The family behind Maça-Roco, a Montreal bakery dating back to 1994, has opened a Portuguese café on rue Saint-Viateur Ouest, with traditional pastries and coffee at the centre of the operation.
Montreal has no shortage of places to grab a coffee, but Café Poente has something more personal behind the counter. The new Mile End café comes from the family behind Maça-Roco, the Portuguese bakery on boulevard Saint-Laurent that has been making baked goods since 1994. Now the family has brought that tradition to rue Saint-Viateur Ouest, at 268.
The Portuguese influence is right there in the pastry case. Pastéis de nata, the familiar custard tarts, share space with pastéis de feijão, made with white beans, and bolas de Berlim. Croissants and chocolatines are also available, but the Portuguese specialties are the reason to pay attention. Coffee is part of the picture, with beans from Montreal roaster Canal Roasters. The pastries are made on site, according to published coverage.
Poente means “sunset” in Portuguese, a name that suits a café built around taking a moment with coffee and something from the counter. More importantly, this is an extension of a Montreal bakery story that began decades ago, not simply another café opening. For anyone who already knows Maça-Roco, there is now another place to find a taste of Portugal in the city. That connection gives the opening a distinctly local story.