A longtime friend, I met Marcello at his recently reopened café in the heart of Montreal’s garment district. It’s home to his latest project in the food and catering business.
What are his projects all about?
Barsalou /s/ Traiteurs, a family-run catering service specializing in high-quality food for small and midsize events, and L’Époque, a café inside the Rudsak building on St-Laurent.
Where did the inspiration come from?
“I always liked cooking, and being a good host is a Barsalou tradition! [laughs] I almost went to culinary school, but ended up following my parents’ advice to try my hand at something a bit less volatile, and went to law school.
Then came a point in my career where I was starting to do some catering and still had a full-time corporate job, and I figured I’d have to dive in 100% to truly push myself to accomplishing my dream. I worked in many kitchens, got a feel for the life, and took all those lessons with me as I ramped up my own activities and opened the café.”
What’s been difficult?
It’s been busy! I’m so focused on operational aspects of the café and the catering, and I don’t necessarily have enough time to expand the business, find new customers and think a bit longer-term.
What are some of the lessons you’ve learned?
“K.I.S.S.! Keep your food costs at a point where you’re comfortable. If people like the simple stuff like bruschetta, then serve bruschetta. Try different things, but complex preparations usually go relatively unnoticed, so they’re difficult to justify.
Make the right amount of food: enough that your customer has gotten a good bang for their buck, but not so much that there’s waste at the end of the day.
Trust that your food is good. It’s good, I know it’s good, people will like it. Don’t rack yourself with doubt, it never helps.”
Thanks for the inspiration!
My pleasure, hope to see you back soon!
For more info or to book Barsalou /s/ Traiteurs for an event, head over to their Facebook page. If you’re more a face-to-face person, swing by L’Époque at 9150 St-Laurent (inside the Rudsak building).