Outremont Gets Congolese Grilled Chicken in DJ Poulet — And Other Openings

OUTREMONT — Recently, a small but substantial chicken joint DJ Poulet opened up on Van Horne. Serving a menu that specializes in grilled chicken recipes from the Ivory Coast and the Congo in whole, half or quarter portions, they’re offering some other tantalizing African sides: Attieké, a fermented cassava dish; alloco, fried plantains with chili pepper and onion; and chikwangue, which are sticks of cassava dough which can take weeks to prepare. Of all the options in its neighbourhood to grab a bite, DJ Poulet sounds like one of the spiciest.

NDG — On July 15th, the highly anticipated pork-centric casual restaurant from chef Angelo Ruscitti (FreshMint, Adamo) will be opening with a celebratory, family-style terrasse event. In addition to block party activities like face painting, temporary tattoos, and music, the venture will be selling $2 mini porchetta sandwiches and $1 limonatas. A portion of the proceeds from the opening will go to support the NDG Food Depot, one of the community organizations Porco has partnered with. This will be followed by a dinner service with a limited menu that will showcase what’s to come:

• The ‘hero’, a traditional porchetta sandwich
• The L’Amico Cubano sandwich (porchetta, swiss cheese, pickles, mustard)
• Polenta Corn Dogs
• Porco Poutine and Fries (with or without chopped porchetta)
• Meal salads: Chicoria & Pollo (seared chicken breast, chicory, panzanella croutons, shaved cured egg, pecorino shavings, anchovy garlic vinaigrette) and Fregola Sarda (fregola pasta, chickpeas, mixed greens, roasted tomatoes, scallions, pesto dressing)
• Mains: Chopped porchetta for one or two, braised pork belly on lemon and herbed farro with salsa verde, pork milanese pounded chop with bagel breadcrumbs, parmesan, herbs and a pecorino cream sauce.
• Desserts: Bacon Bomboloni, a doughnut with bacon sugar and caramel, and Al Limone, a combination of lemon curd, macerated raspberries, and pistachios.

Porco

VILLE-MARIE — This week marks the official opening of the adorably named Teddy Bar. Don’t let the name fool you into conjuring images of a cutesy place to drink; the place is far more adult place to enjoy a night of bottle services, beer, liquor, and a small selection of private import wines from Société de Vins Fins. The owners — Tony Galdes and Nicolas Desflammes (Le 4e Mur), Vianney Godbout (Chasse-Galerie) and Fouad Akli — opened on Tuesday to a fanfare of clowns, a magician and sushi. With a cocktail list by the globetrotting Alexis Taoufiq and a long list of featured and regular bartenders, it looks to be a uniquely confounding place to get sloshed around downtown. The principles have additionally informed Eater that there are additional plans for a hidden barbershop within the bar called Les Barbares which “should be opened within 30 days.”

Teddy Bar

PLATEAU — Having narrowly crossed the finish line of its Kickstarter campaign, sources tell Eater that Le Club Espresso Bar will ready to receive patrons as of next week. A meeting place for bike and coffee aficionados, this “depanneur for cyclists” — run by Alex Godbout-Simard, Laurent St-Cyr, Jean-Simon Bouchard, and Guillaume Drouin-Garneau (Monkland Tavern) — are excited to unleash a project that combines a bicycle repair shop and café into one space. The coffee will be coming from the Montreal-based roasting company Kittel, brewed through a top-of-the-line Slayer Steam machine. Being the first to sport this espresso gear in Quebec, Drouin-Garneau notes it’s a point of pride; it can “control the steaming process of the machine which ultimately gives the ability to develop new flavors and textures to milk and substitutes of milk,” he tells Eater. In addition to sable caffeination, the café will also offer sporty food supplements for customers on wheels, on top of breakfast (freshly-baked pastries, chia bowls, and smoothies) and lunch (sandwiches, soups, salads and gourmet toasts). “Funky flavored and fresh doughnuts will be available daily” as well. Open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. upon opening, it’s a unique concept the Plateau can look forward to. Stay abreast of their opening date via their Facebook page.

Grid View

• Le Club Espresso Bar
• Le Club Espresso Bar
• Le Club Espresso Bar
• Le Club Espresso Bar
• Le Club Espresso Bar

• NDG is Getting a Double Whammy of New Restos With Porco and Hopkins [EMTL]
• Porco [Facebook]
• Le Club Espresso Bar [Facebook]
• Teddy Bar [Facebook]
• DJ Poulet [Facebook]