Montreal Boulangeries

[Lesley C]

I was just asked about Montreal boulangeries on the bagel thread so I thought we'd start a new topic.

I have two favourite boulangeries: the Passe-Partout bakery in NDG at 3857 Boulevard Décarie and Le Fromentier at 1375 Laurier St. E.

Any other favourites out there?

[eat2much]

Le Fournil on Victoria in Westmount is pretty good as well, but I think Montreal bread in general is very good to what other cities are used to getting. Even le Pain Doree and Premiere Moisson make better breads than you can find elsewhere.

Lesley, I know it is slightly off topic (wrong city and country) but have you ever been to Mrs. London's in Saratoga Springs, NY?

[Lesley C]

The Premiere Moisson and Pain Dore baguettes are amazing, but really the best must be purchased in their stores. The ones I've been picking up at my local supermarket aren't too impressive.

eat2much, I have been to Saratoga a few times but not recently. Is Mrs. London's a bakery?

[eat2much]

They have a website @ www.mrslondons.com

I think that Mrs. Londons is worth a return visit. Montreal has great stuff but this is like Paris.

[helenas]

I actually asked about Mrs. Londons bakery a while ago in bread thread: but nobody had any information. Here is the article in F&W magazine that picked my interest:

London's Calling

[Platdujour]

There are so many little intersting artisinale boulangeries springing up all over the place (charging big bucks for bread!). Many good examples can be found on Mont-Royal east or specifically Mr. Pacheco on Monkland. I am a long time fan of the well-established Patisserie de Gascogne for great bread & croissants (not to mention all that is sweet!) My big complaint is that when a boulangerie/patisserie gets very popular (Pain Doré, Premier Moisson & even Gascogne) & decides to expand from a few small locations to many larger locations, the quality always seems to deteriorate. Duc de Lorraine on Cote des Neiges ranks right up with the best quality wise.

[Lesley C]

Welcome platdujour ,

God list but you might be interested to know that both the Patisserie de Gascogne and Duc de Lorraine buy their bread from, I believe, Pain Dore.

[Mme.Aimee]

I first went to "Olive & Gourmando" (351 Saint-Paul O, Vieux-Montreal, (514)350-1083, ) a few summers ago when it was just in it's first few weeks of opening. I was suprised and delighted to find such a unique bakery tucked away in the recesses of the Old Port. One pain au chocolat was all it took for me to make it a frequent stop.

This couple has been together for a while and these recipes have been worked over to perfection. This bread is great! Try their sandwiches too, for something different.

[guru]

Yeah!

I was waiting for someone to mention Olive et Gourmando. For those who are used to sourdough bread and acidic tastes, that place is a must. In the summer they make a blue corn bread that is just fantastic(Though my favorite place is le Passe-Partout).

On my last visit to New York, i stopped by saratoga and had the pleasure of going to Mrs.London(by a complete coincidence).They really are doing great stuff there by i found it a little expensive(unless my canadian dollard was killing me).

[food_dwarf]

Hands down Passe Partout has it in this category. My personal favourite it the raisin nut loaf. mmmmmm i can taste it now!!

[Explorer]

Lesley- Could you throw some of them our way in Toronto? I know Gascogne, Lorraine and definitely Pain Dore. That Passe-Partout sounds enticing enough to make a trip there. Here, Ace Bakery has a monopoly and it's sour dough based, unfortunately.

[identifiler]

Olive and Gourmando do offer some nice stuff. My top vote also to Passe Partout. This is something I have dropped ever since I got myself a large kichen aid mixer... experimenting with different dough starters, temps, sugar concentration, etc... making bread is truly an art.

I have a question for the plateau folks, a year ago (or two) there was this article in la presse about a couple who made the best croissant au beurre ever, apparently from their own kitchen using a simple home oven... I read that the croissant were usually all gone by 7:00h AM. Does this ring a bell? If so is that place still open ?