Le Petit Vibe Leaves Côte-des-Neiges and Makes Its Way to Downtown Food Hall Le Central

After more than two years of serving hybrid Filipino and Hawaiian food in Montreal’s Côte-des-Neiges neighbourhood, Le Petit Vibe has closed its original location and is primed to move to new digs in downtown food hall Le Central.

“I think we did what we wanted to do in the area. I’m born and raised in Côte-des-Neiges. I spent 30 years of my life there, so I really wanted to give back to that community, and I think we accomplished that. But with everything happening, with prices going up, we needed to make the move, to do something different,” co-owner Ryan Oabel tells Eater, explaining that the restaurant’s lease was also coming due. Le Petit Vibe’s last day in Côte-des-Neiges was Sunday, March 13.

Set to reopen in Le Central in the coming weeks, Le Petit Vibe will take over the stall that previously belonged to Lucky Belly Group’s Laotian snack bar Thip Thip. (A representative for Thip Thip tells Eater this isn’t the end of the project, which will be moving to a new location soon.)

Fans of the Filipino-Hawaiian mash-up will be relieved to hear that its menu, featuring chicken furikake and caldereta birria tacos, will remain largely intact, save for the addition of a salad, brunch bowl, and some cocktails. Though the move leaves Le Petit Vibe without a standalone location, Oabel, along with partner Eric Lazaro Magno, are working on getting a new project off the ground: Tadhana, out in Westmount. Stay tuned for more details.

Le Central is located at 30 Ste-Catherine Street West.

Time Out Market Montreal/Supplied

Chef Chanthy Yen Brings His Cross-Canada Experiences to Time Out Market

In more major Montreal food hall news, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s personal chef and the creator of pandemic pop-up Touk, Chanthy Yen is opening a pan-Canadian food counter in Time Out Market Montreal on March 29. The menu features mussels and fries with a coconut white wine sauce, whelks with a nori aioli, and flan made with condensed milk and Vietnamese coffee for dessert — and according to a representative for the project, “will give guests an inside look on how the nation’s leader dines.”

Like his new coast-to-coast menu, Yen is frequently on the move: He can either be found cooking in Ottawa for the Trudeau family, overseeing the kitchen at new vegan hotspot Nightshade in Vancouver, or with this latest effort, back in Montreal, where he previously ran Fieldstone and Cantine Teré, and recently put together the menu for Italian-Japanese cross-over Tiramisu.

Chanthy Yen: Cuisine Pancanadienne opens on March 29 at Time Out Market Montreal (705 Ste-Catherine Street West).

Loïc/Supplied

Loïc Reopens With a Refreshed Space and Strengthened Nightlife Focus

Buzzy St-Henri restaurant and bar Loïc reopened with a noteworthy redesign on March 12, the same day Quebec dropped nearly all coronavirus measures. Loïc had been closed since May 2021, after operating as a takeout-only burger joint throughout pandemic lockdown measures. It now has a revamped interior from Sabrina Barazin Studios and new partners at the helm — the nightlife experts behind Apt. 200, École Privée, and Suwu have joined existing owners, Tastet reports. Looking ahead, customers can expect stints from “the city’s top DJs and musical collectives,” a representative for the bar tells Eater. Loïc’s food menu includes a branzino crudo with fennel, pappardelle pasta in a walnut sauce, and its much-loved brioche bun cheeseburgers.

Loïc is open Wednesday to Saturday from 6 p.m. to 3 a.m. at 5001 Notre-Dame Street West.

• Justin Trudeau’s personal chef Chanthy Yen is opening a new kitchen at Time Out Market Montréal [Time Out]
• Bar Loïc : Bons petits plats en ambiance festive dans Saint-Henri [Tastet]