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    The Main

    Montreal's Cultural Directory

    Help us improve! Share your thoughts on how we can make your experience better.

    Leave feedback

    For partnerships and collaborations:

    partnerships@themain.com

    Content

    • Articles
    • Food & Drink
    • Arts & Culture
    • History Lesson
    • Bulletin
    • Events

    Guides

    • All Guides
    • Best Restaurants
    • Best Cafés
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    • Best Brunch
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    Explore Montreal

    • Browse Directory
    • Restaurants
    • Bars
    • Cafés
    • Bookstores
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    Legal

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    The Main Media Inc. 2026

    ✦ Built By Field Office

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      --°C|Monday, June 8, 2026|
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      --°C|Monday, June 8, 2026|
      Subscribe today to get 3 free articles per month.Get 50% off your first 5 rides with Lyft
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      EN/FR
      The Main Logo
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      Sections
      • Arts & Culture
      • Beyond Montreal
      • Design
      • Food & Drink
      • History Lessons
      • The Bulletin
      Explore
      Popular Guides
      • The Best Restaurants in Montreal
      • Best new Restaurants
      • Best Cafés
      • Unique Boutiques
      • Romantic Restaurants
      • Best Bookstores
      • See all Guides
      Neighbourhood
      • Downtown
      • Le Plateau-Mont-Royal
      • Mile End
      • Mile-Ex
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      • Bar
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      Near the Metro
      • Peel
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      Bistrot Fortune Cooks Straight Out of Montreal’s Cultural Crossroads
      Food & Drink
      J.P. Karwacki

      Bistrot Fortune Cooks Straight Out of Montreal’s Cultural Crossroads

      A modern Vietnamese bistro from three longtime hospitality veterans, where diaspora identity and Latin American influences shape a distinctly Montreal menu.

      Four Montreal Restaurants Make North America’s 50 Best List
      Food & Drink
      J.P. Karwacki

      Four Montreal Restaurants Make North America’s 50 Best List

      Canada placed 14 restaurants on the 2026 list, five of them in the top ten.

      The Plateau Restaurant That Feeds the City on Its Own Dime
      Food & Drink
      J.P. Karwacki

      The Plateau Restaurant That Feeds the City on Its Own Dime

      Mama Khan's Abdul Raziq Khan wouldn't have it any other way.

      The Life and Death (and Afterlife) of Lucie Lafleur
      Food & Drink
      Hugo Meunier @ URBANIA

      The Life and Death (and Afterlife) of Lucie Lafleur

      How a fictional Lafleur employee became a Quebec social-media sensation before a fake death sparked backlash, confusion, and an unexpected second act for the actress behind the character.

      30 Years Later, Ferreira Is Building a Portuguese Hospitality Dynasty
      Food & Drink
      Ivy Lerner-Frank

      30 Years Later, Ferreira Is Building a Portuguese Hospitality Dynasty

      Carlos Ferreira built his Peel Street restaurant to represent a larger vision of Portugal. Three decades later, his daughters are helping carry that ambition into its next era.

      Café BRUT Wants to Be Griffintown’s Living Room
      Food & Drink
      J.P. Karwacki

      Café BRUT Wants to Be Griffintown’s Living Room

      Inside a raw concrete space on Murray Street, banana-infused espresso and matcha drinks anchor a broader ambition to become part of the neighbourhood’s daily rhythm.

      Bistrot Fortune Cooks Straight Out of Montreal’s Cultural Crossroads
      Food & Drink
      J.P. Karwacki

      Bistrot Fortune Cooks Straight Out of Montreal’s Cultural Crossroads

      A modern Vietnamese bistro from three longtime hospitality veterans, where diaspora identity and Latin American influences shape a distinctly Montreal menu.

      Four Montreal Restaurants Make North America’s 50 Best List
      Food & Drink
      J.P. Karwacki

      Four Montreal Restaurants Make North America’s 50 Best List

      Canada placed 14 restaurants on the 2026 list, five of them in the top ten.

      The Plateau Restaurant That Feeds the City on Its Own Dime
      Food & Drink
      J.P. Karwacki

      The Plateau Restaurant That Feeds the City on Its Own Dime

      Mama Khan's Abdul Raziq Khan wouldn't have it any other way.

