café léo

A New Café and Event Venue Arrives on Berri | Eater Montreal

"Opened during the pandemic on August 1, this bright, white 2,000-square-foot café with a mezzanine at 1215 Berri—directly across from a UQAM building in Montreal’s Latin Quarter—caters largely to students and centers its beverage menu on coffee roasts from Montreal favorite Zab. Founder Andréanne Léonie Murdaca, who gave up a civil engineering career to open the shop, says her degree proved useful as she oversaw months of construction and verified everything from electricity to ventilation, and that her father is now proud. Food is currently limited to pastries and flammekueche, with sandwiches to be added once the semester begins (made on bread from Mile End bakery Guillaume, including a vegetarian croque monsieur that trades ham for apples), and chef Mathieu Plamondon—a fellow former engineer who began hosting dinners during the pandemic—plans to introduce a late-night, market-driven menu so the café can also serve as a dinner destination. Billed as a “modular café,” Léo intends to be a hub for local events (concerts, comedy, movie screenings, pottery classes, etc.); it’s already exhibiting a photo series about the project and has two large walls on wheels to quickly reconfigure the space. Hours are currently Monday to Friday, 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., subject to change." - Valerie Silva