The Bulletin: Springtime is an age-defying beauty hack in Montreal [Issue #73]

The Bulletin is a collection of what's happened, what’s happening, and what’s to come in and around Montreal.

The Main

April 18, 2024- Read time: 9 min

Mount Royal Park's Kondiaronk Belvedere: Perfect for spring. | Photograph: @jfsavaria / Tourisme Montréal

We get older, but springtime in the city makes it look like it stays the same age.

Matthew Mcconaughey Alright GIF - Matthew Mcconaughey Alright Dazed GIFs

Of Montreal's Springtime Is the Season ends with this little ditty that goes something like:

"The springtime is the season where everyone's a friend / Loneliness and desperation both come to an end / No matter how you died through winter, in spring you're born again / Your life might not be going good but spring helps you to pretend / It helps you pretend."

That's capturing the current vibes nicely, where everything seems to be slowly coming back to life around town. You know, flowers blooming and stuff. Lots (and we mean LOTS) of events and openings, and we haven't even begun to think about summer.

Legault may still not know the price of a 4 1/2 in Montreal and turkeys may be breaking into senior's residences, but here in Montreal, things are just a little less exhausting and a bit more encouraging.

Go on, scroll: You'll see what we mean.

Activities, parties, points of interest, art exhibitions, you name it: These are the weekend events you don't want to miss.

Thursday

Les Grands Ballets Canadiens presents the dual choreographic performance Carmina Burana by the talented Romanian choreographer Edward Clug and Jeunehomme by Uwe Scholz with choir and orchestra.
A selection of works from the Collection Majudia, including artworks by more than 500 Canadian and international artists, entitled Chimeria is on now at Arsenal art contemporain.

Friday

The JIA Foundation has the pleasure of inviting you to its Reflection Exhibition on Chinatown House, and a community celebration for this cultural space.
You ever been out to Smoke Meat Pete in L'Île-Perrot? Sure you have. But have you ever been out to Smoke Meat Pete when blues musicians take the stage?

Saturday

Montreal's largest indie market, Collectif Créatif MTL, is celebrating its 10th anniversary with a huge Spring Market featuring over 100 unique local brands.
Cinema Moderne is screening the Big Lebowski, and—of course—they'll be serving White Russian cocktails for $10 at their café-bar. If you miss out, it'll happen again on April 24th. The Dude abides.

Sunday

L'Affichiste is getting bubbly with a Prosecco Sunday where you can get sauced while you're shopping for vintage posters.
The MAC's new exhibition, femmes volcans forêts torrents, features nine women artists currently living in Québec with visually rich works evoking investigated landscapes and territories.
One of Canada’s most renowned living artists, Winnipeg artist Wanda Koop's exhibition WHO OWNS THE MOON is on now at the MMFA.

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A blurry and beautiful look inside Sans Soleil, the bar below Chinatown's Fleurs et Cadeaux. | Photograph: @fleurs_cadeaux / Instagram

WHAT TO EAT & DRINK IN AND AROUND MONTREAL

Scope the latest restaurant openings, recommendations on where to eat, plus new menus, old classics, and everything in between.

Big news of the week: Pullman has announced that it will be closing after 20 years in the wine bar business—their last night of service will be May 18.
Bar Wills is holding a no-reservation event for eating snow crab and drinkin' riesling on April 21.
Poincaré Chinatown is hosting a big beer face-off for lagers on April 20 between four different brews.
Samy Benabed and Étienne Prud’homme from @auberge.saintmathieu will be at Candide on April 24th and 25th preparing a 5-course tasting menu.
Plaza Saint-Hubert's got a new restaurant for cheap drinks and hearty French eats, Double Menton et Saucisson, and their grand opening is tonight.
On April 20, Groovy and Chill invites you to the 420 edition of their Boozy brunch at @le180g in collaboration @mamereenfeu.
Buboy and local bakery 5th Floor Montreal are doing a collab on April 20 and 21, first come and first served.
Just a few tables are left: Joe Beef founder David McMillan cooks up a festive menu at Bistro La Franquette to mark the arrival of spring on April 21 with whole roast organic chicken with all the fixings and dessert, of course.
Brooklyn’s iconic restaurant The Four Horsemen is coming to Gia Vin & Grill for two nights, and they'll be serving up all the greatest hits on April 21 & 22.
Following its first spot downtown, Côte-des-Neiges is now the home to the second DONDONYA location—go grab some tonkatsu sandos, Japanese curry, black tea panacotta and more if you're around.
Can you believe it's been two years already at Paradiso Pasta? Go grab some seats while they're still available at Bar-St-Denis on April 29.
The Old Port's Hotel St-Paul has a new resident restaurant that has a luxury take on Japanese cuisine: YUBARI.

Some Caribbean punch 🍹

We catch up with chef Mike Lafaille following his restaurant Kwizinn's move to Old Montreal to talk about creating gastronomy that’s never been seen before in the city, ambitions, being a Black restaurateur, and his latest local obsessions. (The Main)

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Here, you'll find a weekly round-up of the latest local news, from entertainment to current affairs and more.

Born a hustler

Getting to know the antique dealer, builder, artist, designer, entrepreneur, high school dropout and self-described lover of life Emmanuel Hébert—and the 6,500-square-foot hybrid residence-showroom, Manoir Blackswan, he calls home. (The Main)

Warmer winds of change

2024 was one to forget for most of Quebec's winter traditions. El Niño’s heat brought an premature end to winter, but an unusual start to the maple syrup season in Quebec—and it may mean big shifts for the industry in the years to come. (The Main)

This new nautical city

When we think of Montreal, we might think of festivals or the mountain—not swimming in open waters. This piece looks at the nearly sixty places where the water is clean enough for swimming, and wonders what the metropolis might look like if these sites were exploited. (24 Heures)

Crime pays, plus shipping and handling

Between mid-December and the end of March, police inspected about 400 shipping containers at the Port of Montreal and found nearly 600 stolen vehicles. How has Canada’s second-largest port become a key transport hub for these exports? (CTV News Montreal)

The fire that's going out

The Plante administration indicated Tuesday that it will present a regulation by the end of the year to regulate the use of wood-fired ovens, particularly those in pizzerias and bagel workshops. (La Presse)

Here we (could) go again

Following a surge in popularity in the polls, Parti Québécois Leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon reiterated his pledge for a third referendum on independence should his party take power in the next election. (CBC Montreal)

Escaping support

Montreal's creating a task force to handle homelessness, and not with tearing down tent cities (we hope): The city wants to create a localized model, adapted to our circumstances, particularly for the winter and Indigenous homelessness. (Radio-Canada)

Finding that dream dress

With wedding season fast approaching, Plaza St-Hubert is Montreal’s one-stop shop for all its bridal-related needs, though for how much longer remains to be determined. (The Concordian)

I mean, we knew that, but tell me more

This French newspaper's saying that with 200,000 people, the French community of Montreal is the largest outside Europe. Among its expats, a number of entrepreneurs have been won over by a less vertical corporate culture, where taking initiatives and risks is valued. (Le Monde)

We vote for a large tarp to hide our shame

The Olympic Park's launched an international design and architecture contest for ideas to reuse parts of the roof that will be replaced as part of an $870-million project announced in February. (Montreal Gazette)