As part of the Portraits of merchants & professionals of Côte-des-Neiges project, we invited Zeineb Khalfallah (@zeineb_conscience on Instagram) to join us in our visit of 11 businesses of the SDC Côte-des-Neiges who have participated in the project.

Meet Marie-Josée and Francis | Portraits of merchants and professionals of Côte-des-Neiges

Learn more about your merchants and professionals of the Côte-des-Neiges district! // Let’s meet with : Marie-Josée Bélanger and Francis Costanzo, Co-Owners of La Maisonnée

Authentic and warm, this is how we would describe La Maisonnée bar, which has been welcoming students and young workers of Côte-des-Neiges for 50 years.

Upon our arrival, we were warmly welcomed by Francis Costanzo and Marie-Josée Bélanger, both co-owners of the space.

From the very first moment, we quickly understood why La Maisonnée bears its name: you feel right at home.

Francis and Marie-Josée immediately put us at ease through their active listening and their openness to share their vision as entrepreneurs.

Originally from Sorel, Marie-Josée left her hometown 30 years ago to build her career in Montreal.

La Maisonnée was her reference point as she has been working there since 2006. She worked first as a server, then as a manager, before becoming a co-owner.

At the time, Marie-Josée was looking for new challenges when the founders offered to sell the bar.

This event undoubtedly spiced up her daily life as she was able to take up the challenge! 

Since then, Marie-Josée has flourished in her role as an entrepreneur and is happy to run the place with the other two co-owners, Francis Costanzo and Arnaud Souquière.

Francis grew up in Montreal and more precisely in Côte-des-Neiges. He went to school in the area and even told us that he has always loved La Maisonnée!

As he had the ambition to open his own bar/restaurant, he didn’t hesitate to buy La Maisonnée when the opportunity arose.

“When the former owners made us the offer, I immediately jumped at the chance.”, he told us.

Since then, the three partners have evolved through the joys of entrepreneurship (and its challenges!). Like most restaurateurs, they faced the incertitude of the pandemic and learned many lessons.

Resilience, adaptation and caring have always been there to guide their steps in managing this crisis.

Today, they are happy to see their younger clientele again. “Students feel at home here. Our affordable prices, our wide menu and the warm atmosphere of the place make La Maisonnée one of the most coveted bars in Côte-des-Neiges. You can come here alone and end up running into friends and acquaintances! La Maisonnée is a “family”, underlined Francis to conclude.

For the two entrepreneurs, Côte-des-Neiges is a family, where they feel at home. They know they can count on the other merchants in the area to give a helping hand.

For me Côte-des-Neiges is :

Home (Francis)

Family (Marie-Josée)

Writer-journalist: Zeineb Khalfallah

Photographer: Gaelle Leroyer

Artistic direction : Félicia Balzano (SDC Côte-des-Neiges

Complete the experience by visiting the free exhibition on Promenade Jean-Brillant from September 8th to December 5th, 2022. Info: here

ABOUT THE PROJECT: 

Given the great success of its project «Portraits of Merchants and Professionals of Côte-des-Neiges» in 2021, the SDC Côte-des-Neiges is proud to present the second edition of the initiative through an exhibition as well as interviews. This project is aimed at putting residents in touch with businesses on the territory of the Société de développement commercial (SDC) Côte-des-Neiges. Through a series of portraits capturing the essence of 11 businesses, meet 17 owners and managers of local businesses. This social and cultural project is intended to be a real encounter with the human behind the professional. In this second edition, you will discover women and men, young professionals and experienced entrepreneurs, all from different cultures and backgrounds, providing a wide range of products and services. What do they all have in common? Their love for Côte-des-Neiges. Discover the exhibition on the Promenade Jean-Brillant and extend the experience online thanks to the heartfelt interviews carried out with each one of them.

Under the artistic direction of Félicia Balzano, general manager of the SDC Côte-des-Neiges, this project is an initiative of the SDC Côte-des-Neiges and made possible with the collaboration of the Maison de la culture CDN and the borough CDN- NDG.