Pastry Pros La Bête à Pain to Open Up in Laval — and Other Expansions

LAVAL — La Bête à Pain, the renowned bakery from Marc-André Royal of Ahuntsic restaurant Le Saint-Urbain, is expanding north: a Facebook page went live for the establishment just a few days ago, stating that it’ll open sometime in the fall. It’ll be located right alongside the Laurentian Autoroute (on the service road), not far from Saint-Martin — expect lunches, and all the baked goods that Bête à Pain is known for, from baguettes to cannelés, doughnuts, chocolatines, and croissants. This will be the third location for the bakehouse: the last expansion was in early 2016, when Royal opened up in Griffintown.

WESTMOUNT — Plateau sushi go-to Saint Sushi is expanding, with an eagle-eyed Eater tipster spotting signage for the restaurant on Greene Avenue. While there’s no direct confirmation of a second location from the owners of the Duluth Avenue original, Quebec’s business registry does confirm that it’s a real thing.

OverRice/Supplied

LATIN QUARTER — Well, that was fast: after opening in Laval barely two weeks ago, slick pita restaurant OverRice is already planning an imminent opening on the Island. In an oddly circuitous occurrence, the fast-casual eatery will take over a former Halal Guys restaurant on St-Denis Street (without invoking the name of the famed New York food cart empire, OverRice is evidently inspired by the Halal Guys’ approach). The Halal Guys chain checked out of Montreal earlier in 2018, and the locations were converted to a similar shawarma operation named Poulet & Pita. Oh, and in one more extra twist: OverRice owner Hussein Karaki’s LinkedIn indicates that he worked for the Halal Guys’ Montreal operation in the past.

MILE END — The chainification of Mile End continues, as bakery chain Premiere Moisson prepares to open on Laurier and Esplanade. At least it’s a local chain, we suppose?

ALL OVER — In case you missed them, Old Montreal Californian restaurant Venice opened location number three, in the former Ludger in St-Henri; Villeray literary café Chez l’Éditeur is opening in Griffintown, and sushi makers Ryu are on the way to both Westmount and Outremont/Mile End.

• La Bête à Pain [Facebook]
• Spectacular La Bête à Pain Bakery and Café Comes to Griffintown [EMTL]
• Laval Gets a Slick New Gyro Restaurant This Week [EMTL]
• Big Name NYC Street Meat Purveyors Bow out of Montreal [EMTL]