St-Henri’s Libertine Bakehouse Will Not Return After All

Forward-thinking Atwater Avenue patisserie Libertine Bakehouse is gone forever, according to a post from the business to Facebook.

Just last Friday, the St-Henri bakery announced that it would be closed for an undetermined period, leaving a suggestion that it would reopen — sadly, that’s not the case.

Young patissier Nick Kemball opened it up just 11 months ago, with designer Michael Ayoub. Playful and creative pastries like a financier with rosewater, pistachio and raspberry powder, and a chili, pecan, and banana tartlet garnered positive feedback for Kemball. Gazette critic Lesley Chesterman declared Kemball and team to be part of the city’s “pastry revolution”; the bakehouse also earned a spot on Eater’s own guide to the essential places to eat in Montreal.

The pastry store’s farewell note doesn’t shed much light on the reason for the closure, simply thanking customers for their support over the last year, noting that Kemball and co hope to see them again in future ventures. In a message to Eater, Kemball says something just wasn’t working out with the set-up.

“It was very close to our hearts, but somehow the formula was not quite right, and we weren’t able to keep the project going.”

Kemball is a talented pastry chef, and will hopefully find another place to put those skills to use (though an Instagram post suggests he may take a break from pastry) — in the meantime, there’s still this video of him using a record player to finish off one beautiful pastry.

• Libertine Bakehouse Gets Crafty With Pastry in St-Henri This Week [EMTL]
• Libertine Bakehouse Mysteriously Closes ‘Until Further Notice’ [EMTL]
• Watch Libertine’s Nick Kemball Finish Pastry With A Record Player [EMTL]