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MILE END — We’ve seen hybrid businesses like barber store-bike shops and clothing boutique-cafés in Mile End, but here’s a new one: Cinéma Moderne has just opened on St-Laurent near Fairmount with a coffee shop and cinema rolled into the one building. The café (complete with large terrasse) has been open for a few weeks, with the cinema opening this week — according to Cult Montreal, it’s a “micro-cinema” from the owner of post-production house Post-Moderne (Alexandre Domingue) and a former director of the RIDM documentary festival (Roxanne Sayegh), with a focus on festival-friendly screenings (perhaps arthouse, but they’re not calling it that). The café out front does all the standards, as well as steamed bao bun sandwiches and nitro cold brew — it’s also fully licensed so you can buy beer and wine there and take it into screenings.
VERDUN — Montreal now counts three cat cafés, with Café Chato recently opened on verdun near 4th Avenue. As previously reported, the café is working with Verdun’s Refuge pour chats to source adoption-friendly felines, and will serve vegetarian leaning snacks and small meals. The bright space with plenty of overhead runs for the cats looks well-designed, so it seems this one might have more potential than Verdun’s short-lived dog café, Ruff Haus.
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VILLAGE — There’s a new part-resto, part-arts space on Sainte-Catherine at the east end of the Village, with Bistro Culturel Pavillon now in business. According to food blog Tastet, it’s leaning into market cuisine, with a petite menu — a milk calf tataki, corn beignets, barley-mushroom risotto — and a slight (but not total) focus on seafood. It’s open day and night with a lunch-hour table d’hôte.
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VILLE-ÉMARD — Tiny new arrival on Monk Boulevard in the form of sushi bar Souchi — despite having just ten seats, there’s a long menu on offer with a few dozen vegan sushi options, including pesto tofu and spicy tempeh. But it’s not strictly vegan— there’s still salmon, tuna, smoked trout, and lobster options among the maki, nigiri, and more.
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HOCHELAGA — Villeray purveyor of ice cream, sorbet, and other cold treats Les Givrés has expanded for a second time, with a new location on Ontario Street East near Nicolet. Expect similar offerings to the de Castelnau and Masson locations — twisted soft serves, ice cream sandwiches, and ice creams ranging from matcha to “campfire” (caramel and toasted marshmallow).
WESTMOUNT — Mile End maker of leafy green-filled bowls Liv Salades has expanded for the first time, opening up on Greene Avenue right near Sainte-Catherine — close to, but not quite overlapping with the turf of reigning Montreal salad queens, Mandy’s.
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BOUCHERVILLE — Extremely popular Plateau bruncherie L’Avenue has opened up its third location — it’s trying some off-island territory, with a new outlet in Boucherville. It also looks like the line-up drawing restaurant is considering a franchisee business model, too.