      The Life and Death (and Afterlife) of Lucie Lafleur
      Food & Drink
      Hugo Meunier @ URBANIA

      The Life and Death (and Afterlife) of Lucie Lafleur

      How a fictional Lafleur employee became a Quebec social-media sensation before a fake death sparked backlash, confusion, and an unexpected second act for the actress behind the character.

      30 Years Later, Ferreira Is Building a Portuguese Hospitality Dynasty
      Food & Drink
      Ivy Lerner-Frank

      30 Years Later, Ferreira Is Building a Portuguese Hospitality Dynasty

      Carlos Ferreira built his Peel Street restaurant to represent a larger vision of Portugal. Three decades later, his daughters are helping carry that ambition into its next era.

      Café BRUT Wants to Be Griffintown’s Living Room
      Food & Drink
      J.P. Karwacki

      Café BRUT Wants to Be Griffintown’s Living Room

      Inside a raw concrete space on Murray Street, banana-infused espresso and matcha drinks anchor a broader ambition to become part of the neighbourhood’s daily rhythm.

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      How Boom J's Went From a Home Kitchen to a Jamaican Institution
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      Anick Jasmin

      How Boom J's Went From a Home Kitchen to a Jamaican Institution

      Owner Jermaine learned to cook from his grandmother in Jamaica at six years old. Everything at Boom J's still carries those teachings.

      La Tratt Is the West Island’s Defining Deli
      Food & Drink
      J.P. Karwacki

      La Tratt Is the West Island’s Defining Deli

      Built from scratch in a Kirkland strip mall, La Tratt has spent 20 years playing the long game to earn loyalty, and it shows.

      The Fancy Cocktail Bar Isn't Dead, But Andrew Whibley Wouldn't Open One Today
      Food & Drink
      J.P. Karwacki

      The Fancy Cocktail Bar Isn't Dead, But Andrew Whibley Wouldn't Open One Today

      The Cloakroom founder on value over flash, the scene's missing middle, and what Montreal's bar culture still needs to figure out.

      The New Chinatown Doesn't Call Itself That
      Food & Drink
      Ivy Lerner-Frank

      The New Chinatown Doesn't Call Itself That

      What's taken shape on Montreal's Sainte-Catherine West is something entirely distinct from the old Chinatown.

      A New Class of Chefs Is Proving How Much Chinese Food Has to Offer
      Food & Drink
      Ivy Lerner-Frank

      A New Class of Chefs Is Proving How Much Chinese Food Has to Offer

      China's food culture never stopped evolving. Montreal's did. These are the chefs closing the gap.

      A Day in the Life of a Montreal Wine Importer
      Food & Drink
      Rachel Cheng

      A Day in the Life of a Montreal Wine Importer

      Keaton Ritchie of Flor Vin was on the banks of the Loire last week. Today he's hauling bottles through the slush.

      Related Classics

      From our archive.

      How Boom J's Went From a Home Kitchen to a Jamaican Institution
      Food & Drink
      Anick Jasmin

      How Boom J's Went From a Home Kitchen to a Jamaican Institution

      Owner Jermaine learned to cook from his grandmother in Jamaica at six years old. Everything at Boom J's still carries those teachings.

      La Tratt Is the West Island’s Defining Deli
      Food & Drink
      J.P. Karwacki

      La Tratt Is the West Island’s Defining Deli

      Built from scratch in a Kirkland strip mall, La Tratt has spent 20 years playing the long game to earn loyalty, and it shows.

      The Fancy Cocktail Bar Isn't Dead, But Andrew Whibley Wouldn't Open One Today
      Food & Drink
      J.P. Karwacki

      The Fancy Cocktail Bar Isn't Dead, But Andrew Whibley Wouldn't Open One Today

      The Cloakroom founder on value over flash, the scene's missing middle, and what Montreal's bar culture still needs to figure out.

      The New Chinatown Doesn't Call Itself That
      Food & Drink
      Ivy Lerner-Frank

      The New Chinatown Doesn't Call Itself That

      What's taken shape on Montreal's Sainte-Catherine West is something entirely distinct from the old Chinatown.

