There’s something about scorching temperatures that makes people crave Mexican food. Maybe because the hotter it gets, the more you need to sweat to cool down. And that means chili peppers, since any form of cardio is probably counter-productive. I mean, you don’t see a lot of long distance Mexican runners training during siesta hours. Californians, maybe, but I still think the best way to sweat it out without roasting your insides is with hot spices. And a margarita, a beer, or a freshly pressed juice. Your tongue needs a fire extinguisher too.
Marianne Larochelle and Serge Landau, the owners of Café Cantina Tacqueria in Point St-Charles, have taken it upon themselves to keep the neighbourhood locals and the entire population of the nearby Nordelec building cool with fresh-pressed apple-ginger-carrot juices ($3.75), tacos, burritos and quesadillas.
Freshly pressed apple-carrot-ginger juice
Tex-mex gets a bad rep for not being authentic (compared to, say, the mixed breakfast plate of cinnamon-spiked sausage, marinated grilled beef, chicken, guac, rice and fresh tortillas up at El Rey del Taco in Jean-Talon market – around $15 all-in), but where Larochelle and Landau lived in California, healthy-ish Mexican holds its own against the dingy but delicious Mexican food stalls they also loved.
No one’s complaining down in Point St-Charles that Cafe Cantina throws a quinoa salad on its menu when it’s loaded with beets, corn, fresh tomatoes, pumpkin seeds, cabbage, feta, red peppers, radishes and a lime-cumin dressing.
This is healthy food, but it’s not diet food. A quesadilla loaded with cheese, chicken, and guacamole will get those workers from the small business building back to work happy, slightly cooler, and slightly sweatier than they were pre-lunch. (To understand what the Nordelec building is, imagine that Montreal’s big video game company, Ubisoft, was a giant squid with 100 arms and each of those arms was a small business in the Nordelec building in Point St-Charles instead of Mile End, but all those arms were still hungry for lunch in the $10 range within a 5-minute walk from their offices, just like the hordes of Ubisoft workers descending on St-Viateur. Yes, imagine that.)
Then imagine one of those arms digging into a baked then shredded chicken or pork burrito stuffed with everything from the salad and quesadilla above combined in one mighty wrap ($8.95). Plus a chopped tomato pico de gallo salsa, home-cooked black beans, and a generous container of homemade hot sauce (or a drizzle of bottled stuff). There’s a veggie option too, but if you’re not veggie just get that roasted sweet potato or squash added to your meat entrée.
There’s no patio, but a lime-soured and sugar-sweetened agua fresca fruit juice on ice will lower your body temperature to normal levels. Y una cerveza, por favor? Si. But maybe only on Friday afternoons for those headed back to work. Too bad for them. More cerveza for me.
Celery-apple-lemon juice
The Cali-influence comes back with the smoked salmon salad, the celery-apple-lemon juice, the homemade granola, and the option to have the burrito on brown rice instead of in a tortilla. And the brunch isn’t all huevos rancheros.
Instead, a they do breakfast burritos ($6 for burrito alone) with onions, peppers, and cheese, addictive garlic-kicked sweet potato homefries and fruit salads to compete with l’Avenue up on Mont-Royal, choc full of bananas, papaya, blueberries, fresh figs(!), mangoes, and strawberries.
“My dream is to have just local, organic food,” says Larochelle, who makes the muffins, scones, carrot cake and gluten-free dark chocolate torte from scratch. She’s not quite there yet, but the papaya-lover in me is hoping those west-coast vibes and locavore thoughts take a siesta for at least a few years.
Café Cantina
Where: 1880 rue Centre (Metro Charlevoix)
When: Mon-Wed 8am-4pm, Thurs-Fri 8am-9pm, Sat 9am-4pm
514-903-3511
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