Montreal brasserie Molenne is an institution in the making

Up in the Mile End, there’s a 32-year-old refrigerator that’s been newly reupholstered and ready for its second life—it’s not much to some, but it feels like a fitting metaphor for what’s going on at Molenne. Their new brasserie is taking pieces of Montreal restaurant history and rebuilding them into something that feels both timeless and completely new.

The space tells that story: Banquettes salvaged from the Théâtre du Nouveau Monde’s in-house restaurant line the walls. Old chimney plaques find new purpose. Even the building's bones speak to history—once a horse hay depot, it was part of Montreal's first racetrack, from which the Mile End neighbourhood (colloquially pronounced "Molenne") was through to have drawn its name (that's not necessarily the case, however).