Looking for recommendations for purveyors of Kitchen Accessories, Gourmet Food, and Coffee Bean Roasters.....

[Lighthousehunter]

Boston Chowhound here who has been making trips to Montreal for about the last 10 years.

Heading to Montreal this week, and probably won't make it back again until July.

My wife and I are 40 somethings who love to cook-she has previously been accepted to the Culinary Institute, and we are looking for shopping recommendations to your favorite kitchen accessory stores and gourmet food shoppes.(Including Coffee Roasters)

Sometimes, here in New England, we get stuck in a Williams-Sonoma rut, and do not always see all the various kitchen gadgets available from Canadian and European brands. Occaisionally we see some Zyliss and Tramontina, but always make it a point of looking for things we can not get at home.

Here are some examples of where we will be shopping:

Definitely going to:
La Vieux Europe on St.Laurent (for at least coffee beans).
Maple Delights in Old Montreal for granulated maple sugar.
SAQ for Ice Cider.
Chapters/Indigo for cookbooks of Quebec cuisine
Public Markets at either Atwater or Jean Talon.

We have been to a gourmet food store on Laurier, but can not remember the name (if anyone can help)
We have been to Faema, but will probably focus more on going to Caffe Art Java this time.
We will probably shop in the Plaza St. Hubert district and Boulevard Taschereau, but will have a car and can drive anywhere.
We will have accomodations in the downtown area, so any suggestions in the St.Catherine/Rene Levesque/Maisonueve/Sherbrooke areas are appreciated.
Thanks in advance, Chowhounders.

[DCHydro]

Just outside of Montreal is an Area called Dix30...great kitchen supply warehouses!!!

[SnackHappy]

I'm sorry but Dix30 is a mall. There are no warehouses just the same stores as every other mall in town. Of course, if you don't like crowds you might like Dix30, because it's virtually dead most of the time.

[westaust]

Next to Dix30, there is a kitchen equipment store that sells both to the public and restaurant called Felisol, it reminds me of Ares in terms of the range of equipment sold, that might be the place he's refering to.

[cherylmtl]

Of course, this thread is 18 months old, so I'm not sure who he's addressing...

[shopgirl]

Oh my gosh! I didn't see it mentioned here, but you MUST go to Little Italy to Quincaillerie Dante! It's a wonderful little shop that you'll never want to leave! We were in Montreal in May and again in November (we're from N.J.)and I've gone both times! This last time I bought a wonderful 14" stainless steel saute pan -- all clad -- great price at $99.
Speak to the owner, Elena Faita-Venditelli. She can answer any possible questions and I'm sure will enjoy swapping cooking stories with your wife! She's an excellent cook who also gives cooking lessons. Here's the location:
6851 St. Dominique; [phone]. Enjoy, Enjoy, Enjoy!!!

[BLM]

Bon Appetit wouldn't carry any French cookbooks, except for Au Pied de Cochon cookbook(this is a very very special case). Not sure, if they have anymore of English edition of Au Pied de Cochon(only very limited amount of copies in English were printed). They have some of the previous El Bulli books(not sure if it's the English edtions and/or Spanish editions). The main appeal of Bon Appetit Cookbooks is the events they regularly schedule(featuring mostly cookbook authors).

[andrewm]

When I was last in Bon Appetit, about a month or two ago, they had numerous cookbooks in French, including the French edition of the Au Pied de Cochon book. They had a whole French language section as I recall, on the right side as you walk in the door.

Re. the earlier post mentioning La Soupière, their Park Ave. location closed quite awhile back. Their location on Ste. Catherine is still in business.

[swissfoodie]

The offering of French cookbooks at Bon Appetit tends not to include some of those offered by the more local editors, which tend to be more interesting IMO. I guess it all depends on what you are looking for. However, they are one of the best places to get hard to find culinary magazines and journals. I agree with BLM that their events are very appealing, yet not always advertised early enough in advance...

