Montréal En Lumière takes place February 16 to March 5, 2023, under the theme Discover the best of Montreal in winter! While some 40 Montréal restaurants and venues will be welcoming international and local chefs and producers, I wish to commend the team at the Marriott Château Champlain for giving the media an advance preview of the special menu at the still relatively new and very swank Lloyd Restaurant.
Posts published by “Mike Cohen”
Mike Cohen, born and raised in Côte Saint-Luc, has long been active in the community as a volunteer, journalist, and consultant. He profiles restaurants in Montreal and beyond.
mikecohen.ca and @mikecohencsl
It all began for the iconic Marathon Souvlaki in 1978 with a small restaurant on Notre Dame Street in Chomedey, Laval, containing five tables and focusing mainly on takeout and delivery.
Pizza has always been one of my favorite dishes, so when I was driving along Sources Blvd. in Dollard des Ormeaux recently and spotted a storefront at Centennial Plaza with the name “Salvatore,” I was naturally curious. Was this a new take-out place?
Upon some quick research, I was surprised to learn that this is a growing chain in Quebec, with 61 Pizza Salvatoré franchises and counting. Thus far there are a handful of locations in and near the Greater Montreal area, including Dollard, St. Leonard, Laval, Repentigny, Terrebonne and Mascouche, as well as the South Shore. They have expanded to New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, with Ontario (London) next on their radar screen.
I have been curious about Saint Houblon for several years now, often passing by their Côte des Neiges area location. When I saw them listed on MTLàTABLE a few months back there was no question this was high on my list.
In 1992 Vicky Arghiriu and Ihab Kolta were a newly married couple working for competing companies, Bell Mobility and Rogers. That did not sit well with their superiors and they were let go. This turned out to be a blessing in disguise. Family members encouraged them to start their own business. So, when they learned that a small restaurant called Deli Connaisseur at Alexis Nihon Plaza was for sale they took the leap into an entirely new venture.
La Molisana is renowned for its fine Italian cuisine. This includes homemade pasta, veal, seafood and authentic pizza baked in their splendid wood oven. 40 years later the restaurant thrives.
Next spring, Restaurant Calzone will celebrate 25 years of successful operations in Kirkland. This is a family-run business, with Tony Spinelli, his son Mike and son-in-law Shayne Fuller at the helm.
Blandino is a neighbourhood Italian-inspired seasonal brasserie using fresh market produce with local inspiration. This staple Midtown restaurant is named and pays homage to Carmelo Blandino.
I dropped by the new Wellington Bagel Sandwicherie recently. Chef Derek Curzi and his team offer the best gourmet sandwiches on the block, such as mouthwatering porchetta, Montreal smoked meat, the famous Wellington beef, crispy chicken cutlet, tender juicy chicken parmigiana, their iconic Chicago all-beef hot dog, freshly baked in-house pastries and always hot out of the oven bagels.