As we're writing this, it's been just over a week since spring started, and yet it's snowing outside. It'll no doubt be gone soon, but we're over these last few jagged fingernails of winter clinging to the edge of the city. We want warmth, we want fun, and we want something to get our minds off of Airbnbs and into better vibes.

Leonard Cohen once wrote: In Montreal spring is like an autopsy. Everyone wants to see the inside of the frozen mammoth. Girls rip off their sleeves and the flesh is sweet and white, like wood under green bark. From the streets a sexual manifesto rises like an inflating tire, “the winter has not killed us again!”

It won't and can't always be rosy in Montreal, but we have to enjoy the good times when they're here: Some cool pop-ups at restaurants, new bars and attractions are opening, there's art both edgy and introspective to enrich us, there are locals trying to revive parties that date back 1,000 years...

This is a time to be alive. Let's live it up.

Weekend events you don’t want to miss

Catch up on what's happening during the first weekend of spring.

If you know something we should know, reach out to us on Instagram or by email.

What you need to know

ICYMI: A weekly round-up of the latest local news, from food and entertainment to current affairs and more.

It's going to be the bee's knees

Some of the past week's biggest news was the announced reopening of Le 9e, a restaurant located on the ninth floor of downtown's Eaton Centre, at the end of 2023. Closed for almost a quarter of a century, its 1930s art deco architecture achieved heritage status. Here's the best scoop we found. (Radio-Canada)

Le restaurant Le 9e de l’ancien magasin Eaton, à Montréal, rouvrira ses portes

L’établissement avait fermé en 1999 lors de la faillite de la célèbre chaîne de magasins de vente au détail.

Radio-CanadaPhilippe-Antoine Saulnier

Parting the sea of orange cones

Construction sites in Montreal are so ubiquitous that something feels off if a city street doesn't have at least one bright orange cylinder kicking around somewhere. With issues ranging from contractors setting up fluorescent displays long before they even begin work to creating obstacles for local businesses, there are a lot of ideas in play to manage our unofficial mascot. (La Presse)

Travaux routiers | Comment en finir avec les cônes orange inutiles

Quiconque passe par Montréal doit contourner d’innombrables chantiers et leurs cônes orange. Ces symboles d’une ville en perpétuel chantier n’ont pourtant rien d’une fatalité, soutiennent des experts, militants, entrepreneurs et élus. À la veille du Sommet sur les chantiers dans la métropole, La Pre…

La PresseHenri Ouellette-Vézina

Shootin' pool and drinkin' glou-glou

Put three wine nerds together in an informal back alley-style spot, throw in a billiards table with limited quantity bottles from a cellar, and you’ve got Le Plongeoir: A new Montreal dive-inspired wine bar in the Mile End. (The Main)

New Wine Dive Bar Le Plongeoir Arrives on the Mile End Scene

Mile End’s new wine dive bar Le Plongeoir has arrived to shoot pool and drink that glou-glou.

The MainJP Karwacki

These are the last straws

As of March 28, Montreal's single-use plastic ban comes into effect. Targeting items used to package or consume food items that are distributed individually and intended to be used only once or for a short time before being discarded, thousands of businesses are expected to see some growing pains. (CBC Montreal)

Montreal restaurants prepare for single-use plastic ban that takes effect next week | CBC News

Montreal’s single-use plastic ban targets items used to package or consume a food item, distributed individually and intended to be used only once or for a short time before being discarded.

CBC

Bringing back a 1,000-year-old holiday: La Mi-Carême

Montreal is among three cities bringing back a centuries-old celebration similar to Newfoundland's mummering where you dress up until you're unrecognizable to your neighbours, going from house to house to collect food and booze before everyone ends up meeting somewhere to reveal who they are. (Le Devoir)

La tradition pluricentenaire de la Mi-Carême renaît de ses cendres

Montréal, Rimouski et Bécancour renouent avec cette vieille fête tombée en désuétude.

Le DevoirJean-Louis Bordeleau

Psssst. Hey, kid. Want a ride?

Seems like Montreal-Trudeau International Airport can't catch a break: Following news of long lines and processing times, the number of illegal taxis has exploded at in recent months with nearly 400 offenses including harassing drivers, extortion attempts, and a whole lot of chaotic parking in an already chaotic park and fly. (La Presse)

Taxis « illégaux » à l’aéroport | À Montréal comme au Far West

Le nombre de taxis « illégaux » a explosé à l’aéroport Montréal-Trudeau au cours des derniers mois. Chauffeurs harcelants, au moins une tentative d’extorsion, stationnement chaotique : près de 400 infractions ont été répertoriées depuis janvier. L’autorité aéroportuaire s’inquiète pour la sécurité d…

La PresseMaxime Bergeron

Montreal churches conduct illegal conversion therapy

Canadian law prohibited conversion therapy one year ago, but several churches in the city are carrying them out. In this piece of investigative reporting, the churches said they either weren't aware of the law change, or they denied it happening under their steeples outright—the journalists say otherwise. (Journal Métro)

Infiltration: des églises de Montréal font des thérapies de conversion illégales

ENQUÊTE - Des églises offrent des thérapies de conversion pour les personnes LGBTQ+ à Montréal. Des journalistes de Métro ont enquêté sur ces églises en prétendant vouloir changer d’orientation sexuelle et ont obtenu l’une de ces thérapies qui s’apparentent à un exorcisme.

Journal MétroQuentin Dufranne

Showtime for no-shows

According to the Association Restauration Québec (ARQ), no-shows are on the rise in the province, and losses can climb up to $50,000 because of unfilled seats, the hired staff that has to be paid, and/or food purchased for menus that go uneaten. The solution? Imposing penalties. (CTV News)

Quebec restaurateurs say the ‘no-show’ phenomenon is getting worse

Restaurateurs in Quebec are getting stood up more often. Customers who don’t honour their reservations cause restaurants to miss out on nearly $50,000 in revenue per establishment on average, according to an estimate by the Quebec Restaurant Association (ARQ).

CTV News

Shitting pretty (yeah, we went there)

Herein lies two Gazette journalists' journey to find Montreal's "most audacious and/or most memorable restaurant and bar restrooms", with some of the most "catchy" featured for being striking, serene, or just plain "quirky". These are their five favourites, plus five runners-up. We're surprised Four Seasons, Maison Alcan, and New City Gas didn't make the cut. (Montreal Gazette)

Sitting pretty: A Gazette guide to Montreal’s coolest bathrooms

Looking for a royal flush? Take a look at this unofficial top 5 list of places to go.

Montreal GazetteBill Brownstein

Spud hooch and garbage collecting in Centre-Sud

In this pseudo-scientific allegory, graphic novelist turned filmmaker Richard Suicide animates the chaotic world of his book Chroniques du Centre-Sud, where a writer finds inspiration in observing his neighbour Piton and his navigations of poverty with some incredible ingenuity. (NFB)

Tweets of the Week

The best local moments this week from out of the Blue:

That wraps up this week's edition. We’ll be back with more curiosities, local stories, and events to discover next week.

And if ever you catch something we should know, reach out to us on Instagram.