Community Life Archives

July 7, 2020July 7, 2020

5 Restaurants to Rediscover in the Village and Quartier des Spectacles

Summer has settled in, slightly interrupted by the world events, which left us all craving for some good food – not cooked at home for a change. Confinement feels like it’s a distant memory, and we’re all ready to enjoy the delicious menus offered by our favourite local restaurants.

To get you back up to speed with the world-class food scene in the Village and Quartier des Spectacles, here are five classic restaurants that have recently reopened their dining rooms.

Le Mousso

Recognized by foodies as one of the most innovative restaurants in Canada, Le Mousso is one of our favourite joints in the Village and beyond. Its Seoul Train popup event celebrates the rich Korean gastronomy. This one-time event is from 4 to 9 PM from Thursday to Sunday, until July 12th. You can reserve your spot here.

Source: Instagram – @Foodie_Laurence

Bistro Le Passé Composé

Le Passé Composé announced it is reopening this week, from Thursday through Sunday. The French-inspired inescapable brunch bistro is back for all to enjoy. Previously installed in the Plateau, its owner and chef Arnaud Glay set up shop in the Village in 2017. As its namesake suggests, Le Passé Composé remixes classic dishes and adds a touch of cozy decadence, always with generous portions. Even though it has a large dining room and outdoor terrace during the summer, there may be a long lineup after 10 AM on weekends. To skip the wait, we suggest you get there early.

Source: Instagram – @le_passe_compose

Saladiom

Saladiom opened in September 2019, with the premise of combining freshness and colorful ingredients, with a wide selection of salads, soups, sandwiches and smoothies. Their smoked meat salad brings out some of the best Montréal has to offer. The restaurant even has swings instead of bar chairs. Saladiom has an outdoor terrace with 4 tables, and it’s now open every day starting at 5 PM.

Source: Saladiom

O’Thym

O’Thym proposes fresh, local cuisine with seasonal ingredients. You can also bring your own wine, and there happens to be an SAQ just around the corner. O’Thym is now open from Wednesday to Saturday, starting at 5:30 PM.

Source: Instagram – @othymmtl

Paella 1334

Spanish cuisine at its finest! With a variety of hearty paellas and tapas, this might just be your favourite summer spot to discover. The menu includes none less than 14 paellas, including salmon, shrimp, calamari, mussels, chorizo and other Iberian staples. These dishes can be complemented with a glass of white wine, blonde beer or a pitcher of sangria with good company.

Source: Instagram – @xoxo_mitch

We expect that once our project is delivered in September, more exquisite restaurants will open their doors and terraces, making up for our missed opportunities to get acquainted with some of the Canada’s best tables.

May 14, 2020August 2, 2021

Sainte-Catherine Street is now Pedestrian Friendly

Great news for Montrealers and especially our future residents. In hopes to bring life back to its main commercial artery, the Ville-Marie borough and Village Montréal have announced that a portion of Sainte-Catherine Street, between St-Hubert and Papineau streets, will be exclusively accessible to pedestrians starting today!

SDC Village Montréal, the organization in charge of the commercial development of the neighborhood east of downtown Montreal, shared the news on social media last Tuesday.

In its memo, it says that “Village Montréal will follow suit to make the artery vibrate as much as possible, through landscaping, reopening the Galerie Blanc and animating the artery to brighten the darkened rainbow due to the challenging past few weeks”.

The organization emphasizes that this measure is above all to facilitate social distancing. In a comment on Facebook, Village Montréal explained that it wishes to “give a viable space where it’s easier for the community to stroll by while keeping the required 2-metre distance.”

Instead of establishing pedestrian corridors while allowing automobile traffic, the Village will instead make its main street fully accessible to pedestrians, a popular tradition in the neighborhood and adjacent Quartier des Spectacles, since 2009.

While the return of non-essential businesses and terraces is yet to be seen, pedestrians will be able to take in some vitamine D and stretch their legs a bit.

If you’re in the area and you’d like to see how quickly Le Bourbon’s construction is progressing, stroll by our construction site on Sainte-Catherine East, between Alexandre de Sève and Champlain streets.

The project was delivered in Fall 2020. If you’re looking for new condos for sale in downtown Montreal, check out our latest project – La Tour Fides!

February 20, 2020February 27, 2020

A New Replacement for the Village’s Multicolored Balls

Last fall, the Village’s multicolored balls were removed for good. Since 2011, this floating tapestry had given a new identity to the neighbourhood. We even included it in almost all of our exterior renderings of Le Bourbon, to show its significance in our urban scenery.

