Fletchers Espace Culinaire

Fletchers is technically a museum café, but write it off at your own risk. From the mind of food historian Kat Romanow, this eatery within the Museum of Jewish Montreal features the history of Judaism on a plate.

Montreal has been home to a thriving Jewish community since the 18th century. Many settled in the Mile End neighborhood, where what is now called Jeanne-Mance Park sits at the foot of Mont Royal itself. For centuries, however, the park was known as Fletchers Field, a popular spot for the city's Jewish community to gather, socialize, and picnic. The café, just down the street, now carries that torch.

The menu itself curates Jewish cuisine from the last several millennia. The Middle East is represented with rosewater chai and massafan cookies, the Mediterranean with a halloumi tartine and za'atar fried eggs, and North Africa with harissa mayo atop breakfast sandwiches.

Of course, Jewish staples take center stage, but not without regional twists. A Morrocan-style bagel board comes with preserved lemon cream cheese and ras-el hanout gravlax. Gefilte fish appears twice on the breakfast menu, in club sandwich and taco form. A show-stopping chocolate babka french toast winks toward Lebanon with pomegranate molasses and candied pistachios.

The sleekly designed and sunny space also hosts pop-up dinners, guest lectures, cooking classes, and a brunch series featuring live klezmer. Grab a bagel board at this rare spot on a weekend morning for a taste of Jewish history.

Update as of July 2022: The Jewish Museum (and presumably Fletchers Espace Culinaire along with it) is temporarily closed for its move to a new location in Mile-Ex.