[BLM]

Yes, I agree that their collection of current culinary magazines & journals are pretty good. The best way to get advance notice of all their events, is to be on their mailing list(either call them or go their website, to be on the mailing list). http://www.bonappetitcookbooks.com/

[BLM]

You certainly could be correct. I haven't checked closely closely, on everything they carry.

[carswell]

There's a mainly French-language cookbook store in the new extension at the Jean Talon Market. There's also Bon Appetit Cookbooks in Westmount www.bonappetitcookbooks.com (don't know what their Québécois cookbook collection is like, but they're sure to have volumes like the English-language editions of the Au Pied de Cochon cookbook and Patrick Demers/Les Chèvres dessert cookbook). And there's the big French bookstores like Renaud-Bray (especially the mother store on Côte-des-Neiges north of Queen Mary). Any of those would probably be a better bet than Chapters/Indigo, especially if you read French. On the other hand, Chapters/Indigo's Boxing Day special of 30% off all hardbacks continues through the rest of this week.

[swissfoodie]

Bon Appetit has a very limited amount of French cookbooks and they never have sales or offer discounts - and they don't seem to be open these days, so don't make a trip all the way to Westmount for that. On occasion, Multimags (chain of magazine stores) carries some nice French cookbooks, the variety depends on the outlet.

[BLM]

Bon Appetit would be open regular hours(except when they Bon Appetit Cookbook events going on, or some type of private event). To be sure they're open, call beforehand.

[swissfoodie]

FYI - Bon Appétit will be closed until the 21st of January. They posted a sign on their door yesterday.

[BLM]

Thanks. Now I'm reminded, the owner had told me something about it several weeks ago(although I didn't know they would be closed until the 21st of January).

[BLM]

Is the English edition of Patrice Demers/Les Chevres dessert cookbook now available? I haven't seen it yet. I knew they were planning a English edition.

[SnackHappy]

I hate to be Captain Obvious, but have you been to Arthur Quentin? It's on Saint-Denis around where Toqué used to be. They have some verry nice stuff. I haven't been there in years, though. I find the ladies who work there to be terrible snobs.

[Abendschein]

Haha I agree about Arthur Quentin. Great stuff, hit or miss attitude. Another place I like is Ma Cuisine on de Maisonneuve/Drummond. They also take themselves a bit seriously however the staff is friendly and they have some very nice things, especially for gifts.

http://www.cuisinegourmet.ca

Finally, there is Vinum for wine accessories, and quite a nice little book section.

http://www.vinumdesign.com/en-index.php

I would consider all of these more suited to finding things for entertaining as opposed to cooking per se.

[mjferron]

I so much agree with you about Arthur Quentin! The attitude just makes be get out of there as quick as possible and without buying. Hate that kind of place.

[Lighthousehunter]

Has anything replaced the old Warshaw's that used to sell numerous sizes of glass containers and cookie jars?
I purchased a cobalt blue cookie jar once, and many small mason-type jars with airtight lids for storing spices at that store.
I know that the previous space in the same block as Schwartz's is now a drug store, and I can get a few pieces at Dollarama, but is Warshaw's gone forever?

[mjferron]

Warshaw is now located just next to the Atwater Market in the Little Burgandy/Pointe-St-Charles/St-Henri District. Mrs. Warshaw actually don't sell food anymore and choose to focus on culinary props and decorative stuff only. It took me a while to find out as well... and yet, it's too far for me for I never go to Atwater Market now that Jean-Talon has expended.

[Lorenz]

Very near Jean-Talon on Dante street is Quincaillerie Dante. It's a combination kitchen cooking store mixed with a gun shop, mainly hunting. A multi generation Italian family store, wide variety of items. Lots of Italian imported cooking gear.

On Sant Laurent, again near JT, Milano. A large Itailan grocery store with a wide selection of Italian imports many choices for olive oil, vinegars, candy, cheese, meats, etc...

There are two shops on St Paul across the street from Marche Bon Secours that may interest you. Can't recall their names but they are directly accross from Secours. One is a wine paraphanlia store, all things to assist with drinking wine and such. The other, right next door, is a mix of kitchen & home decor stuff, primarily French with some local artist products.

