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"Connected to a trendy new gym in Mile End, the Machina Smart Bar is a healthy lunch counter run by Chef S’Arto Chartier-Otis that serves smoothies, salads, and a few hot lunch dishes each day and also retails health supplements and fitness wear in a small retail shop. Recruited by the gym (he does not own Machina), Chartier-Otis sees the project as a deliberate shift from fine dining toward bringing nicer food to a depanneur/cafeteria concept, focusing on dishes you can eat and feel full of energy all day. Offerings cater to gym-goers and include energizing items like daal and bibimbap, plenty of vegetables and whole grains, proteins available as add-ons (chicken, tempeh, and albacore tuna, not beef), matcha drinks and “superfood” smoothies (no coffee), with most dishes priced under ten dollars. The counter occupies a shiny space with big windows facing Mile End’s former industrial zone and is open at 5455 de Gaspé, number 105, from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily, though some items are only served around lunch hours." - Tim Forster