Facebook!

Twitter

Tumblr


20070909

Breaking for coffee: Café Santé Veritas

anthony benda synesso espresso machine
This is Anthony. He's the barista at Café Santé Veritas, and yes it's true, this bar serves no wine. Anthony makes a mean macchiato, which is my drink of choice when I'm working at my day job.

cappucinoforty-ninth paralell expresso 49 th parallel epic espresso coffee blends
This is the kind of cappuccino you can expect at Café Santé Veritas. It's got latte art. Anthony is a great latte artist but the shots taste as good as they look because they're made with 49th Parellel coffee beans.

stop action shooting making a shot of coffee
At Café Veritas, Anthony works with a very expensive machine that has three groupers. See... 1, 2, 3. He says this means a lot to him and to the coffees he makes. He mentioned something about temperature, and how important regulating heat is to a good espresso shot. I'm not a coffee geek, but clearly machines like these are hard to come by. It's the only one in Montreal so no wonder he likes it. Plus, it's shiny.

pouring a shot at the coffee bar warm milk for a café latté
As a wino, I find it hard to believe that Anthony never drinks what he is most surrounded by. Or at least, he has coffee very rarely and almost never while he is on the job. Here he is, with his steady uncaffeinated hand, pouring the milk into the espresso shot in order to make latte art. (Café Santé Veritas will soon be able to tout their bar for something more: next week Anthony will be entered in a stakes-is-high barista competition. Good luck Anthony!)

cafe sante veritas salads
It's always a luxury if your favourite café serves a solid food menu. (Having come back from New York last month I can tell you that it doesn't happen very often so Montreal is lucky.) That the menu at Café Santé Veritas is solid AND healthy -- none of the dishes containing meat are cooked using any oil, for example -- is another big plus. But the thing I like most about the café is its devotion to doing more than just one meal right, serving up nutritious fresh breakfasts as much as delicious lunches or desserts and snacks.

bean side and sandwich wrap
Always fresh chick-pea salad, with a tofu wrap on the side. Salads Waldorf (below) and grilled chicken with blueberries (above) are two of my favourites.

giant green salad with apples walnuts and blue cheese

Open Now

CAFÉ SANTÉ VERITAS 480 Blvd Saint-Laurent (corner Notre-Dame), (514) 510-7775.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Coffee puts the system under the strain of metabolizing a deadly acid-forming drug, depositing its insoluble cellulose, which cements the wall of the liver, causing this vital organ to swell to twice its proper size. In addition, coffee is heavily sprayed. (Ninety-two pesticides are applied to its leaves.) Diuretic properties of caffeine cause potassium and other minerals to be flushed from the body.

Get the real scoop on coffee at www.CaffeineAwareness.org
And if you drink decaf you wont want to miss this special FREE report on the Dangers of Decaf available at www.soyfee.com

Marcus said...

OK I just did this crazy caffeine risk test.

Don't waste your time.

You could go to Anthony for an espresso a day for the rest of your life and still have zero risk (of addiction or whatever else they're trading in because espresso's not the problem, soft drinks are)...

...or at least you could do that for the rest of your life, provided Anthony's available.

Anonymous said...

Hahahahahaha, what a hilarious comment, anonymous. You must be very sure of yourself with those figures, so sure that you're obviously prepared to put your money where your mouth is and give us your name.

"coffee is heavily sprayed"

Ummmm... which coffee are you referring to? Maybe maxwell house, but do you even know where Veritas gets its coffee? Did you know that certain origins (Ethiopia, for example) don't have access to pesticides due to prohibitive cost?

Nevertheless, I'm never one to argue against anonymous fear mongering, so keep it up!

Get the REAL scoop on coffee at dwelltime.net

Edward said...

anon,

I'd say Marcus has to contend with slightly more dangerous liver toxins, being a wine blogger :)

Marcus said...

Edward, I had a dangerous Cabernet Sauvignon from Wynn's last night. 14% alcohol and I don't think I've ever had such a substantial wine plead for my full attention without food accompaniment. What a beautiful big wine that needed no steak whatsoever. (Actually I enjoyed it better without it.)

But you're the real doctor here. Is it true that eating while drinking will help your liver a bit?

How about an espresso chaser after over-indulging in wine? Or is alcoholic coffee the ultimate self-injury?

Anonymous said...

Coffee is healthy. I just read a recent report about it.
I can't stand LIBERALS who are always preaching about the end of the earth, and how damned we are, how BUSH is a war mongerer, how nobody gets good medical care.
BOO HOO, yes things are so terrible right? WRONG!
Weak dumbazz. Go move to a Socialist country, then when you see how flawed it is, we will let you back in. Oh, and take all the illegals with you.

Anonymous said...

Hey JG...Liberals aren't saying it's the end of the world, jesus freaks are...Look, if jesus is gonna take you away, fine, just leave me the vines and beans. We'll all be happier knowing that there's more for us. Oh, and I take mine ORGANIC! woohoo

Anonymous said...

Oh yeah, Marcus, nice site. Can't wait to meet Anthony. He looks like a genius!

I bid you Peace.