Three cafés, three generations, and one new wave of Vietnamese coffee

Đan Nguyen took over an unassuming Plateau corner, the same spot on Rue Roy Est where a long-abandoned restaurant stood for years next to a barbershop and a laundromat. She transformed it into Phin Café, brightening the space with wood and green accents, and a menu offering directly sourced Vietnamese coffee.

Customers flocked to get a taste of her egg coffee: an egg white beaten into condensed milk poured over Vietnamese coffee, dripped the traditional way using a phin filter.

On another street corner between Old Montreal and Griffintown, Sara Sabry of Café 2^nd Gen says “this was supposed to be our quiet, soft launch but it hasn’t been quiet at all.”

Café 2^nd Gen on William Street, offering international specialty flavours over a base of Vietnamese coffee, is a love letter to fusion: Their menu has influences from all around the world, showcases a second-generation identity that fuses with the cultural influences around it, yet still stays true to itself.