A Syrian Street Food Counter From Damas — and More March 2022 Montreal Restaurant Openings

OUTREMONT — Devotees of celebrated Syrian food destination Damas needn’t go far to find a more casual take on the Montreal fine dining staple. The team behind the Van Horne restaurant opened a street food counter (with no seating), called Folfol, across the street at the end of March, selling burgers made with sujok-spiced beef, quail eggs, raw sheep cheese, and tomato jam; roasted lamb shoulder shawarma with biwaz, grilled tomatoes, tahini, and pomegranate molasses wrapped in saj, a thin Syrian flatbread; and eventually, more sandwiches. Otherwise, Folfol is serving up a number of takeout-friendly favourites from the Damas repertoire, including a wide range of its hot and cold mezzes.

Folfol is open for takeout Tuesday to Sunday, from 4 to 9 p.m., at 1208 Avenue Van Horne. Delivery is available via DoorDash.

Lu & I/Supplied

MILE END — A new vegan and gluten-free bakery and café has arrived on the stretch of Avenue du Parc between Laurier and Fairmount. Lu & I is selling all manner of sweets — cakes, cookies, doughnuts, squares, and more — but without the added sugar. It’s also a cold-pressed juice purveyor, with a small grocery section featuring owners Emilia Jamieson and Carmen Rose’s favourite local products. “Both women share a passion for healthy lifestyles, creating nutritious and delicious treats and bringing them to their community,” a representative for the bakery tells Eater via e-mail. “After two years of pandemic living, they are hoping to bring a little sweetness to the neighbourhood.”

Lu & I is open Tuesday to Sunday, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at 5147 Avenue du Parc.

ROSEMONT — Very popular Verdun sandwich shop Bossa has expanded eastward, with a second location now on Promenade Masson — a welcome addition on a stretch otherwise light on Italian fare. Like the original, this outpost is serving up hefty sandwiches filled with everything from pesto-rubbed porchetta to sausage and roasted peppers, plus a selection of specialty grocery items.

Bossa’s second location is open daily as of 11 a.m. at 3136 Masson Street.

DOWNTOWN — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s personal chef and the founder of pandemic pop-up Touk Chanthy Yen has just opened a new food counter at Time Out Market Montreal. It’s an ode to his pan-Canadian experience, featuring a coast-to-coast menu of steak, parmesan truffle fries, mussels made with coconut and chili, buttery whelks served with a nori aioli, and flan made with a condensed milk and Vietnamese coffee. Read more about Yen’s new project here.

Chanthy Yen: Cuisine Pancanadienne is now open at Time Out Market Montreal (705 Ste-Catherine Street West).

WEST ISLAND — After expanding to Laval in 2019, St-Léonard mainstay and Italian community hub Café Milano has now opened a third location, in Pointe-Claire. Expect all the same panini, cannoli, and espresso that earned it praise at the original.

Café Milano is open daily as of 7 a.m. at 46F Brunswick Boulevard.

Karolina Jez/Lucille’s

WEST ISLAND — Lucille’s Oyster Dive adds one more outpost to its perennially expanding roster this month, with a striking new location at Fairview Pointe-Claire shopping mall. The upscale seafood, steak, and more spot is also open in Laval, Quartier Dix 30 in Brossard, and in its original Monkland Village stomping ground.

Lucille’s Fairview is open daily from 11:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. at 6701 Trans-Canada Highway, Pointe-Claire.

Bistrot Paname/Supplied

VERDUN — Bistrot Paname, a promising new restaurant serving up irreverent takes on French bistro classics has popped onto Verdun’s expanding culinary scene. Read more about the new Wellington Street spot here.

Bistrot Paname is open for dinner, Tuesday to Sunday, at 4847 Wellington Avenue.

PLATEAU — On March 18, Côte-St-Paul Caribbean restaurant Seasoned Dreams opened a new location, on the Main. It takes over the space that was formerly cocktail bar Local Legend, where at one time Seasoned Dreams oversaw the food offering. But now, the St-Laurent locale has become a second permanent home for Seasoned Dreams, complete with its hot pink typography, and all the jerk chicken, poutine, and mac and cheese one could want.

Seasoned Dreams’s second location is open Wednesday to Sunday, at 3910 St-Laurent Boulevard.

DOWNTOWN — Ste-Catherine Street’s main downtown drag welcomes a new sandwich counter this month — this one committed to marrying Filipino flavours with international breads. Read more about Sanwits here.

Sanwits is open from Monday to Saturday, from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. inside Union, at 962 Ste-Catherine Ouest.

CITÉ-DU-MULTIMÉDIA — The trio behind much-loved Italian fine dining restaurant Graziella has debuted a new project, called Mercato Comunale, that’s being unfurled in stages. For now it’s a coffee shop with a lunch counter and grocery component, but a wine bar and pinseria (serving a Roman-style relative to the pizza) will follow. Read more about the multi-faceted project here.

Mercato Comunale is open daily from 7 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. at 701 William Street.

BROSSARD — South Shore real estate development Solar Uniquartier is now home to Iru Izakaya. Opened on March 3, and helmed by chefs Frédéric Dufort and Van Amtel, its wide-ranging offering includes tuna tataki, karaage, yakitori, ramen, and chirashi bowls.

Iru Izakya is open daily until 11 p.m. at 3050 de l’Éclipse, Brossard.

QUARTIER DES SPECTACLES — Though technically opened at the end of February, Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montréal’s new coffee shop, on the ground floor of the Wilder building on Bleury, has had some recent write-ups in Tastet, Silo 57, and La Presse. Head to Café Constance for lamps with fringes, matcha oatmeal cookies, and a chlorophyll water station — all in a new Zébulon Perron-designed space.

Café Constance is open Monday to Friday, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., and weekends, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., at 1435 Rue de Bleury.

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