Café Prague

For 25 years Benoît Sears worked as a mechanic, but a few experiences while vacationing in his wife's country of origin awoke his inner entrepreneur.

One afternoon, on a family visit to the Czech Republic, a tray of chlebicky, small open-faced sandwiches with all sorts of delectable toppings, came out from the kitchen. Benoît found them both delightful and delicious. When he later stumbled upon these same sandwiches beautifully presented in the display case of a Czech Cafe, "it clicked," recalls Benoît. There wasn't a single place in Montreal that served these little "marvels," as Benoît called them, and he was convinced that Montrealers were missing out.

A tribute to the stylish cafés of one of Europe's most beautiful capitals, Café Prague opened its doors on Van Horne Street in 2011. "I wanted to open a place that would serve authentic Czech specialties and give people a real Czech experience," explains Benoît.