Showing posts with label Rene Levesque Blvd. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Rene Levesque Blvd. Show all posts

Monday, November 25, 2013

Frunchroom is coming, Frunchroom is coming!

I just like saying Frunchroom. I also think that has to be one of the coolest names for a restaurant ever.

I didn't know what was behind this cool poster when the Budster and I strolled past, I just liked the name Frunchroom and the vintage photos they used. I was intrigued.

I was curious.

I was hungry.

I thought it might be a new breakfast place.

Our family is obsessed with going out for breakfast.

Our unofficial motto is "if you bacon, we will come." Yes, bacon is a verb in this house.


So I Googled Frunchroom when I got home (and I defrosted enough to type) and it turns out this is a new bistro style restaurant/pizzeria/wine bar opening up just a few walkable blocks away from my city pad.

Actually, it first caught my eye because it's situated in my old office building, and whenever I walk or drive past it, I look over and think back to those days, when I had not one but two secretaries, and an office with a window (it overlooked a courtyard, but still, it was window, which counted as a promotion in those days) and nice clothes and client lunches and I could go for drinks after work on Crescent Street with colleagues and dine on happy hour snacks, which counted as a full meal for a single gal. This was the advertising agency I transferred to after my move from Toronto to Montreal many years ago. I don't regret it. Politics aside, Montreal rocks. It is never, ever boring in this city. The agency is gone now, as is the fancy furniture store downstairs, but rumour has it Frunchroom will have all-you-can-fries, with steamed mussels. And pizzas. And a Thursday night "ladies night" with 50% off the menu and special martinis, on the SAME night when someone's husband is out playing hockey COULD THE TIMING BE ANY BETTER?!


Anyone want to join me? I'll let you know when it opens. I think an official taste testing is in order.



Saturday, November 23, 2013

Dorchester, now René Lévesque Boulevard - A Little History

More stories from my 'hood.

When I head south for my walk, I pass by these properties which are a mere ten minutes from my flat and situated side by side. Yesterday, while I was taking these photos, I managed to flag down a young man walking to his car to ask him about these homes, whether they were still occupied, etc.

The first one (below) is the Judah House, also known as Villa Rosa, which dates to around 1874. Located at the corner of René Lévesque and Fort Street, this house was built for a lawyer named Frederick Thomas Judah, director of the Montreal City and District Savings Bank. The Judah family owned it until 1949 after which it was given to the Franciscans. It was originally part of the Franciscan Domain and there was a church next door, but sadly that burned down a couple of years ago.

The second house is the Maison Joseph-Wilfrid Antoine-Masson. It is a gorgeous baroque, house built around 1850, and one of the oldest still standing on Dorchester Avenue (renamed René Lévesque Boulevard.)

George Winks took over ownership of the house in 1860 and added a porch and mansard style roof, then it was John Hope, then George Hall, a coal baron. From 1934 until 1943 it was abandoned. The Franciscans bought it, and there are commercial tenants in there now.  Unfortunately the church between these two homes burned to the ground in 2010 and now there's just a big empty lot.

Read the article about the fire and see photos HERE.



Apparently there are still manicured Franciscan gardens in the back of both houses. That will be my next mission - find and photograph the secret gardens with Buddy the wonder sleuth.

Villa Rosa AKA the Judah House. One of my cameras converts photos to drawings, in camera.
The Judah House
Railing outside Joseph-Wilfrid Antoine-Raymond Masson House
Maison Joseph-Wilfrid Antoine-Raymond Masson House
More detail of the railing