Chez Ta Mère’s Pumped-Up Sandwiches Hit the Mile End Next Week — And Other Openings

MILE END — The neighbourhood’s lunch options continue to expand with the arrival of Chez Ta Mère next week, a sandwich-centric shop opening up next door to Larry’s. Owners Ramy Massarani and Hamza Bousaidan (the chef) have teamed up to create a menu based around gourmet sandwiches, with items that are going to be more crafted than a stack of deli meat between two buns. “We’re going to smoking our meat on-site,” Massarani tells Eater, “as well as ingredients that are locally sourced.” Options will include a diverse range including choices like banh mi and a Quebecois smoked meat sandwich with maple syrup. Despite the name, it’s not a mom ‘n’ pop establishment, with the owners noting that they were going for more of an evocation of comforting eats. Soups, salads, coffees, and infused waters will be available as well. Booze isn’t in the cards here, as the space is leaning more towards a snack-and-work space set up with WiFi, but time will tell depending on demand in the space. “The focus right now is becoming the sandwich shop in Montreal,” Massarani adds.

Chez Ta Mère/Supplied

OLD MONTREAL — Cafécito, a new café fashioned after the look, feel, and offerings of Little Havana in Miami, opened this week in Old Montreal. “Less of the touristy and colourful (connotations) of Havana, but more of the 1950s when that classic style stopped,” explains owner Doha Skaf to Eater. Built into an old parking garage by Skaf and her partner Katia Nour, the new spot offers regular coffee like cappucinos and lattés, as well as its namesake cafécito, “kind of a spin on the espresso, but pimped up with a touch of sweet cream. We also have the bombom, which is a latté with a touch of sweet, condensed milk.” There will also be cubanos available, in addition to other sandwiches. Find out more details here.

Cafecito/Supplied

PLATEAU — Following six months of renovations of its space after extensive water damage, Café Méchants Pinsons has been open since last week. Serving roasts from sources like Zap, Dispatch, and Monogram with a new Victoria Arduino espresso machine, owners Matthieu Molnar and Éric Lapointe have teamed up with the healthy restaurant-cum-caterer Frédéric Houtin and his business Le Sain Bol next door to provide the food: Breakfast, lunch, and brunch. As time goes on, the café is set to acquire its own kitchen, but progress is slow-going for the time being. “Coffee’s our main focal point,” Molnar explains to Eater, noting that this new space is meant to be more of a social coffee house than a working space. “We like the cafés where you can come in and not feel like you’re bothering anyone. We don’t have WiFi and—while we don’t frown on people who come to work—we like to turn up the music a bit.”

Méchants Pinsons/Supplied

MILE END — So it looks like the sky is officially falling in the Mile End, now that QDC Burger—the subdivisional burger shop from the sexualized steakhouse La Queue de Cheval—is opening its doors today on St-Viateur street. They’ll be serving burgers upon burgers, in addition to lobster rolls. It seems charming enough, starting with selling dry-aged chuck from the steakhouse’s back kitchen in the summer; however, QDC’s principal Peter Morentzos has drawn a lot of controversy with the public relations of all his establishments. One hopes they keep their noses clean while setting up shop.

QDC Burger/Supplied

• Chez Ta Mère [Facebook]
• Cafecito [Facebook]
• Café Méchants Pinsons [Facebook]
• Very Expensive Steakhouse Plots Burger Joint For Mile End [EMTL]