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Hélico: Hochelaga’s favourite café

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This charming restaurant is a member of the Aliments du Québec au Menu program! This means that they have chosen to highlight the wonderful products of Quebec and its producers in their menu – something we find admirable! Aliments du Québec au Menu is a recognition program for restaurants that value Quebec products in their cuisine.

Hélico is a charming little café that opened its doors on May 7, 2018 in the neighbourhood of Hochelaga. The address is absolutely worth the detour to savour small delights of all kinds! We consider it one of the best cafés in Montreal where you can also eat well!

“David Ollu, chef and owner of this great addition to the neighborhood, is young and dynamic! He previously worked at the must-visit restaurant Bouillon Bilk and decided to open his first venture in Hochelaga. After scouting a few districts, he found this spot: ‘I fell in love with it! The neighborhood’s potential and the fact that the type of offering I wanted to bring was missing here really spoke to me.”

The location actually has two facets: a restaurant and a café; thus making it possible to please everyone. The design was developed by friends of the team, Studio Lasco (Catherine Martial & Gabrielle Belley), and is lovely! Colourful, with orange and white tones, the location is bright, cozy and welcoming. Inside, the space seats about twenty, and on the terrace, another twenty.

“Hélico is the diminutive of ‘helicopter,’ the name of the restaurant-bar that opened in June 2018. It’s an emblematic name for me; starting from Bouillon Bilk, I left a place I loved very much to grow and establish myself elsewhere, just like the seeds of a maple tree that take flight. If we push a little further, we sort of twirl, just like creativity, to create our own project.”

Hélico is not just any café-pastry shop, however! People come here to enjoy a good coffee, but mostly to savour delicious homemade pastries. Hélico offers exceptional small artisanal delights: excellent croissants, chocolate chip cookies, one of the best brownies in Montreal, kouign-amann, brioches, cannelés, and much more. Everything is entirely homemade, and handmade fresh in the morning. The result is decadent: everything, absolutely everything here is delicious, and that’s thanks to chefs David Ollu and Jean-Christophe Desfossées.

While we’re definitely sold on the sweet side here, we’re also equally delighted by the savoury. Hélico offers a short menu of simple, delicious and fresh dishes for lunch and brunch (one of the best)! David develops the delicious recipes that we savour here. The plates are seasonal and follow what’s available at the market. Here, we find one of the best breakfast sandwiches in town, some refreshing salads, cold soups and other very good dishes!

On the coffee side — under the guidance of head barista Daphnée Meilleur — to offer coffee that matches the food offerings, the team partnered with Kittel, a roaster from Rosemont, who greatly assists them in providing a delicious third-wave coffee.

Hélico brings a breath of fresh air to the Hochelaga neighborhood and is a little haven of delights to discover. Definitely a favorite and a place to try!


Photography by Alison Slattery





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