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Canada’s Next Great Neighbourhoods1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | Itinerary | Home 
Beaubien Street, Montreal Local flavours have turned this strip of nouveau Rosemont into foodie central for the stroller set. By Ilana Weitzman 9:00 The popular favourite at indie bakery de Froment et de Sève is their mean maple butter croissant. Across the street, the banquettes of the Nouveau Canada diner fill up with hangover-nursing twentysomethings and tradesmen indulging in a more old-school breakfast. 11:00 At café Kajou joujouthèque, mums on mat leave converge over organic coffee and chocolate milk. With over 300 board games and a hobby horse out front, it’s like being in kindergarten all over again. 13:00 With the ridiculous number of foodie shops in four blocks, lunch is a picnic: Choose from apple and bacon sausages at saucissier William J. Walter, specialty oils at Fleur de Sel, cheeses at Les Fromages de Choix and prefab entrees at Les Petits Plats de Sophie. 15:00 Bocce ball is serious business at Molson Park, which makes for good viewing before the Sunday concerts at the bandstand. In the winter, families hit the rink under garlands of lights. 17:00 The Art Deco Cinéma Beaubien, the last neighbourhood cinema in the city, was saved by community cinephiles when it threatened to shut down in 2001. On the marquee: artier first-run French films you won’t likely find at Blockbuster. 19:00 Chef David Ferguson, who cut his teeth in the kitchens of Toqué! and Au Pied de Cochon, lives above his resto, Le Jolifou, with his sommelier partner, Hélène Brault. The best way to end the three-course meal (a bargain at $30 to $40): the three-spice crème brûlée. “We’re going to have to go back to that organic idea, when people didn’t separate business and community. There’s nothing high-tech about it, but it’s neighbourhoods like this where you can live, work and send the kids to school that are going to make the difference.” – David Ferguson, chef/owner of Le Jolifou
Saint-Roch, Quebec City Before there were megamalls, Saint-Roch was Quebec City’s shopping and business central. Now it’s back – both night and day. By Rémy Charest 9:00 Young video-gaming industry workers grab coffee and a pastry from the unassuming yet scrumptious bakery Le Croquembouche. 10:00 The most stylish shopping takes place across from humongous Église Saint-Roch, where cool dads and hip aunties can spoil the kids with toys from Benjo, Quebec City’s up-to-date answer to FAO Schwarz. 14:00 Art lovers head across Jardin de Saint-Roch to Méduse, an arts complex right on the border between downtown and uptown. Exhibits include everything from prints to multimedia installations, which can be pondered over at the in-house Café Abraham-Martin. 19:00 As you head for dinner at the sparsely elegant L’Utopie, where chef Stéphane Modat demonstrates an uncanny ability to amaze and surprise with every bite of his reinvented classics and carefully contrasted inventions, try not to bump into the young rock fans lining up in front of L’Impérial de Québec – a century-old theatre with live shows and musicals on the playbill. 1:00 Actors from nearby theatres finish a late, light dinner and head to the pool tables at Les Salons d’Edgar, a large, comfy pub where the close-knit, long-serving staff make you feel as though everyone knows your name. Nearby Boudoir Lounge is 100-percent “new” Saint-Roch with the requisite crowded dance floor. “There’s an actual neighbourhood life again. The people from uptown are coming downtown, like they used to in the heyday of the big department stores. And we get people from the offices in the area, visitors from outside. It’s an interesting mix.” – Marthe Hendriks, director of Baltazar Objets Urbains |
