has been buoyed by the support his new business has received from Rosemont. "The support from the community on Masson has been touching. I feel like the street was really missing a place like Café Saint-Henri. Residents here have been very clear on that subject."

Status: Maesmi, 3353 rue Masson, corner 12e avenue, (514) 903-7353, now open daily.

The Plateau recently got a new café as well, on Papineau, just north of Mont-Royal Est. Esquina is from Roxanne Matte-Guilbault, late of Pourquoi Pas espresso bar, where she worked as manager, and Café Art Java. Esquina sources coffee from Toronto's Pilot Coffee Roasters, and serves what Matte-Guibault calls "une simple cuisine végane." See photos of both Maesmi and Esquina below.

Status: Esquina, 4526 Papineau, (514) 903-4501, now open daily.

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A photo posted by Esquina, bar à Café (@esquina.baracafe) on

Esquina

4526 Avenue Papineau, Le Plateau-Mont-Royal, QC H2H 1V3 (514) 903-4501 Visit Website

Maesmi

3353 Masson, Montréal, QC (514) 903-7353