Then behold! Caffé Art Java opened its pearly gates in 2005, introducing caffeine addicts to the glories of finely wrought espresso with fancy microfoamed milk patterns. Art Java has now been surpassed, and the new firmament’s stars include downtown’s superb and by now well-established Myriade, Mile End’s Caffè in Gamba and progeny Torréfacteur Saint-Henri, and the Plateau’s Névé and seed Flocon.

And so Myriade begat Le Couteau. Chris Capell started his pro barista career at Myriade, biding his time before finding the right location on the sunny side of Saint-Denis to open his own shop just over a month ago. Look for the terrasse and the pictorial sign of a knife.

Upon entering, I first noticed the low benches and tables. Sure, there are regular tables with spots to plug in your computer, but most of the seating is designed for actually interacting. Remember when going out for coffee meant talking with other people? You’d need to be Methuselah’s age to have attended London’s first coffeehouses in the mid-17th century, but they were intended as places for discourse and public interaction, not staring at small-screened gadgets. (Paris followed suit two decades later with its first coffeehouse.)

Capell uses beans from Burnaby, B.C.’s 49th Parallel and will introduce other roasters as business picks up. Pastries (including gluten-free brownies) and Camellia sinensis tea round out the offerings.

And, near Victoria Square, Névé begat Café Différance. Half owned by the Névé team, and managed and half owned by Daniel Alvarez, this smooth joint has yet to be fully discovered and appreciated by the Old Montreal work force.

Alvarez uses beans from the roasters Madcap and Barismo, offers tea, terrific brownies, and has all the good magazines you’d want to peruse on a counter by the wall. If you’ve no one to discourse with directly, turn to the latest issues of The New Yorker, Bomb, Maisonneuve, food mag Lucky Peach, Walrus or the Economist.

Différance offers coffee classes on weekends, check their website for details and a peek into the quirky affections of Alvarez, architecture and bicycles being an obvious love.

Capell believes Montreal has benefited from the relatively late start to serious coffee. Those who are opening now are doing so with consideration, not just jumping on a trend in a glutted market. Finally, this city is getting the coffee it deserves.

Le Couteau
4627 St-Denis; 514-940-0444
www.lecouteau.ca

Café Différance
449 Viger West; 514-419-5415
www.cafedifferance.ca

With Mount Royal burgeoning with fresh yellow-green and eating al fresco in my mind, I decided to try my own luck at Goosto, which took over the not-missed McDonald’s on the corner of Parc and Mont-Royal. It’s designed for either eating a modest meal in or taking food out.

Seeing as it’s perfectly situated for buying nibblies for mountain trekking, I was glad to see sensible options. Containers of nuts, tubs of hummus, chocolates. In general, the friendly staff emphasize healthy eating, and much of what’s available is made on the premises (barring sushi, for instance).

There’s an extensive juice fridge that boasts bottles with aloe or dragon fruit, or the lowly apple juice box (in 1 litre sizes too). Looks like Snapple got in on the acai craze when I wasn’t looking. More fun is the fresh juice bar, where I got a refreshing blend of strawberry-mint-basil, but considered the popular mango-passion fruit-guava.

Fare includes the likes of bagel with smoked salmon, fancy pizzas, lasagne, quiche with salad. There are attractive patisseries that aren’t as portable as plainer-looking muffins and croissants.

I sampled widely with my child companions. A broccoli soup was thin but summertime pleasant; a cold cucumber soup was odd. The salads are aspirational, with additions like sundried tomatoes, but one salad’s chicken was dry. A jumbo wrap’s chicken was fine, though, and plump with grilled and other veggies. The salmon brochette went down very well with my small gents, but the kid-intended veggie nuggets were more popular with me.

It would be terrific if they offered more environmentally friendly take-away food (could people bring their own containers to be filled on the spot?) and bumped up the easy snack options (perhaps some cut veg to go with the hummus?)

Only open a month, Goosto is still mountain-leaf green, and some details need finessing (like serving temperature). I suspect staff will be steadier on their feet soon, and I hope Goosto lives up to the potential of such a great locale.

