Montreal Italian sandwich shop boom fuelled by family, tradition

Bossa and Clarke Café are part of a growing number of popular Italian-inspired sandwich and coffee shops popping up all over Montreal. The key ingredient is family.

These days you can’t go far in Montreal without running into an Italian sandwich and coffee shop. They are popping up on many main thoroughfares, with some reaching monumental popularity.

Though it may be one of Montreal hottest food trends today, the tradition started long ago. Even the most chic new shops could not survive without the key ingredients of history and family.

At Bossa in Verdun, for example, day after day crowds gather to devour chef and founder Daniel Lo Manto’s succulent sandwiches. Keeping up with the booming demand is a constant battle, he says.

“It’s like controlled chaos, almost like a ballet or a dance,” Lo Manto tells Global News.

Now in its sixth year, the shop pumps out hundreds of sandwiches daily. Chicken parmesan, chicken cutlet, and porchetta are among the most popular picks.

On sunny summer days, people will line up down the block for Lo Manto’s Italian-inspired creations. It’s a level of popularity the long-time restaurant worker does not take for granted.

“It’s emotional. It’s incredible to see everybody here lining up for the food you created and helped create,” he says. Growing on the success of the Verdun location, Bossa has now expanded to Rosemont and the Time Out Market downtown.

The winning formula at Bossa is one that’s been refined over generations. A key inspiration is Lo Manto’s grandfather, Pasquale Vescio, who emigrated to Canada from Italy in the 1960s.