Little Italy Has a New Prêt-à-Manger Spot From Some Steak and Pastry Pros

A hot spot for casual eats opened up Wednesday on Beaubien in Little Italy — Lou has arrived, from a team with experience at meaty neighbourhood spot Gus and at tea house Cardinal.

Lou is serving up a straightforward array of baked goods and ready-to-eat meals: cakes, cookies, buns, Cornish pasties, soups, and a range of salads — “without any fluffy cute descriptive words”, says co-owner Kathy Daehler.

Daehler — formerly in charge of the much-loved baked goods at Mile End’s Cardinal — is joined by Ciaran Tierney (ex-Jolifou), and David Ferguson as co-owners. Ferguson is best known as the hat-wearing owner of steaky Gus, which is located right next door to Lou. The partnership came about almost spontaneously as Daehler was at Gus last summer, and Ferguson mentctioned that the space next door was opening up (it also allows for some pooling of the two businesses’ resources.) Daehler says that while Lou obviously won’t be getting into grilled meat territory, the food at Gus also served as an inspiration for Daehler.

“I love...the what you see is what you get kind of food — my taste is pies, cookies, grandma style.”

Lou/Supplied

For Daehler, that means no-nonsense food that’s aimed at pleasing locals in the area, where she has lived for a number of years, be it for lunch, a last-minute meal to take home after work, or a cake to take to a party.

“We’re starting really simple to see what the neighbourhood wants to — when we first sat down one of my main goals was for it to [have] more of a community vibe.”

On the baked side, Lou will sell the house bread that Ferguson has baked for years next door at Gus, brioche, some Gus favourites like chocolate cake and strawberry shortcake, a small array of cookies, and sweet Chelsea buns (specifically, a glazed variety of the homey baked good, inspired by a bakery in Bobgaygeon in Ontario’s Kawartha Lakes cottage country).

Lou/Supplied

For savoury bites, Cornish pasties (flaky pastry filled with meat and vegetables) will take a traditional British form, while salads will be divided between meal-size and side options. The meal ones could include a vegan chickpea eggplant salad with mint, a grilled beef salad, or a tagine-spiced kale quinoa salad; sides may include classic pasta and potato salads, or broccoli and asparagus-based options. Lou may also offer pizza at some point in the future, and is serving coffee, too.

STATUS — Lou is open at 40 Beaubien E from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday to Friday and 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, closed Sunday.

• Lou [Facebook]
• Montreal’s Most Anticipated Restaurants and More, Spring 2018 [EMTL]