      A New Class of Chefs Is Proving How Much Chinese Food Has to Offer
      Food & Drink
      Ivy Lerner-Frank

      A New Class of Chefs Is Proving How Much Chinese Food Has to Offer

      China's food culture never stopped evolving. Montreal's did. These are the chefs closing the gap.

      A Day in the Life of a Montreal Wine Importer
      Food & Drink
      Rachel Cheng

      A Day in the Life of a Montreal Wine Importer

      Keaton Ritchie of Flor Vin was on the banks of the Loire last week. Today he's hauling bottles through the slush.

      Food & Drink

      The Nomadic Kitchen of Pasta Pooks Has Set up Camp in Little Italy

      From pop-ups to permanence, Montreal’s most raucous pasta operation finds a home—with the same energy, same chaos, and even better carbs.

      ByJ.P. Karwacki

      March 5, 2025 · 6 min read

      The nomadic kitchen of Pasta Pooks has set up camp in Little Italy
      Photography by Philip Tabah

      The Main is reader-supported. Subscriptions are what keep us independent. Five dollars a month — the restaurants, the guides, the weekly bulletin, and what to do each weekend. Support us today.

      Discover the places mentioned in this story

      Gia Vin & GrillBarBaraImpastoSalle ClimatiséeÎle Flottante

      After years of pop-ups and festival takeovers, Pasta Pooks has finally put down roots. The team behind one of Montreal’s more boisterous pasta operations, Luca Vinci and Victor-Alex "Coach Vic" Petrenko, has taken over the former Dinette Triple Crown space and transformed it into a mostly takeout counter with just enough room to perch and inhale a rich and saucy plate.

      It’s their first permanent home, a significant evolution for a project that started as a pandemic-born passion and has been snowballing since.

      Their new space in Little Italy stays true to the energy that's fuelled their pop-ups and appearances in the past: Across from the front counter, there’s room for about five diners to along the wall and window, surrounded by checkered tiles and a menu scrawled on a chalkboard. Behind the scenes, a separate dining room plays host to private meals and Italian cooking classes, where guests can get a firsthand look at what makes their pasta operation tick.

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      The Main

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      Food & Drink

      The Nomadic Kitchen of Pasta Pooks Has Set up Camp in Little Italy

      From pop-ups to permanence, Montreal’s most raucous pasta operation finds a home—with the same energy, same chaos, and even better carbs.

      ByJ.P. Karwacki

      March 5, 2025 · 6 min read

      The nomadic kitchen of Pasta Pooks has set up camp in Little Italy
      Photography by Philip Tabah

      The Main is reader-supported. Subscriptions are what keep us independent. Five dollars a month — the restaurants, the guides, the weekly bulletin, and what to do each weekend. Support us today.

      Discover the places mentioned in this story

      Gia Vin & GrillBarBaraImpastoSalle ClimatiséeÎle Flottante

      After years of pop-ups and festival takeovers, Pasta Pooks has finally put down roots. The team behind one of Montreal’s more boisterous pasta operations, Luca Vinci and Victor-Alex "Coach Vic" Petrenko, has taken over the former Dinette Triple Crown space and transformed it into a mostly takeout counter with just enough room to perch and inhale a rich and saucy plate.

      It’s their first permanent home, a significant evolution for a project that started as a pandemic-born passion and has been snowballing since.

      Their new space in Little Italy stays true to the energy that's fuelled their pop-ups and appearances in the past: Across from the front counter, there’s room for about five diners to along the wall and window, surrounded by checkered tiles and a menu scrawled on a chalkboard. Behind the scenes, a separate dining room plays host to private meals and Italian cooking classes, where guests can get a firsthand look at what makes their pasta operation tick.

      Free account required

      For readers who care about Montreal

      Create a free account to read this story and access 3 articles per month, plus our weekly Bulletin.

      Independent. Local. Reader-supported.

      or

      Already a member? Sign in

      The Main

      Comments

      Welcome to The Main's comments section!

      Share your thoughts and join the conversation. Please be respectful and constructive.

      No comments yet. Be the first!

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