Last week, I had an appointment in the East End, an area I seldom venture to, as my usual stomping ground is anything west of University. I had some time to kill, so I instantly resorted to the Starbucks Locator App, but (gasp!) the closest one was a whopping 10 kilometres away. Strange, considering that in the downtown core, there’s one every hundred meters. I decided to do it like the East Side does and hang out at an independent coffee shop. I definitely made the right decision. I went into La Fabrique Arhoma not expecting much, but was undoubtedly impressed.
The cafe had a few small aisles of shelves stacked with the finest “gourmandises” (gourmet delicacies), as the French call them, from jams, mustards and cooking oils to chocolates and other sweets. There was even a refrigerated section filled with cheeses, sausages, and of course, foie gras. The barista saw my foodie eyes widening and told me that almost all their products, even their flour, came from Quebec. Lady Tartine’s Blueberry Dark Chocolate Spread definitely was the first thing to catch my attention. Nutella taken up a notch, I’d say. In place of my usual Pike Place (the Starbucks medium roast), which according to me, should be a proper noun in the dictionary, I sipped their coffee which satisfied me nonetheless. They use coffee beans roasted by Le Bruloir, a company that buys fair-trade beans from cooperatives in Brazil and Gautemala. Although I’m afraid I’ll never be able to get “local Quebec coffe beans” thanks to our less-than-tropical climate, the sustainably sourced marketplace is the next best thing.
I then turned to look at the options available for lunch. While the selection of salads was dissapointing with only two options, there were many different paninis and sandwiches to choose from, and I opted for the tuna salad sandwich. It was topped with arugula, roasted red pepper, alfalfa sprouts, and mozzarella cheese, and it was to die for! And it was all served on their soft-on-the-inside, yet crunchy-on-the-outside white baguette.
Gluten-free foodies fear not! The cafe has plenty of options, including muffins made with brown rice and chickpea flour, and hard-to-find gluten-free dark chocolate (kidding…chocolate is always gluten free. Thank goodness!) I grabbed an oatmeal date muffin to go, and it tasted so good that I couldn’t even tell it had no refined sugars added. I’m always scouting out “healthier” treats that are sweetened naturally, as there’s no denying my sweet tooth. The cafe only offers a fraction of what they offer at La Boulangeire Arhoma, their complete bakery in the Hochelage-Maisonneuve area. I will have to come back to try one of their viennoiseries, as I spotted freshly-baked butter croissants, pain au chocolat, and every collegiette’s dream – mini strawberry white-chocolate cheesecake, perfect for one. Well…I’m not quite sure if it’s every collegiette’s dream to eat a personal-sized white-chocolate cheesecake alone, but this way you can have your cake and eat it too!
Images are the author’s own.