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| - The Spot
To people for whom Parc Ave is the street used to rush downtown and back, Pikolo's the best coffee shop they never notice. It's narrow and deep, nestled between a stationary shop and first date staple Pullman. Through most of the winter, you can't even see inside because the windows are steamy from how warm the people, croissants and coffee are behind 'em.
But to people who think of Parc Ave as Montreal's heart and soul, Pikolo's the best coffee shop, period. The café balances an industrial look with earthy colours, its heavy wooden chairs and tables laid out under a high ceiling from which metal lamps and soft light bulbs hang. It's high-style coziness, and it's got us coming back for more.
What's Really Good?
Let's put it plainly: you'd be tough pressed finding better coffee anywhere in Montreal.
"Passion" seems too generic a word to describe owner Marie-Ève Laroche's commitment to coffee. Talk to her for a minute or two and you'll come to realize she hasn't only set out to serve first-class coffee but also to educate customers as to where it comes from, how it's best prepared, what to look out for in its taste. Watching the equally-dedicated baristas at work is watching scientists in a laboratory, controlling grams of coffee, milliliters of water, extraction times, temperatures. It's the kind of stuff that turns casual coffee lovers into aficionados.
Not typically does one know the first thing about those metrics either. All we know is that when you taste the coffee, they start making a lot of sense. The house specialty is the Pikolo latte (pictured), in case you're undecided, though for what it's worth we'd add that the director of quality control, Mitchell, also makes the best Americano in town.
All this knowledge and Marie-Ève's experience working on various coffee plantations extend to the source of what is served, of course. Pikolo collaborates with Canadian microroaster Phil & Sebastian and the Portland-based Heart, two roasters keen on quality, detail, and green coffee. And it's not just the coffee, either: we're also talking homemade, oven-hot butter croissants, raspberry-cranberry muffins, sugar-cinnamon waffles, chocolate fondants ...
You'll Wanna Know
It's a small space, so if you're looking for a coffee house to spend your Sunday working on a final paper, get ready to peel your eyes to find a spot. You'll usually be able to find one within minutes, but it gets a little tricky when you're not on your own.
Cash or debit ($5 minimum) only.
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