(what feels like) A lifetime ago, I used to work for a big video game company whose Montreal offices were in the mile end. At the time – almost a decade ago – the area was definitely in the ‘coming’ stage of up and coming. Other than a few favourites, there wasn’t much variety for restaurants and cafes. That has all changed.
On a recent tuesday that I took off work to prolong a long weekend, Matt and I spent the morning walking up Saint Laurent to café Falco – to see what all the fuss was about. You see, this place is only open monday-friday during the day. Like a few other businesses in the area, they don’t need to be open on the weekends. With a couple thousand Ubisoft employees (average age of 28) down the block, needing caffeine to work long days designing video games, they are all set. Of course there are many other reasons why businesses are booming in the mile end, but Ubisoft definitely helped.
We each ordered a syphoned coffee and some toast with the homemade jam of the moment (apple). The coffee was good, though on the strong side but the highlight of our visit was the decor and atmosphere. Tucked into the warehouses, this place is not stumbled upon by accident but rather searched out like a treasure.
We will definitely need to find an occasion to go for lunch as I hear THAT is really their pièce de résistance.
Great writing as usual Em. That place is definitely full of atmosphere. Reminds me a bit like a science lab room ;)