Petite Cuillère

When Valentine Dewavrin opened La Petite Cuillère in 2010, she wasn’t sure that her vision of a cozy neighbourhood café would fit the bustling corner of Saint-Denis Street where she is located. However, the friendly little space has become a bit of an oasis, its chilled-out ambiance, good coffee and home-cooked breakfast and lunch making it the perfect spot to get away from the bustle, at least for a few minutes.

“People don’t just come to drink coffee,” says Valentine, who studied hospitality and worked in upscale restaurants and hotels before realizing that she much preferred the relaxed atmosphere of a café. “The experience is so different from restaurants and hotels. There’s something more informal, more friendly. Here, you can talk to a client for 10 minutes and it doesn’t matter.”

That’s not to say that the staff is not efficient. The café has become quite the popular lunchtime spot for people who work nearby. “It’s got to be fast, so we’ve adapted to that,” says Valentine. Fresh, vegan soups, hearty sandwiches and grilled cheeses are just a few of the items that keep people coming back. “Everything is made here except for the croissants and the bread,” she adds. “The jam is made here, the granola, too. And the homemade veggie pate is very popular.”