There are two other food type stores of interest on St. Paul. I just visited Montreal and I don't recall the names, maybe some locals can chime in. If I find their buiness cards I'll post again. One is a french type of deli, on the corner of St. Paul & something, where the tables are crammed togther, similiar to a Italian type deli. They serve some cured meat products, smoked meats, terrines and other french standards. They also sell everything over the counter. A very good lunch place.

Another is a small gourmet food shop , again on St. Paul, which is in the basement of a gift store, accessed from teh street. They sell mostly jared items produced by local establishments or artisans. You can pick up items on the local fruits and other produce that you would not find in outside of the Quebec area. I purchased a locally made blueberry syrup that turned out to be excelent. The lady that owns the shop is very knowledgeable about the local products.

Again if I find the store names....

I also noticed that at Atwater Market there are usually cider producers selling and providing tastings of cider, late harvest and ice wines, on Saturdays.

[Fritzy]

The wine accessories store you are thinking of is probably: "12 en Cave" on 367 St-Paul est. I just got a gift from there: an exotic glass for drinking porto.

[Lorenz]

That would be correct on the name for 12en Cave. I actually bought one of the porto glasses too. Haven't tried it yet.

[mjferron]

Well... the only thing I can say is: if you can go to Jean-Talon Market for shopping, why would you go elsewhere and even consider Taschereau Blvd?!?

I don't know if you've been to JEan-Talon Market in the past year or so but there's a new covered section (with an affordable indoor parking) where you'll find many terroir and specialty products, a food library and a culinar accessories store.

You can get your granulated maple syrup at Marche des Saveurs - you'll also find there the best Ice Cider selection in Quebec - or Sucreries de l'erable (near the store) and make sure you taste their maple syrup pie.

Nearby, on Jean-Talon Street, you'll find Fromagerie Hamel, aside from SAQ and L'Olivier - for mergez and tajine plates (there are 3 l'Olivier in the market).

For exquisite fruits and vegies, if you don't mind paying a lot more than in the other stores around, go to Chez Louis. They have flower mesclun and red endive, the best I ever tasted on Xmas eve, for instance.

As for coffee machines and grinders, Faema is still a great place. I call it my little museum.

Yet for good coffee, you can definitely find great coffee at Faema, Cafe Union, Cafe Creme, etc. in the market area, but personnaly, I've been buying my coffee from Cafe Rico (Rachel East corner of Boyer Street, in the Plateau District) for the past 5 years, have tried to go elsewhere and was always disapointed. The incredible thing is that not only Rico roast the best coffee in town, but it rather cheap ($9/pound) and it's fair trade. They now make some of the best 70% chocolate in town as well.

And Vieille Europe is still a great spot to go.

On Laurier, you might have been talking about Les Touilleurs. Nearbyl, on Park Avenue north of Laurier (or even a little more north) you'll find La Soupière as well.

These stores have beautiful food props but if you want the chef's choice, you might wanna drop by Molas, on Park Ave north of Mont-Royal. Yes, it's a restaurant provider store. But go in and sneek around, you'll find great things.

Enjoy!

[Lighthousehunter]

When I think about it, you are correct, as it has been over a year since our last trip to Jean Talon Market. I believe on our last trip we focused on Atwater Market.
Thank you for all your suggestions.
The Customs folks have been concentrating on meat and Cuban cigars at the border (We have had 1 1/2 lbs of Schwartz's smoked meat confiscated at the border). This means Cuban products like coffee and sugar cane, etc. are not being searched for, and with the embargo still on, are not available in the United States.

[swissfoodie]

Check out Wilfrid & Adrienne on Sherbrooke West in Westmount. It's a really cute kitchen store with some fine gourmet foods as well. While you are at it, enjoy the Westmount village and it's food by going to Cavallaro's for Italian, Miyamoto for Japanese, Le Fournil for baked goods and Foumagerie for sandwiches.