Goosto
4500 Parc; 514-439-6004
Food for two: $10-$30

After checking out the shelf of groceries (Greek honey, pasta, herbs, etc.), you can eat at an appealing padded white banquette against a brick wall, or take out fresh or frozen food for home.

Tsatoumas makes eggplant dip, and a tzatziki with yogurt (not the easier sour cream) that she takes the time to drain so it’s thick in the right way. I tried moussaka, an appealingly balanced mix of eggplant, beef and a dense, supple topping of rich mashed potato. A stuffed pepper was fat with rice and a touch of meat, nicely spiced, simpler than most. The pastitsio, like moussaka with noodles, looks kid friendly, as I bet is the spanakopita (spinach pie).

Tsatoumas’ bestseller so far is her giant lima beans, which are surprisingly sweet and good, with some carrots and celery clinging to them in a tomatoey sauce. Her mixed vegetables are a tangy, murky, soft mix of mostly eggplant and zucchini.

Tsatoumas swears she’s the only one in town who makes chocolate-covered baklava, one of about a half-dozen types on display. I tried her traditional baklava, straight-up sweet and syrupy, and while I liked the nut taste of the pistachio turban baklava, I found it a bit flabby. A walnut-honey cake, called karidopita, gets better with age when the honey sets in, she said. It was curiously (and pleasantly) both dry and juicy at the same time, with a cinnamon lilt.

If you want ingredients to make a Greek salad at home, she’s sourced the best Kalamata olives she could find, and her favourite feta, made from 100 percent sheep’s milk by the Greek company Dodoni. When she let me smell Greek oregano that was freshly removed from a bouquet, I was transported to that dry, sunny Mediterranean hillside in my mind, goat bells tinkling in the distance.

Phone ahead of going (though weekday lunches seem stable). I had the misfortune of once showing up for take-out on possibly the first day Tsatoumas took off in two months. She’s working hard, and her effort is a boon to those who live and play in the neighbourhood.

Ilios
3922 St-Denis; 514-419-9994
Meal for two: $15-$30

Ellefsen is named for a dishy Norwegian sailor who jumped ship in the Baie des Ha! Ha! in 1885, struck by the beauty of the fjords. He spawned many little Ellefsens with local Exotipe Maltais, and this resto pays homage to the cheerful man and the flavours of Scandinavia.

Clearly the formula works. On a midday Monday, the place was packed with many people at tables with their laptops and a decent coffee, staring at their screens. I imagine the place gets more convivial at night, judging by the wine selection behind the bar.

My friend was waiting for me, sans glowing screen, but with hot coffee. We shared a salad of mixed greens and slivers of black radish topped with tasty marinated shrimp in a sundried tomato paste. A zippy dressing elevated the salad further, the whole ringed with a sweet drizzle of sherry vinegar reduction with notes of cardamom. This spice has been popular with Nords ever since the Vikings invaded Constantinople.

Now that I was alerted to cardamom, I could easily taste it in the Norwegian poutine. Thick, great fries were mixed with tender little meatballs, two-year-old cheddar and rich gravy. Another poutine features cod, which sounds peculiar but I suspect is worth trying.

Open-faced sandwiches, a.k.a. smorrebrod, are a staple here, as they are in Nordic countries. Although I know some northern heritage types who eat theirs with knife and fork, hands seem to be the regular modus operandi here.

The rye bread is sweetish, the toppings change daily, but you can count on choices like smooth gravlax, or guinea fowl with caramelized onions topped with little berries (messy but satisfying). We also had one with ratatouille that was a lively surprise of delicately diced veg, still firm and a bit sweet, on a thick, fluffy smear of goat cheese.

"It’s a happy place," my friend said. The sort you plan to go back to.

Café Ellefsen
414 St-Zotique East
Meal for two: $30-$50
www.cafeellefsen.com

The short menu listed tempting Korean noodles, a rice bowl, salad, soup (parsnip and Asian pear that day), but you have to ask about the sushi. When we did, a series of confusing exchanges were set off, to the effect of, "You can order sushi, but then we decide entirely what you get." I’m used to that with tasting menus, or if at the bar and chatting with the chef about sushi, but this tableside manner was a clumsy attempt to replicate that dialogue, and it put us off more than primed us.

