Marché Jean-Brillant has been open since 1982, and for the last dozen years it's been run by three guys who look like they could be brothers — Richard Trottier, Éric Trottier, and Jean-François Laviolette, who met working the aisles of Marché Jean-Talon before taking over from Éric's father and uncle.

The market runs April through November, stocking fruits, vegetables, berries, honey, maple syrup, and flowers from local producers, with Éric at the wholesalers by 2 a.m. to secure the best picks before anyone else arrives. Richard and Jean-François follow at 4 a.m. to set the stalls. It's a tight operation in a compact space, open 24 hours—which in Côte-des-Neiges means late-night UdeM students, hospital shift workers from St. Mary's, Sainte-Justine, and the Jewish General, and the occasional St. Mary's patient who wanders over mid-drip.

The neighbourhood, it seems, keeps unusual hours.