Bienvenue! Welcome! Seat yourself at any diner in Montreal, and chances are this is what the placemat in front of you will read—a cheery invitation to the world of poutine and steamés. This chorus of greeting is also emblematic of the dynamic that makes this city so interesting. Montreal’s historic “two solitudes” are just two parts of the city’s ever expanding spectrum of city-dwellers. Diners, known in Quebec as casse-croûtes, are a quintessentially North-American institution. However, their informality, low prices and long business hours invite hungry people from all walks of life, making them a site of cultural exchange. Bienvenue / Welcome wants to explore the individuals, objects and places that make up Montreal and invites all those who encounter it to explore it as well.
Issue 2 was launched at Nouveau Palais on April 5th to the beats of DJ Cadence Weapon and is now available at Patati Patata, The Main , Casse-Croute du Coin, Green Spot and Mademoiselle Jean Talon . Stop by these fine institutions for a good meal and brief exploration of how food defines culture in Quebec.MONTREAL, QC
We have a fondness for old signage and lament its steady disappearance. Gone, perhaps, are the days of carefully hand-painted signs, but this gallery in New York’s downtown, Chinatown area has initiated an interesting project. The Bowery Sign Residency invites artists to create an original work of art in the form of a sign to be hung amongst the others belonging to local businesses.
Attention: there’s a new book on the market on the casse-crôutes of Quebec full of beautiful glossy photographs featuring diners all over the province along with coveted recipes from their owners. This book, along with Sacré dépanneur, are probably the highest on our reading list at the moment. For anyone with an intense interest in both food and the people that inspire it, please get your copy of Moutarde Chou!
A Mile-End legend in TIME magazine.
(Shot by Alexi Hobbs)
outtake from an assignment I shot for TIME about Montreal’s literary scene
Wilensky’s sandwich shop is mentioned in Mordecai Richler’s The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitzv and is part of the Montreal Jewish Library’s Walking Tour.
Mademoiselle Jean-Talon
A favorite.
901 Jean-Talon O.
Montreal, Quebec
Train: Parc
Metro: Parc, Acadie
Bus: STM 16, 80, 92, 93, 179, 435, 935
Visit: March 22, 2012
Say what you want about Parc-Extension, but there’s one thing you can’t really deny, there are a lot of restaurants. They may range in quality, but you have quite the choice. It isn’t all just centered in one main style of cuisine, but in many various different types. For my purposes, I like to find burgers in as many different areas as I can. This particular stretch of Jean-Talon gave me another meaningful addition to my culinary resume.
Merci / Thank you
to everyone who came out to the launch at Nouveau Palais. A preview of issue 2 is now available here. Diners who will be distributing the placemats will be announced next week. Merci!
Join us this Thursday for the launch of Bienvenue / Welcome issue 2 at Nouveau Palais!
DJ Cadence Weapon will be spinning some beats, and of course there will be some real good eats.
In this issue:
* Robert Lepage and Didi Ohri in conversation about growing up in Monteal’s working class neighborhood, Ho-Ma, in the 1950s
* Chloé Roubert on traditional Quebecoise cuisine and it’s influences from US, First Nations, French and British ingredients
* A cartoon featuring a steamy diner encounter by Vincent Giard
* Illustrations by Connor Willumsen
Read all about your friend the dep and why it’s cousin, the Bodega, just isn’t as hospitable.
(Source: maisonneuvemag)
Bienvenues around town. This one downtown at Restaurant “Bar-B-Barn” (depuis 1967!) with it’s iconic yellow and brown striped exterior and faded food photography. According to their site, their special recipe “quickly won over the taste buds of everyone who tasted them” and is now an essential part of Quebecoise cuisine.
