Bar à Beurre has been quietly anchoring Old Montreal’s sweet tooth since 2012, built around family recipes passed down through three generations of Italian and Québécois women. Butter is the throughline here, most famously in the shop’s boules de beurre: sugar-dusted sandwich cookies filled with cream, inspired by Italian pesche dolci.

Beyond the display case of cookies, cakes, and macarons, Bar à Beurre runs a structured afternoon tea service that leans traditional but doesn’t feel rigid. Savoury finger sandwiches hold their own, but the balance tilts unapologetically toward desserts, with scones, petits gâteaux, and seasonal variations rotating in.