Nonetheless, we managed to make our preferences known, and decided to follow with the surf ‘n’ turf for two. A long, pretty board showed up, laden with sushi. King clam had great tooth, crunchy almost. Horse mackerel isn’t so strong as regular mackerel, and here it was smooth, topped with ginger. The rich albacore tuna was decorated with bright, popping roe, and a leaf of cleansing shiso. Gorgeous slabs of Irish salmon were lightly flamed on top, and butterfish truly felt like butter in your mouth. All fish were stunningly fresh, subtle, true rarities in this day of cheap take-out sushi. The rice beds they were on were not too packed, not too chilled, not too vinegary, just right.

Park’s take on surf ‘n’ turf is novel. A juicy Blue Point oyster each bring us the ocean. Land arrives in the form of a dish of pulled pork shoulder, another of slivered veg, and a massive roasted marrowbone, along with a series of Boston lettuce leaves. After slurping down the perfectly shucked oysters, we rolled pork and veg in lettuce leaves, dabbing on some sweet hot sauce. Bone marrow was alternatively eaten solo, put in the rolls, and when it started to melt onto the plate, was sopped up with the meat. A dish of small floral pickles accompanied, made by Park as per his mother’s recipe.

Not cheap, all this – the latter dish for two was $65, and the sushi is steep. But the freshness and innovation is far above par. Let’s hope the rest of the elements that make for a great meal fall into place.

Park
378 Victoria, 514-750-7534
Dinner for two: $50-$140
www.facebook.com/ParkResto

This isn’t the typical trolley-service dim sum with smiling women pushing carts around the room. Instead, you order from a menu, which has advantages. The dishes come fresh, you relax instead of always jumping up.

But I was dismayed to see shark fin dumplings. The prized ingredient is usually obtained through a cruel and wasteful practice called finning, in which the fins are removed from sharks that are then thrown back in the water to die. Many communities are banning shark’s fin dishes – what a disappointment to find it here. Fortunately, there’s much more.

Deep-fried squid legs are a favourite of one small boy (though he rarely wavers from chicken and rice otherwise). Here they’re not battered, but the munchkin ploughed through the plate. The other small boy prefers shrimp, and lots of it, so we indulged in plenty of rice noodle rolls stuffed with the crustacean. The small set were also game to try the barbecue pork (with a pleasant bite of ginger) in a half round of deliciously flaky golden pastry.

Chunks of beef tendon were more adult, with a genuinely spicy note. Mango-shrimp rolls were novel. Cristal’s got a touch with wrappers. Siu mai came in delicate pockets, were meaty and prettily topped with caviar. The rice coverings on plump seafood dumplings gleamed and were a good thinness. The deep-fried wrappers around pork or pungent turnip shattered beautifully and not greasily.

Egg tarts I usually avoid, but theirs are head-and-shoulders above the average, with a sweet soft centre. I loved the dried egg yolk in flaky pastry triangles too. A few things were bland. Corn and shrimp cakes didn’t cut it, even with the kids. My mate made an inadvertent pun when he declared the chicken feet didn’t stand out. A rice noodle dish was too greasy, although the beef within was spiced nicely (including cinnamon). Service was spotty. We were offered glasses of water eventually, but they never actually materialized. And prices are a notch high.

But I’d return very happily, particularly if shark’s fin were removed from the menu.

Le Cristal Chinois
998 St-Laurent, 6th floor (Swatow Plaza)
Dim sum: $20+ per person
www.lecristalchinois.com

And then there are two chefs (previously at Laloux), Seth Gabrielse and Michelle Marek, who think, explore, learn and create on the plate. Each week from Wednesday to Saturday, on the third floor, they offer a brand-new simple menu of five dishes, including a salad, perhaps a terrine, or tartine (open-faced sandwich), always a dessert.

