Salad Be Gone: Gusta Brings Vegan Comfort Food To Jean-Talon Market

Gird your loins, Montreal vegans: a promising new vegan option has landed in Petite-Patrie for your dining out needs.

Gusta Foods has been producing all-vegan sausages and cheese since founder Sylvain Karpinski raised enough funds via Indie Go Go to get it up and running in 2016. Until now, those were only available in a range of grocery stores and boutiques in Montreal and beyond. Some restaurants also use Gusta’s creations for hot dogs, poutine, and more.

The company’s products are mainly produced with wheat protein seitan, all locally-sourced (meaning it doesn’t have the environmental impact that some vegan proteins can have, after being flown around the world — looking at you, soy). At present they have four types of sausage, including an Italian one, and a “Bratwurst”, and one cheese, but much more is in the works.

Now the company has added a combination comptoir-restaurant and store at the Jean-Talon Market. Gusta’s sales and marketing director Frédéric Boucher explained the rationale behind deciding to open up.

“Basically in Montreal, the offerings we have are really healthy, with salads and veggies. We’re the hardcore vegan tasty stuff...vegan comfort food, which we didn’t have much of in Montreal. That’s why we decided to open the restaurant.”

It’s a good point — there is a little bit of vegan comfort food around town, but the places that do it — like LOV and Aux Vivres — tend to offer it as part of a larger menu full of so-called “superfoods” and dishes appealing to the type of vegan inclined to use the “cleanse” hashtag on Instagram.

Boucher also offered Eater details on what they’ll serve.

We’re going to have basically two burgers, the Big G, a bit like a Big Mac with a vegan twist, a barbecued, smokey burger....we’re going to do some breakfast sausages that we just came out with, with some tofu scrambled eggs. Caesar salad, and a kebab, like a shish taouk — and we’ll probably integrate more stuff.”

Boucher also added that Gusta is looking to get a liquor license at some point in the near future — allowing you to have a cocktail with that vegan brunch or burger.

STATUS — Gusta is (soft)-open at 191 Place-du-Marché North, from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily — and longer hours are likely for the summer.

• Gusta Foods [Official]