Beacoup charm in Montreal

Author: By William A. Davis, Globe Staff

Date: SUNDAY, May 11, 1997

Page: M1

Section: Travel

Located on the lower slope of Mount Royal, the hill that gives Montreal its name, the plateau neighborhood is roughly bounded by St. Laurent Boulevard to the south and La Fontaine Park to the north, Rue Sherbrooke to the east, and Laurier Avenue to the west.

Walking down Boulevard St. Laurent, the traditional dividing line between the largely English-speaking west side of the city and the mostly Francophone east side, I heard conversations in both languages, with French predominating. But I also caught snatches of Portuguese, Greek, Italian, Arabic, Cantonese, Yiddish, and Russian.

This was once the heart of Montreal's Jewish quarter, a neighborhood celebrated in the wryly humorous novels of Mordechai Richler, the noted Montreal writer who grew up here in the 1950s. The Jewish community is no longer centered on St. Laurent, but some of the Eastern European immigrant-era flavor remains, notably at Schwartz's Montreal Hebrew Delicatessen.

A kosher deli -- a sign in French defines it as a Charcuterie Hebraique -- Schwartz's, at 3895 St. Laurent, has a reputation for serving the thickest and tastiest smoked meatsandwiches in the city. Small, unpretentious, and redolent of kosher pickle, Schwartz's has a devoted clientele, and is usually jammed, a line of would-be noshers often stretching out into the street.

Home to generations of Quebecois blue-collar and middle-class families, the plateau has also been a haven for successive waves of immigrants. If I hadn't been in the mood for smoked meat, I could just as easily have lunched on polenta, bacalao, shish kebab, borscht, or couscous at one of the plateau's numerous ethnic restaurants, most of which in summer either open their fronts to the street or have sidewalk terraces.

Immigrants have also had a visual as well as gustatory impact on the plateau that make it a delight to wander through. Streets lined with once dour-looking Victorian row houses have been brightened in recent years by generous applications of sunny Mediterranean red, yellow, and purple paint; wrought iron balconies have been exuberantly planted with pots of flowers and shrubs.

The plateau has seen a lot of cultural and social gentrification in the last decade or so. Some of Montreal's best restaurants and most interesting shopping can now be found here, and many writers, artists, musicians, filmmakers, and other cultural movers and shakers live in the district and hang out in its Left Bank-like cafes. It's a neighborhood of nuances and small communities within larger ones.

Although getting trendy, St. Laurent still has the bustling, no-nonsense feeling of an immigrant shopping street. However, Rue St. Denis, 10 short blocks to the north, is a Montreal version of Boston's Newbury Street. Mansard-roofed houses, built as residences at the end of the last century by the French-speaking bourgeoisie, now house upscale restaurants, cafes, boutiques, art galleries, specialty shops, and French-language bookstores. A stylish, fashionable street, Rue St. Denis attests to the sophisticated tastes and growing economic power of Francophone Montreal.

One can dine elegantly and well but not necessarily expensively on St. Denis. Toque at 3842 St. Denis, for instance, is a small restaurant with an elegantly understated decor and an innovative fusion cuisine menu that local foodies speak of with awe. Dinner with wine for a couple runs about $80 to $100 US.

But Cactus at 4461 St. Denis is a good Mexican restaurant with a pleasant sidewalk cafe and moderate prices. And the Galaxie Diner at 4801 St. Denis is the real thing: a gleaming 1950s stainless-steel diner with a basic menu and prices to match.

A pleasant way to get from St. Laurent to St. Denis is to walk down Rue Prince Arthur -- a five-block-long pedestrian way lined with restaurants (mostly Greek) and sidewalk cafes -- and across Square St. Louis. A hippie hangout in the 1960s, Prince Arthur remains a popular venue for street musicians, performers, crafts vendors, and bilingual panhandlers.

An attractive park, one of several on the plateau, Square St. Louis is open to St. Denis on the north and rimmed with elegant, century-old stone buildings on the other three sides. Rue Laval, which runs along the square's south side, boasts some of the plateau's grandest old mansions.

Laval was one of the first streets in the neighborhood to be gentrified. Over the years, starting in the '60s, Second Empire-style mansions that had been converted into rooming houses were one by one restored and in most cases turned into private homes again. However, the ground floor of one such splendid home at the corner of Laval and Avenue Des Pins is now occupied by Laloux, a pleasant and moderately priced Parisian-style bistro specializing in nouvelle cuisine.

Many of Quebec's best-known artists, writers, and academics have lived and worked on Rue Laval. The Quebec Writers Union has its office in one side of an imposing double house at 3492 Laval that once belonged to director Claude Jutra (``My Uncle Antoine''), the first Quebec filmmaker to gain an international reputation. The other half of the building, 3496 Laval, is occupied by Aux Portes de la Nuit, an exceptionally pleasant Bed and Breakfast place in a lovingly restored 1880s mansion.

La Fontaine Park, largest of the plateau's ``green lungs,'' has an ornamental lake and an outdoor theater used in summer for plays and concerts. One of the plateau's attractions to athletic types is the fact that, in contrast to much of Montreal, this part of the city is flat -- and ideal for bicycling.

