The Flowers of Flavour

Chinatowns around the world have been especially hard hit during the pandemic. Canada is no exception. With the rise of anti-Asian racism on the rise, traditional restaurants struggling or disappearing altogether and, in the case of Montreal’s historic 200-year-old Chinatown, a new threat: development.

Resiliency is woven into the fabric of Chinatowns, which have weathered numerous storms over the years adapting and subsequently thriving. One restaurant that represents that reinvention is Fleurs et Cadeaux, a Japanese snack bar nestled in an iconic 100-year-old building in Montreal’s Chinatown. The “sunakku” pays homage to the former flower and souvenir shop that formerly occupied the spot, by retaining the old name and charming façade. The only wrinkle in Fleurs et Cadeaux’s multisensory experience? They opened during the aforementioned pandemic.

Art director and writer Rachel Lecompte and photographer Virginie Gosselin, both Applied Arts Awards winners, composed a sumptuous photo shoot to help celebrate this retro-yet-now restaurant that embraces its floral past with colourful menu designs, plastic flower accents that recall the former owner, pink neon lights straight out of a Wong Kar-wai film, and a jazz kissa-inspired environment that emanates warmth like the pops and crackles of a vinyl record.

You can almost taste the sake and sushi, and hear the Cassiopeia and Yellow Magic Orchestra. To learn more about Fleurs et Cadeaux visit their website here, and to see more of the creative teams work check out Lecompte’s Behance here and Gosselin’s website here.