Opening a coffee shop is one heck of an adventure! Last winter, with lots of enthusiasm, the whole coffee gang got to work on moving our entire operation, including all of our equipment, to our new location at 111 Louvain Street West.
After renovating, designing our Boutique Café, setting up our spaces for roasting and for holding workshops and moving in, we were finally able to officially open our new coffee shop last June, and to our great pleasure, finally welcome you in!
Located in the Chabanel District, our new locale was once used for storing ammunition during the Second World War. Filled with history and character, it has allowed us to centralize our operations and offer all of our coffee-loving clientele the most complete Barista experience possible.
By visiting the coffee shop not only can you enjoy a cup of coffee in our Barista Boutique Café but you can also attend a workshop at the National Barista Institute, to increase your knowledge and hone your skills, or check out the equipment we carry like our espresso machines and coffee grinders. From the coffee shop, you can also see our production space where we roast all of our coffee. Our goal in creating this new space is to allow you to see firsthand the craftsmanship that goes into your daily cup of coffee.
From day one, we wanted the aesthetic of the space to have a positive impact from the moment our clients and friends arrived. We decided to send out a challenge on social media for a burgeoning artist to come in and paint us a mural! The magic happened as soon as we met the artist, Charles Paradis, who is now responsible for the amazing Boutique Café’s mural. Through his initial idea, creativity, black and white concept, and his incorporation of all things coffee, he was able to bring an incredible mural to life on our walls to add so much ambiance to the space.
While the mural is one of the focal points of the space, we also relied on raw materials for the design, such as: wood, brick, and concrete. All of the wood that was used to make the counters and the tables, is actually wood from our former facilities that was dismantled. Repurposing materials allowed us to be creative all while keeping in line with our desire to reduce the environmental impact of our renovations.
Whether you are coming to enjoy one of our coffees lovingly created by our team, to take part in one of our Barista workshops, or to simply get some tips and some coffee, it will always be our pleasure to have you in!
Barista’s Boutique Café is located at 111 Louvain Street West and is open from Monday to Friday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
If you are on social media, chances are you have seen our video series “My First Coffee Shop” that tells the story of the company’s journey from its conception to the present day. You can watch (or rewatch) them on this YouTube playlist!
