Jean-Talon Market
The Jean-Talon Market sits in the heart of Little Italy and is one of the largest public markets in North America. It is also among the oldest in Montreal, inaugurated in May 1933 under the name Marchรฉ du Nord with the straightforward aim of feeding the neighbourhood on fresh, local agri-food products โ a mission that has not needed revising since. In 1983 it took the name of Jean Talon, the first intendant of New France. What distinguishes it is the sheer number of genuine fruit and vegetable growers holding stalls, the range of specialist shops around them โ butchers, bakers, fishmongers, cheesemongers, grocers โ and the restaurants that make it very difficult to leave without eating something. The atmosphere is closer to a village than a retail operation: a family place where generations have grown up on both sides of the counter, as merchants and as customers.
For anyone who cares where their food comes from, this is the reference point in the city. Dozens of Quebec producers bring seasonal fruit and vegetables directly โ the Birri family, Ferme des Quatre-Temps, Coteau Rougemont, the Lacroix greenhouses, Le Potager Mont-Rouge, Les Jardins d'Arlington and many more โ alongside orchardists, blueberry growers and nut producers. Around them are the specialists: Boucherie Nordest, Balkani, Les Cochons Tout Ronds and the organic meat of Boucheries & Ferme Saint-Vincent; Aqua Mare and Les Dรฉlices de la Mer for fish; Fromagerie Qui Lait Cru!?! for cheese; eggs from Ferme Avicole B. Morin and Le Capitaine; bread and pastry from Premiรจre Moisson, Crรฉation Madeleine, La Fournรฉe des Sucreries de l'รrable, Ryad and the Polish patisserie Wawel. The specialist food shops are half the pleasure โ รpices de Cru for spices, Olives & Olives, Maรฎtre Olivier, Les Jardins Sauvages for foraged produce, Le Marchรฉ des Saveurs du Quรฉbec, Pastificio Sacchetto for fresh pasta, and a Librairie Gourmande for the cookbooks to make sense of it all โ while florists and horticulturists like Binette & Filles, Brindille and Homefield Ferme Florale keep the aisles in bloom.
Eating on site is its own itinerary. Les Filles Fattoush, Thuy's Vietnamese counter, Mazorca MTL, Musubi, Roxy Focaccia, Casa di Toto, La Boรฎte aux Huรฎtres for oysters, La Crรชperie du Marchรฉ, CASA Poutine + Bar, and Havre-aux-Glaces for ice cream โ with the Brรปlerie aux Quatre Vents for coffee โ mean a walk through the market can easily become lunch.
The market changes shape with the seasons. In October it puts up its walls and moves indoors for the winter, still stocked with local produce; towards the end of April, as the weather warms, the outdoor aisles reopen and the producers return to the open air. From June to October the aisles are pedestrianised on Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays from 11am to 5pm. It also programmes a lively calendar of its own: fairs devoted to Quebec wines and ciders, urban agriculture workshops on subjects like edible flowers, cooking classes for children, fermentation tastings, and the annual Ferment Fest MTL.
Getting there is easy โ bus and metro stops are minutes away, and there are close to 400 parking spaces nearby, 300 of them in the indoor car park. Open all year, unapologetically seasonal, and still doing exactly what it was built to do nearly a century later, Jean-Talon is where Montreal goes to meet the people who grow its food.