The spot is perfect for a pre-show snack, meal or glass of interesting wine. Just walking into the modern building is exciting. Going up the perforated concrete stairs makes me feel as though I’m walking onto stars, as the lights from below shine through the small holes. The resto takes up much of the third floor, flanking the airy stairwell, and is wide open with lots of high tables and stools. The low-walled kitchen is completely on view as part of the room, which makes the potentially cool space feel intimate and friendly. Menus are at the tables, but go up to the bar to order and pay.

Frankly, I’ve found the easiest thing is to just order one of everything and split it with a date. My first time I didn’t take notes since I was just out for a meal with my swain. But I fondly remember a Belgian waterzooi soup with fish, and even more fondly a chocolate panforte – a flourless Italian flatcake – for dessert.

Recently, their salad was of Boston lettuce and watercress with deep orange and nutty mimolette cheese. The lovely vinaigrette was sweet and tart all at once. A tasty slice of chunky guinea fowl terrine was accented with a chutney plump with Corinth raisins and coriander seed, among other spices.

Two fish quenelles were as ethereal as a dream, fluffy little torpedoes of fishy buttery goodness. A pair of perfect large shrimp on top, the dish was a pleasure, and the priciest at $12 (most are $6 to $8). We finished with a gorgeous pear tarte Tatin, glossy and deep brown.

I love that each week is a surprise. Too bad I missed the smoked bone marrow tartine, and February’s Japanese isakaya menu sounded like such fun, but I have faith in the menus to come.

SAT Foodlab
1201 St-Laurent; 514-844-2033
Meal for two, not including wine/tax/tip: approx. $50
www.sat.qc.ca/foodlab

Inside, rural kitsch has taken over the Scena dining room. An enormous stuffed moose head presides over the rows of communal tables. Above are clusters of grandmotherly crocheted lampshades dangling from the ceiling like keys from a janitor’s belt. A chill-out corner has long wooden benches plus a few hammock chairs for good measure. The back wall is clad with a fairytale forest image, spooky spindly pre-dawn trees and plaid-clad bodies with animal heads, like a Québécois Into the Woods production.

Catering to the urban palate this year is Martin Juneau, who used to be the chef at La Montée de lait, Newtown and now Pastaga. He devised a menu that could be served to over a hundred at once, starting with pulled pork in a small bun, a sort of salmon creton, and smoked bison slices, which was by far my favourite.

Then came duck bouillon (intense, but not quite ducky enough somehow) poured over wagon wheel pasta. On the side were lovely homemade duck-fat soda crackers. This was followed by a pot of white beans stewed with molasses, with beautiful squares of fatty pork belly with crispy skin. Slices of slightly bland blood pudding tart were also offered, as well as roasted parsnips and carrots.

A shot of hot chocolate topped with mint whipped cream created a Norman hole to make room for the dessert trio of a tasty whippet cookie, a not-mapley-enough doughnut hole and an intriguing iced nougat topped with plumped raisins and candied orange peel.

The setting is great, and fulfils that itch to be transported somewhere new, but I feel Juneau’s cooking didn’t go quite far enough. The please-all mass format’s constraints probably made it tough for him to consistently shine as I know he can. But for the price, it’s fair.

I walked out into the dark night, to a long, long train rumbling and creaking and squeaking by in front of me. The dome of the Marché Bonsecours was lit up, and I was reminded of the romance and vitality of Montreal as a port city. A treat of an ending to the night.

La Cabane
Scena, Jacques-Cartier Quay; 514-288-0914
Price per adult meal, not including tax or tip: $59
www.lacabane.ca

Poutineville started in Rosemont, but the one I visited took over the space formerly known as Le Porto in the Village. The walls are deep red, though beer signs indicate this is no longer the European bistro it once was. There are enough crystals hanging from the ceiling lamps to qualify them as chandeliers, and overall it’s a welcoming space – to sports fans who’ll situate themselves near the TV, to people on a casual date, to small kids who can avail themselves of highchairs and the reasonable and appealing kids menu.

