Creative Mile End Haunt Lili Co Departs the Restaurant Scene — and More Closures

MILE END — Sad news on the main as the playful and creative Lili Co has announced its closure after five years in the biz, and three at its beefed-up location on St-Laurent and Villeneuve. Chef-owner David Pellizzari and owner Catherine Draws scored major props, particularly after the 2015 refresh, grabbing rave reviews from multiple critics for soigné takes on offal-based dishes on one hand, to say nothing of the seasonal vegetable items; Lili Co was also anointed Eater’s restaurant of the year in 2015. A Facebook post announcing the closure thanked customers and suggested that Draws and Pellizzari are aiming to spend more time with their kids, while leaving the door open to future projects from Pellizzari in particular.

OLD MONTREAL — It’s a big week for big closures: Notre-Dame West wine bar-restaurant Accords has also called it quits, after nine years in the business. Accords was well ahead of the curve on pushing natural wines, a forerunner that perhaps helped such sulfite-free concoctions to find their way onto all manner of fine dining menus around the city. La Presse got some extra details from actor and co-owner Chantal Fontaine, who lamented that it’s tough out there for a nine-year-old restaurant, noting that food service in Old Montreal is a lot more competitive than it used to be. However, an Eater tipster notes that a bankruptcy notice was also spotted on the door. The shutter does not impact Accords Bistro on Ste-Catherine Street, as that restaurant is operated separately.

PETITE-PATRIE — Zéro8, the Bélanger Street restaurant known for catering to diners with a wide, wide range of allergies, closed for business last Sunday (August 5). Given that the restaurant was mulling over expansions just 18 months ago and made the bold move to shift to a no-tipping model, it seems like a major fall from grace. But it doesn’t seem like the no-tips approach or thoughts of expansion doomed the restaurant — in a note posted online, owner Dominique Dion pins the blame on Desjardins bank, and unspecified “endless, senseless” court proceedings that it appears to have initiated. After three years of fuss with Desjardins, Dion writes that it was time to bow out and take another opportunity that cropped up in the tech sector.

LATIN QUARTER — Local microbrewery Brasseur de Montréal is shrinking: it announced on Facebook this week that its bar on Berri Street has closed, immediately and definitively. But fear not: the original location over on Ottawa Street in Griffintown is still very much alive and kicking,

• The New Lili Co. Nabs a Second Rave in as Many Days [EMTL]
• Chantal Fontaine renonce à son restaurant du Vieux-Montréal [La Presse]
• Fermeture et mise en vente du restaurant [Zéro8]
• Allergy Restaurant Zéro 8 Looks To Expand [EMTL]
• Another Restaurant Shifts to a No-Tipping Business Model [EMTL]