Saucy & Controversial Slogans

This winter, the Société de développement commercial (SDC) du Village stirred up controversy by placing billboards with daring slogans. Some of them had messages such as : “J’aime quand tu viens” (I like it when you come), and “Drag-moi où tu veux” (Drag me where you want), which seemed to convey stereotypes on the LGBTQ+ community. The SDC du Village reacted swiftly, removing the most controversial slogans. We can still find some plays on words such as “Beau de jour, belle de nuit” (Handsome by day, pretty by night) and “L’avenir sera rose” (The future is pink).

All in all, these slogans are temporary. They don’t replace the famous pink and multicolored balls designed by landscape architect Claude Cormier.

Instead, a more ambitious expo called “La Tête dans les nuages” (The Head in the Clouds) will take over Sainte Catherine Street.

A Clouded Sky

These cones, connected by metal cables, will represent “drops or clouds” to the eyes of pedestrians, on the Village’s main street between St-Hubert and Papineau. The cabling used for the multicolored balls will be kept, as it has been there without any issues since 2011.

This idea is rooted in the collaboration between two architecture firms: Collectif Escargo (Québec) and WXY Studio (New York). They won an international design contest organized by the SDC du Village.

Here’s a glimpse of the new expo, obtained in the City of Montréal’s archives:

la tête dans les nuages — City of Montréal’s archives

Next time you take a stroll on Sainte-Catherine E, will you have the head in the clouds? What are your thoughts? Comment below!

August 26, 2019January 22, 2020

See Pictures of Last Week’s Fête de Quartier

fête de quartier parc charles-s.-campbell

The Village has plenty of activities for everyone, whether it’s families, groups of friends or friendly neighbors.

On Tuesday August 13th, Le Bourbon was one of the proud sponsors of the 8th annual Fête de quartier at the Charles-S.-Campbell Park. It was a beautiful sunny day, with corn and BBQ, animation for all ages, inflatable games, petanque, music and circus acts.

It was a free and ecofriendly event.

The Charles-S.-Campbell Park is situated just behind the Bourbon’s construction site, between Champlain and Alexandre-DeSève streets. It’s a peaceful haven, a natural environment where you can breathe fresh air in the heart of the Village.

Charles Sandwith Campbell was a wealthy patron of the arts, and his fortune has helped build parks just like this one. His inheritance has also financed free music shows in Montreal’s parks since the 1920s.

Here are a few pictures of the Fête de quartier.

*All claims made on this website are subject to change, and depend on the season, location and other factors.

July 11, 2019January 22, 2020

Le Bourbon Sponsors David Farsi’s Mural at the MTL en Arts Festival

Le Bourbon Condos is a proud sponsor of David Farsi’s “Bleu Ciel”, the flagship activity of the MTL en Arts festival, created with the help of the public, from June 26th to July 1st 2019. An internationally renowned artist, Farsi lives and works in the Village, creating a fantastic world which makes viewers dream and project themselves into intangible spaces.

For six days, local residents and international tourists alike were able to take part in the 80-foot long progressive mural, reiterating the role of art as a meeting point rather than a process that occurs behind closed doors.

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La magie du bleu 🔵 #art#artist#evolution#mtl#montreal#mtlenarts#oeuvredart

A post shared by David Farsi (@david_farsi) on Jun 30, 2019 at 6:51am PDT

“The event lets me meet people and have fun. I’m also given a large outdoor workshop, an 80-foot canvas in a different environment,” he said in a recent interview with Baron Mag.

Festival-goers also admired a hundred miniature paintings representing the visual artist’s creativity, which evoke hints of surrealism akin to the likes of Salvador Dalí. Farsi’s naive drawing, in his strong and very personal style, showcases colours and materials, offering an original perspective to viewers.

Formally trained in applied arts and crafts at the Boulle school in Paris, David Farsi has a sensitivity for quality of materials. Some of his more known works include Les Glaces, a temporary installation in Bernard Street in Outremont in 2016, and La comédie du monde, ombres et lumières at the TOHU in 2018.

A Living Cultural Hub

This collaborative creation is now part of the Village’s landscape, just beside the construction site of Le Bourbon, which is due to be completed by Spring 2020.

This 20th edition of the public art festival was held on Sainte-Catherine street, between St-Hubert and Champlain. MTL en Art is part of Aires Libres, the cultural pedestrianization of over one kilometer in the commercial artery, a joint initiative from the Commercial Development Corporation of the Village and the Ville-Marie Borough.

The Village is a very culturally active neighborhood, and a fertile ground for creation and interaction with the public. Le Bourbon is proud to promote arts in its community, as this cultural wealth will be a part of its future residents’ environment. The nine-story luxury condo building is located on the pedestrian sector of the commercial artery and at the heart of the outdoor festivals that breathe life into the area all summer long.

Four parts of this unique creation were sold to collectors, and a part of the proceeds were donated to Opération Enfant Soleil to promote quality pediatrics for all children in Quebec.

This project was made possible thanks to our support, in collaboration with our developer MTL Développement.