So how are the French fries, the foundation of all poutine? At our table, both the small fry and the hot potato in my life approved. Thick cut, skin on and evident, crisp but not overly so (a "mess" does need to happen, after all it’s the original meaning of the word "poutine").

Though there are combo suggestions, we styled our own. My not-too grosse patate husband topped his poutine with triple grade AAA steak, roasted red pepper, mushrooms, soft goat cheese and three pepper sauce. Although he could’ve done with more of the tasty meat, everything else was just the right combo and blend for him.

I chose sweet potato fries (the only potato option they don’t hand cut on the premises), with brie, onions, green peppers and a red wine sauce. The fries retained their shape and crisp beautifully (where not too sauced), a rarity with sweet potatoes. The brie and onions were particularly good together.

But Poutineville does serve more than just pooters. There are burgers, sandwiches and appetizers. For instance, we also shared meaty chicken wings and a bounteous warm salad with spinach, goat cheese and various marinated eggplant and mushrooms. Although a bit vinegary and spicy for a salad, it felt good to get heaping amounts of greens in a place that also offers a "Crise cardiaque" – five pounds of artery clogging fries, meats and cheeses plus some veggies. Don’t worry, you’re allowed to share. And chances are you’ll skip dessert.

Poutineville
1365 Ontario East; 514-419-5444
1384 Beaubien East; 514-544-8800
Meal for two: $30-$45
www.poutineville.com

Cava, like Milos, that other high-end Greek place down the street owned by Costas Spiliadis, has a great lunch deal. Twenty dollars and 12 cents (just like the year) gets you a three-course escape to good living. All is prettily presented, the staff cheerful and professional. And if you want to splurge on à la carte steaks, look to the one dark back corner. Behind glass are slowly aging chunks of meat, waiting for the right customer to beckon them over to the table.

I went with a friend who’s spittle-high in toddlers and babies these days. All mothers of young kids could use an opportunity to go beyond the usual mode of mothers-who-munch to engage in the game of ladies-who-lunch.

I opened and muchly sated my appetite with a holy trinity of dips, placed and garnished in a row on a rectangular plate. There was a faintly fishy taramosalata, more beige than the usual suspect bright pink; a very dense, potato skordalia, garlicky and sharp (perhaps too much so that day); a tyrokafteri of feta with red pepper that boasted a definite spicy bite.

My friend started off with a perfectly grilled squid the size of a child’s fist that oozed gooey cheese. A simple but satisfying tangle of greens beside had me thinking of gardens.

For her main, my slowly relaxing mother friend had the soutzoukakia, torpedo-shaped meatballs that originated in the ancient Turkish city of Smyrna, cinnamony and sweet, topped with a tangy and orange-red tomato sauce gently spiced with cumin. The mix of plain and wild rice it came with didn’t do any favours to the dish, as the grains’ textures were too disparate.

More reliable as an accompaniment were the fries that came with my meal – thick cut, golden, dusted with oregano. My lamb chops were a tad further done than rosy, but the flavour was delicious. Tender, juicy and salty in all the right ways. Next time, I may upgrade my meat experience for $12 to the filet mignon option, even though I’m more of a rib eye gal.

For dessert, we chose dishes of ice cream. Not that we’re inherently against fruit, the other option, but we couldn’t resist the unusual flavours on offer. The baklava one has crushed bits of walnut baklava throughout, a novel way to eat the multilayered pastry. Mixing what could possibly be my two favourite desserts – ice cream and baklava – is a sure-fire way to guarantee my fealty. The other ice cream was the startling kaimaki, a kind of resin, or mastic. We’re used to finding the piny taste in the Greek wine retsina. (Long ago the tree sap was used to seal clay jugs of wine. Though no longer necessary, enough people had a taste for the stuff to ensure that resinous hooch continues.) In ice cream, the kaimaki is a treat, mild and honeyed.

The lunch odyssey over, we returned to our regular worlds, fortified by the good meal. The midday special is a superb way to enjoy a place that would be too much of a splurge for supper.

Cava
5551 Parc; 514-273-7772
Lunch for two, not including tax, tip, wine: $40.24
www.cavarestaurantmontreal.com