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The Main Media Inc. 2026

✦ Built By Field Office
    1. Articles
    2. History Lesson

    The dining theatrics and dark history of Montreal's infamous restaurant Au Lutin qui Bouffe

    Fine French cuisine, tableside photo sessions with piglets, and a botched robbery that marked the beginning of an end.

    By J.P. KarwackiMarch 28, 2025 - Read time: 8 min
    The dining theatrics and dark history of Montreal's infamous restaurant Au Lutin qui BouffePhotograph: Collection du Centre d’histoire de Montréal. Don de Leon S. Warmski.

    Montreal's never been short on weird and/or wonderful dining destinations and experiences, but few in the city’s history have leaned into spectacle quite like Au Lutin qui Bouffe.

    Past its old-world façade, one would find a landmark of indulgence and eccentricity, a place where diners could savour a plate of tournedos Rossini while a tiny piglet was bottle-fed at the next table.

    Photograph: McCord Stewart Museum / Jean-Paul Cuerrier (1918-1997)

    But the whimsy of Au Lutin qui Bouffe's fine French cuisine and now-infamous piglet photography sessions would over time develop into a darker story of crime, ambition, and a tragic end—but together, these stories would cement the restaurant’s place in the city’s lore.

    Photograph: © Collection Pointe-à-Callière, collection Christian Paquin, 2013.030.011.333
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