Two of the city's longest bicycle paths, running east-west along Rue Rachel and north-south on Rue Brebeuf, intersect at La Fontaine Park. Strategically located at the intersection of the bike paths is La Maison des Cyclistes, which doesn't sell or rent bikes but offers cyclists maps, clothing, accessories, espresso, and companionship.

Each of the plateau's main streets has a distinctive look and feel. Rue Duluh, for example, which runs from St. Laurent to La Fontaine Park, has wide sidewalks planted with pine trees, and is lined with small, unassuming, and mostly inexpensive ethnic restaurants (dinners are typically in the $10-$15 range), alternating with interesting-looking little shops dealing in antique furniture, old lamps, and stained glass.

However, Montrealers say the street that has best retained its funky old neighborhood character is Mont Royal Avenue, which runs in a straight line across the plateau and out the other side. As you walk down the avenue from St. Laurent, the Olympic Stadium's curiously shaped observation tower -- from a distance it looks like the neck of a ``Jurassic Park'' dinosaur -- looms dramatically on the eastern horizon.

Mont Royal Avenue possesses such a strong a sense of identity that it has its own association, which promotes the neighborhood and organizes special events. The biggest such event is the annual White Nights Street Festival in mid-June, when it's still light, or ``white,'' well into the evening. To kick off this year's festival, June 12-15, some 80 local artists will paint all night and turn a mile-long stretch of the avenue into a work of art.

Mont Royal was the main shopping street for the plateau's French-speaking working class in the old days and hasn't forgotten it. Long-established groceries, bakeries, butcher shops, and clothing stores still share Mont Royal with gift shops, second-hand bookstores, stylish cafes, and restaurants offering new age cuisine.

Old-time cuisine is alive and well at La Binerie at 367 Mont Royal, an eatery beloved by newcomers and old plateau residents alike. A narrow lunch counter that bears an uncanny resemblance to The Tasty in Harvard Square, La Binerie scorns nouvelle cuisine and serves traditional stick-to-the-ribs old Quebec dishes such as pork pie, beans baked in lard, and maple sugar cream pies. ``The Alley Cat,'' a novel about life on the plateau from the point of view of La Binerie's resident feline, is considered a Montreal classic.

Among the particularly interesting specialty shops on the avenue are L'Aromate at number 1106, which sells aromatic herbs, flowers, oils, and spices; and Far Felu (the name translates as ``a little crazy''), which carries colorful, mostly handmade and slightly kooky gift items.

Popular Mont Royal cafes include Cafe El Dorado at number 921, a hangout for beautiful people that is noted for its designer decor and luscious desserts. There is also the wonderfully named Porte Disparu -- it means ``reported missing'' -- at No. 957.

A cafe bistro, Porte Disparu caters to the plateau's many literary, arty, and academic but not particularly affluent residents. Paintings by neighborhood artists decorate the walls. There are shelves of books to read, chessboards available, and a children's play area in one corner. Lingering is expected and encouraged.

After a day and a half of exploring the plateau on foot, I decided a break was in order. So, I sat down at a table in Porte Disparu, ordered a cappuccino, and went missing. It felt great.

Starting next month, Tourisme Plateau Mont-Royal will staff an information kiosk at the entrance to the Mount Royal Metro station with maps and a free brochure describing the plateau's main attractions. Walking tours of the neighborhood, led by bilingual guides, will be offered through summer, leaving from the information kiosk. For information, call Tourisme Plateau Mont-Royal at (514) 848-0099.

Mont Royal Avenue, an as yet only lightly (but interestingly) gentrified shopping street, will be the scene of one of the plateau's liveliest summer events: The White Nights festival, June 12-15. During the arts-oriented street festival, a team of 80 local artists will turn a mile-long stretch of the avenue into a giant painting. For information, call the Mont Royal Avenue Association at (514) 522-3797.

The plateau is best explored on foot or by bicycle. Two of Montreal's major bike paths traverse the plateau, intersecting at La Fontaine Park. Located at the intersection, at the corner of Rue Rachel and Rue Brebeuf, is La Maison des Cyclistes, a cyclists' hangout (it has a coffee bar) with tour maps, biking information, and accessories.

High Victorian architecture, often a blend of British and French period styles, is one of the plateau's attractions. A number of late-19th-century homes are now bed-and-breakfast inns, typically charging $50-$60 US a night for a double room with breakfast.

A personal B & B favorite is Aux Portes de la Nuit (call 514-848-0833) at 3496 Laval Avenue on St. Louis Square, an attractive small park. This a lovingly restored and maintained Victorian mansion, a short walk from some of the best cafes, restaurants, and shopping on the plateau. Owners Chantal and Jean Rousseau -- he is a physics professor and former concert pianist who often plays for guests -- are welcoming, knowledgeable, and helpful.

A number of plateau B & Bs, most in Victorian buildings, are listed in the guidebook ``Affordable Bed & Breakfasts in Quebec'' (Ulysses). There is also a plateau B & B reservation service, Hebergement Touristique du Plateau Mont-Royal. Call (800) 597-0597, Operator 28.

For general information about Montreal, call the city's Tourist Information Center at (800) 363-7777.