Montreal City Weblog

Updates from January, 2018 Toggle Comment Threads | Keyboard Shortcuts

• Kate 16:34 on 2018-01-04 Permalink | Reply  

  The Pâtisserie de Gascogne has gone abruptly out of business. La Presse says it has 250 workers; the website, still running, lists seven locations including ones on Laurier West and on Sherbrooke in Westmount, and a relatively recent branch at Jean-Talon market.

  The CTV version cites 175 workers but doesn’t add much to the story. Reports also from the Journal and from Eater.

  Update: In the Gazette, Lesley Chesterman ponders why Gascogne closed. Does anyone but a food writer care about fashions in pastry? I had no idea mousse cake was passé.

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• Kate 10:36 on 2018-01-04 Permalink | Reply  

  Via reddit, Montreal’s Spanish & Portuguese Synagogue is having its 250th anniversary this year. It’s one of the oldest congregations in North America, founded in 1768, and has been in its fourth location in town since 1947.

   

• Kate 10:14 on 2018-01-04 Permalink | Reply  

  There are new stricter laws concerning wood-burning stoves in Montreal. The surge in popularity of these stoves over the last two decades is directly ascribed to the 1998 ice storm. Links are to the same CP story in French and English.

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• Kate 10:13 on 2018-01-04 Permalink | Reply  

  CBC has a piece about how shoebox houses are disappearing, a phenomenon I’ve seen around Villeray where I live. A lot containing a shoebox house can be made much more profitable if it’s replaced by a condo triplex, and people keen on densification would applaud.

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• Kate 10:10 on 2018-01-04 Permalink | Reply  

  The Port of Montreal posted a record year in 2017 and has high hopes for 2018.

   

• Kate 09:52 on 2018-01-04 Permalink | Reply  

  There’s been some debate over video captured in the north end, whether the animal shown is a dog, a wolf or a coyote. The video’s on Facebook but can be viewed without logging in there. I’ve seen surmises it may be a hybrid coywolf because if it’s a coyote it’s a very well-fed and prosperous one. The Metro article includes official advice on what to do if you come face to face with an unidentified wild canid in the city.

  Update: The Radio-Canada item reminds me that the corner of St-Michel and Champdoré is neither in Montreal North nor Ahuntsic, as the Metro piece suggests, but in St-Michel.

   

• Kate 09:46 on 2018-01-04 Permalink | Reply  

  Twenty years ago the fabled ice storm began. CBC has a look back with photos, noting that it caused the biggest peacetime deployment of troops in Canadian history. I remember going to the Brûlerie to get coffee – some parts of the east side of St-Denis stayed lit while the streets around were dark – and seeing girls flirting with soldiers, a scene right out of a wartime movie.

  CTV now also has a reminiscence up as does Radio-Canada. Global has text and video looking back.

  L’actualité has a dossier looking at the storm from different angles, starting with a feature article with quotes from various people involved in the crisis management.

  Radio-Canada has added a second piece about the closure of the bridges.

   

• Kate 09:28 on 2018-01-04 Permalink | Reply  

  ant6n has posted a 2017 in review on his blog, looking at the high points in public transit, and giving us a little personal news.

  ant6n, I always appreciate your participation here, and hope you find the time to go on putting in your 2¢, whether it’s Canadian or Euro cents.

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• Kate 01:18 on 2018-01-04 Permalink | Reply  

  A heritage guy writes in Le Devoir in defence of the calèche as part of a possible project for the preservation of the Canadian horse, a distinctive breed of the species.

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• Kate 01:12 on 2018-01-04 Permalink | Reply  

  There’s been a fair bit of news about the closure of one restaurant: the vegetarian branch of L’Gros Luxe on St-André, which had already faced noise complaints and fines, finally closed up last week. The storefront was on a corner of a residential street.

  A debate on reddit quickly restated a discussion we’ve had on the blog and which is resumed every time a story like this comes along:
  Voice 1: People should not live in the livelier parts of town if they want absolute silence after 11 pm
  Voice 2: Wherever anyone lives in town, they have the right to quality of life.

  And it goes round and round without resolution.

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• Kate 01:00 on 2018-01-04 Permalink | Reply  

  Five million cubic meters of snow have already been cleared from Montreal streets this winter, and more is coming although apparently Montreal will escape some of the heavy snowfall that will hit the rest of Quebec.