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
When Montreal-based Foodtastic purchased the Milestones Grill + Bar restaurant chain (https://www.milestonesrestaurants.com) last summer, with plans to finally debut franchises in Quebec, I got pretty excited.
Foodtastic, a highly successful multi-brand restaurant company, is owned by brothers Lawrence and Peter Mammas.
Au Coq has been part of the Quebec restaurant landscape for more than 60 years. Since 2019 it has been part of the Foodtastic group (foodtastic.ca), which was enough to get my attention when I was in Dollard des Ormeaux and looking for a place to eat on Sources Blvd. There are presently 10 Au Coq franchises in Quebec (Dollard, St. Laurent, Marché Central, Hochelaga, Montreal East, St. Leonard, Central Station downtown and Gatineau). Opening soon will be locations in Terrebonne and Île-Perrot.
Sikellis and his team managed their way through the pandemic, but he told me clearly that I must come back to one of his locations when indoor dining could see what a sensation it is. I finally did so recently in Dollard, managed by Harry’s son Mike. It was a Sunday morning and when I arrived the place was starting to get busy. By 10 am there was a lineup out the door. Mike, assisted by his mom Marina Tzanetakou, was busy checking vaccine passports. There is plexiglass between tables, which are well spaced.
When I dropped by at a lunch hour to meet Dranias, Chef Armeni greeted us with a basket of bread, an appetizer of Fritto Misto – deep-fried calamari, shrimp and smelt- and delicious bowls of busiate pasta, with a braised rabbit in fresh tomato sauce.
At the Île-Perrot location, manager Costa Soilis aims to please. He has been at this spot since it opened six years ago, having started off as a chef and then taking charge. Throughout the pandemic he kept the place running with take-out and delivery orders. Now he is overseeing the return to in-person dining. The terrasse season has regrettably ended for their patio can accommodate 90 people. He and wonderful server Sophie, who has also been on staff since the start (in between becoming a mom three times), told me how these days they also must play the role of COVID-19 vaccine passport copies. Regularly they have to prevent unwanted customers from coming through the front door.
Greenspot is right out of a movie set. There are a few counter stools and enough vinyl booths to accommodate as many as 140 diners. Each table has a jukebox. While the machines no longer function, some people still try to feed coins inside for some old songs. Music now is piped in via a Bell satellite.
Notable Quebec race car driver Alex Tagliani recently opened his new $18 million TAG E-Karting and Amusement Center at Plaza St. Thérèse… The Center features nine activities including a combination of the multi-level layout of three electric karting tracks, a laser tag game arena, six ax-throwing lanes, six bowling lanes, a Triotech 7D interactive cinema, a multi-sensory virtual reality experience, numerous modern arcades, and an interactive children’s floor—all under one roof. And it was all founded by Tagliani, the owner of TAG Autosport and a large partnership with a number of entrepreneurs well-known in the business sphere.
Since Pizzeria Bros debuted on Côte des Neiges a year ago I have driven and walked by umpteen times. I finally stopped by to sample the food and thanks to team leader Jared Maraj and his co-workers Mikael Loyat and Harjot Singh I came away with an excellent first impression. This chain can best be compared to the Subways of pizza. However in this case Pizzeria Bros provides a fresh thin crust pizza with quality ingredients in a quick-service setting. The dough, sauces and dressings are all homemade and pizzas cooked in high heat ovens in only 90 seconds.
Tommy Café made its debut about five years ago on Notre Dame Street in Old Montreal, serving mainly different coffees and teas. It has since expanded a few blocks away to St. Paul Street, on Mount Royal twinned with a Baccaro pizza spot and in Oakville, Ontario. Expansion is on the way to St. Bruno and Fairview Centre in Pointe-Claire.
Q-ZN, as it is cleverly called, recently opened in the industrial sector of St. Laurent. When Dan and his partners, Jason Nishmas, Jason Martin and Steve Merling, were putting the concept together and approaching restaurants he began waxing nostalgic about Cattlemans. Before you could say “pepperoni,” a plan was in place. He approached the owners of Quebec Pizzeria in Laval (order.quebecpizzeria.ca) and with the blessing of the Blutman family, he gave them the Cattleman’s (now reborn without the apostrophe to please the language police and known as Cattlemans Retro) pizza recipe. The Papa family from Quebec Pizzeria nailed it.
Every so often I wind up at a culinary establishment where I ask myself the question, “How is it possible that I have never been here before?”
Such is precisely the case for the iconic Duc de Lorraine, located on Côte des Neiges Road just off Queen Mary. Since 1952, this truly magical spot has served French pastries, seasonal cakes, viennoiseries and macarons, using traditional recipes by great French pastry chefs. Victoria Sørensen became the owner 12 years ago and she clearly has the magic touch for this is a restaurant, catering service, dessert emporium and a pastry shop all rolled into one.
Back in 1966, Christos Kalogrias came to Canada, leaving his native Greek village of Arahova. He was only 26 years of age and had some family here. His first job was in manufacturing, earning 95 cents an hour. In order to build some savings, he relocated to Thompson, Manitoba to work in a nickel and mining company, returning to Montreal in 1971 with enough money to open his own restaurant on St. Viateur Street. In June, Arahova Souvlaki celebrated its 50th anniversary.
The appropriately dubbed Notre Boeuf De Grâce (https://www.notreboeufdegrace.ca) was an instant success and expansion happened quickly today there are nine locations (NDG, Downtown, St. Laurent, Pointe-Claire, Laval, Terrebonne, Le Village, Le Plateau and Saint-Jérôme) and one more in Blainville on the way later this summer.
My family has been frequenting the Firegrill Restaurant ( https://firegrill.com) for a few years now, enjoying some of the best steaks in town at their downtown Stanley Street and St. Laurent Sphèretech 14 (next to Cinemas Guzzo) locations.
One of the truly growing pizza chains in Quebec is Pizzéria No. 900 Napolitaine. There are now 25 locales across the province and if you are making a pickup you will not have long to wait as the pizzas are cooked in their special ovens in a remarkable 90 seconds. The oven is at 900 degrees Fahrenheit, hence the name of the chain.
