Café Tricycle, Montreal
A café celebrating Quebec.
Tucked off of Avenue Mont-Royal on Rue de la Roche, Café Tricycle is the Plateau’s newest third-wave coffee stop—but it offers more than just perfect almond milk lattes. Designed to emphasize the products of Quebec’s small-scale creators, as well as be an ideal spot to spend time with a drink or snack, partners (in business and love) Melanie Caron-Brassard and Olivier Rhême opened the minimalist “café etc.” in November of 2017. The uniquely Québécois community space has taken off in popularity since.
Café Tricycle’s welcoming energy is perceptible immediately upon entry. Touches of distressed wood decor complement fresh white walls, while floor-to-ceiling front windows keep the serene space naturally well-lit. The drink menu is spelled out on a wall out of wooden blocks, each letter artfully drawn by Caron-Brassard herself. Its backyard space, which opens in the summer, provides room for socializing and movement for visitors of all ages.
The uniquely Québécois community space has taken off in popularity since it opened in November of 2017.
The “etc.” in Tricycle’s “café etc.” refers to its duality of purpose; in addition to serving a menu of coffees and pastries, the shop sells a diverse stock of local goods and provides a meeting space for community-led workshops. Lining one of Tricycle’s white walls are several antique wooden shelves nestled with jars of locally-made jams and relishes, organic lotions, and handmade pottery, among other crafts.
Each item in Tricycle’s stock of goods makes for a truly authentic Québécois gift for family and friends out-of-province. Caron-Brassard and Rhême curated the collection of goods as a way to empower local artisans and celebrate provincial culture. “The main focus was to partner with small producers and just to put Quebec products up front,” Caron-Brassard says. “It’s really fun, because we talked to everyone that [made] the products, and they are so proud of what they made,” Rhême says.
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