No, Lawrence Isn’t Opening a Mile End Bakery — and Other News

MILE END — A number of Eater readers have recently reached out to enquire about a new bakery setting up shop on the corner of Villeneuve and Parc, with particular interest in the establishment’s name: Pâtisserie Lawrence. The name is in fact Pâtisserie Lawrence V, named for local cake-maker Lawrence Vourtzoumis. Vourtzoumis is just 21 years old and already has an established business focusing on cakes, often with highly elaborate decorations, and has no connection with nearby restaurant Lawrence, or its butcher, Boucherie Lawrence. Will it cause confusion? That’s tough to say — Lawrence is already fairly well-established just a few blocks away in the same neighbourhood, so it’s understandable why some people might erroneously make the connection. On the other hand, Vourtzoumis is simply using his own name for his business, which is totally fair. Expect the patisserie (which will do more than just cakes) to open in the near future.

DOWNTOWN — News media, including Le Journal de Montréal, recently got wind of the fact that new-ish fast casual salad spot Foodchain has completely done away with cash payments, only accepting credit and debit cards from customers. It appears to be the only food service establishment in the city to go cashless. The reason (according to a Foodchain manager) is that “it’s faster, there are no mistakes, and no need to count money. It’s also safer for the employees.” There are some implications here: firstly, that Foodchain has to pay more in fees to the bank providing its services for transactions, and secondly, if the debit terminals or internet at Foodchain go down, the restaurant is unable to serve customers (unless they spontaneously reverse course and accept cash). In any case, an interesting move.

VILLE ST LAURENT — Two restaurants are in some major hot water: according to the Gazette, Japanese restaurant Japon Sushi Bar and nearby Thai eatery Bistro Sawadika are facing 39 charges of fraud from tax agency Revenu Québec. The charges are connected to $1.6 million in unpaid taxes, with the charges covering a period from 2011 to 2016.

ALL OVER — Delivery service À La Carte Express is partnering with healthy-and-good delivery start up Fooducoin. It’s an expansion for the Montreal-based start-up, who will take over providing the delivery aspect for all orders taken by À La Carte Express, according to community news site Pamplemousse. It would appear that À La Carte Express is continuing to take care of the back end, signing up restaurants to its system, and so forth.

SHAWINIGAN — In case you missed it, it’s now even easier to give beer monolith Molson your money. The giant brewer bought out Shawinigan craft brewery Trou du Diable, placing the brewery under its “specialty beer” arm, Six Pints. Mercifully, Molson isn’t doing much meddling here and its operations are staying in Shawinigan, along with all of the brewery’s staff. The Trou du Diable restaurant in Shawinigan is not part of the deal, and remains completely separate. Not everyone loves the deal: Gaspésie microbrewery Pit Caribou took to CBC’s Quebec afternoon show Breakaway to express worry that it might mess with the ability of other craft brewers to get their beers carried and sold around the province, due to contracts Molson and other giants sign with dépanneurs.

DOWNTOWN — Homey Bishop Street Italian spot Parma Café is turning one and offering up a pretty sweet deal: they’re doing dollar coffees all week (until Sunday, December 3). Oh, and it’s not just a lousy filter coffee: lattes and espresso drinks are all at $1. In other Parma news, the café has also added a breakfast menu, with options such as a breakfast sandwich featuring capicollo, and a breakfast smoked grilled cheese.

LITTLE ITALY — New Jean-Talon Market adjacent poke bowl spot OK Poke is throwing a winter market this Thursday (November 30) from 5 to 9 p.m., with a bunch of local artisanal vendors on site. Free snacks and a tasting of the restaurant’s winter menu are also on offer — more details are on Facebook.

• Un resto qui ne prend pas l’argent [Le Journal de Montréal]
• Fraud charges laid against Montreal restaurants, managers [Montreal Gazette]
• Fooducoin et À la carte express s’associent [Pamplemousse]
• Molson-Coors buys Le Trou du diable microbrewery [Montreal Gazette]
• Has Shawnigan's Trou du Diable microbrewery sold its soul to the devil? [CBC]
• Party de magasinage des fêtes + dégustation de menu d'hiver [Facebook]