The Julius Caesar of Café Cléopâtre

This story originally appeared in URBANIA, an online magazine based in Quebec focused on pop culture and society.

URBANIA and the MEM – Centre des mémoires montréalaises collaborated to create the exhibition Détours – Rencontres urbaines, presented at the MEM. This immersive experience reveals the human richness that makes up Montreal through encounters with 25 extraordinary locals.

In the same spirit, we’d like to introduce Johnny Zoumboulakis, a citizen who, in his own way, embodies the uniqueness of Montreal.

If you enjoy his story, you’ll love the unique portraits featured in Détours – Rencontres urbaines.

When I arrive at Café Cléopâtre to meet its owner at the agreed time, I’m told he’s stuck in traffic. “Shouldn’t be too long. Have a seat, order a beer,” says a friendly, mustachioed bartender in his early fifties. The room is completely empty, except for a couple quietly sipping their drinks and a dancer busy with a client in a booth at the back.