Little Italy is the rare ethnic quarter that still does the cooking it advertises — anchored by a market that's been running since 1933 and counts among the great open markets of North America. The walk is short and entirely about food and the people who sell it: market first, espresso second, a famous fresco in between.
Start in the Marché Jean-Talon under its long sheds — Québec produce, cheese rooms, the maple and cider stalls, the whole province's larder laid out. Saturday morning is the time, when the farmers are in. Out the south end onto Boulevard Saint-Laurent, the Main, where the Italian quarter keeps its salumerie and its standing espresso bars; take a coffee at the counter the local way.
A block east stands the Église Madonna della Difesa of 1919, where Guido Nincheri painted a ceiling fresco that includes Mussolini on horseback — left in place, unpainted-over, the most loaded artwork in Montreal. Beside it, Parc Dante and its bocce courts are the quarter's real living room. End up on Rue de Castelnau, where Little Italy quietly becomes Villeray, and take the Blue Line home with your bags.
