Arts Café
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Article avec beaucoup de photos
Arts Café is lively restaurant in Mile End where you can get a lovely latte to finish off your meal or to enjoy with one of their tasty pastry selections.
What she thought
Arts Café is a busy café/restaurant in the Mile End arrondissement of Montréal. Their menu features “breakfast-y/brunch-y” items served throughout the day. This was our second visit, having been introduced to the café last year through the Indie Coffee Passport. I knew the place would be busy since it was Saturday and Arts Café is a weekend brunch destination for many Montréalers.
- Coffee: The espresso beans used for my latte were Terrazas de Guatemala, a single origin espresso from 49th Parallel Coffee Roasters. As obvious in the photo below, the latte was beautiful: the crema was rich; the milk, silky and well-poured; and the aroma, simply delightful. Drinking the latte, I tasted toffee or caramel notes as well as some type of citrus. The latte art lasted to the last sip, and I had one small spoonful of crema/foamed milk waiting for me at the bottom of the cup.
- Seating: Since almost every table was filled, we decided to sit at the service bar that has 4 stools. Another bar with chairs sits facing one of the large windows. Tables, each with 2 chairs, are positioned throughout the space. One larger table can seat 6 and a round table in the corner can sit 4. Outside, situated along av. de l’Esplanade, is a fairly large terrace, although it wasn’t set up the day we visited because of weather. A few chairs and stadium seats—yes,actual stadium seats—are also outside along the window facing Fairmont Avenue.
- Atmosphere: Arts Café has lots of natural light coming through the large windows on both sides of the café. Adding to the charm and illumination of the space is a very large collection of lightbulbs hanging by wires from the ceiling along the windows. Although there is a reasonable amount of seating, when full, the place seems crowded and is pretty noisy. The staff was courteous but extremely busy, so we did have to wait a while to receive our orders and coffee. In fact, we had to remind the girl who took our orders to set aside a scone for Michel because people who ordered pastry to go got served before we did. The pumpkin bread I ordered was delicious and wonderfully spicy, just the way I like it.
Final Thoughts: Arts Café is lively restaurant in Mile End where you can get a lovely latte to finish off your meal or to enjoy with one of their tasty pastry selections.
A rich, flavorful, and gorgeous single-origin latte by Arts Café!
Ce qu’il en pense
C’est avec plaisir que nous retournons au Arts Café, une belle découverte de l’édition 2013 du Passeport. L’endroit est toujours aussi plein de monde, à toute heure du jour. Les gens sont attablés pour le menu de type brunch qu’on y sert. À côté de la caisse, on peut apercevoir les options pain/biscuit/pâtisserie qui sont offertes : pratique et rapide pour ceux qui désirent une bouchée pour accompagner leur café. Mon scone était par ailleurs délicieux, il était servi avec crème sûre et confiture.
Le torréfacteur utilisé est Forty Ninth Parallel, une entreprise de Vancouver. Les espressos sont élaborés à partir de cafés d’origine unique, ils varient au gré des saisons. Lors de notre passage, le Terrazas du Guatémala était offert. J’ai commandé un cappuccino et j’ai aimé l’équilibre café/lait de ce format. Le latté de Vicky permettait cependant tout aussi bien de goûter aux subtilités de ce café, sans être perdu dans un océan de lait. L’onctuosité disparaissait malheureusement rapidement, le cappuccino se transformant en un café au lait un peu triste.
- Le café (latté): bien préparé, le barista rend justice aux grains d’origine unique qui sont utilisés.
- Les lieux: un peu à l’étroit, malgré un nombre raisonnable de places à l’intérieur et en terrasse.
- Le personnel: agréable, mais tout de même occupé. Il peut être parfois difficile d’avoir leur attention.
Un beau et bon cappuccino au Arts Café.
