Adorable New Dessert Counter Arrives in the Village — and 7 Other Openings

VILLAGE — Montreal dessert pro Sonya Sammut has her own storefront, Sachère, as of today, after years of supplying restaurants and cafés with pastries, baked goods, jar-based puddings, and more. Sammut’s goods have been sold at top coffee spots such as Pikolo and Myriade, and restaurants including Il Focolaio and La Société; she also appeared on Chopped Canada back in 2015. Her new store is on de Maisonneuve at Visitation, and will serve coffee from Hudson roaster Kaito.

PLATEAU — So-called “premium dive bar” (that means a bar trying to be trendy by making itself look run down, apparently) El Furniture Warehouse has pushed further into the Quebec market, adding a new location on St-Laurent, in the centre of the rowdy bar and club strip. The chain was recently criticized for pushing staff into shilling for the bar on social media at an Ontario location — it’s also a regular target for Toronto food scene satirist and Instagram figure Chef Grant Soto, for the, uh, “youthful” and “fun” crowd it attracts. This one is just named Warehouse St-Laurent, and takes over former club Rendez-Vous.

Banc Public/Facebook

MILE END — There’s a sleek new café to consider on Parc Avenue: Banc Public has taken over a former Subway location and given it a big, big makeover with an impressive white ‘n’ woody interior. With opening hours through 8 p.m, it’s actually closer to a café-bistro, doing a range of items from pastries through to sandwiches and tuna tataki; there’s also a handful of wine and beer options.

PLATEAU — Another new coffee shop to consider: Edmond Café Cantine. It’s shiny, Instagrammable, and many of the other things we’ve come to expect from new caffeine purveyors; the Journal de Montréal singles out Edmond’s cakes as a particular highlight.

Yen/Facebook

DOWNTOWN — A slick-looking new Japanese restaurant has been in business on Mackay Street for a few weeks now — Yen Cuisine Japonais boasts a dimly-lit, den-like interior. With sushi, noodles, and rice bowls, Yen is casting a fairly wide net in terms of its menu — and with foie gras and salmon roe popping up in a few places on the menu, it seems Yen is styling itself as somewhat of a more high-end destination.

DOWNTOWN — Just a block away, there’s a new “game bar” in business on Bishop Street: Kenoh Bar is offering a mixed bag of board games (also, jumbo Jenga), video games and miscellaneous video screenings. It has a full bar, and customers are allowed to bring their own food.

Dragon & Dame/Facebook

DOWNTOWN — Speaking of games, here’s one more, just another block away — the former Atelier d’Argentine on Crescent is now Dragon & Dames. It also has board games — Monopoly (throw fake money at your drunk friends), Trivial Pursuit, and Settlers of Catan, alongside pool and ping pong tables, alongside a full bar and snacky menu of dips, burgers, and more.

Twings/Facebook

LACHINE — Do you like wings? Well, there’s now a whole restaurant devoted to them on St-Jacques. Twings has 17 different takes on the ol’ fried bird arm, and boasts boneless, Halal, and vegetarian versions of them. It also has a very, very loud menu, complete with WordArt.

• ‘We’re a prop’: Servers upset for being asked to shill for their employer on Instagram [CBC]
• Café Banc public : une adresse pour tout et tout le monde sur Parc [Tastet]
• Le Plateau a un nouveau café-cantine qui sert de délicieux gâteaux [Journal de Montréal]