Montreal Restaurant Merch Is My New Flex

I have the privilege of going to plenty of restaurants and trying their delicious food as part of my job.

Along the way I started noticing a whole lot of restaurants got wild merch items available. Often they are at pretty good prices, I copped the Homers cap for like 25$. As I started going to more and more places, I realized a lot of the designs and vibe to the clothing was actually nice.

I see it like, despite other cultural differences, we all eat. 

Even people that don’t live in our city, and maybe there’s a way to connect as people who frequented the same restaurant.

And it lets me rep the city.

The idea may not be original but the restaurants featured would be real Montreal shit

I’m looking for those places that don’t have a lot of locations.

They are those smaller brands that fall more into the if you know you know category. You’ve either had a Chez Ma Tante poutine or you haven’t. There’s not really any in between with restaurants. 

People get excited when you’ve eaten at one of their favourite hidden gems.

Basically I want to find amazing places to eat, and then wear their branding as a way to put on for Montreal everywhere I go.I’m not a sports guy, so I have no interest in an Expos Fitted.

I’ll rock that Orange Julep toque though (I got one of those). 

Putting eyes on a brand may lead to foot traffic in that location

Let’s get real capitalistic for a minute.

The next time you do something where a lot of eyes are on you, if you were to wear a Chez Simon Cantine Urbaine shirt, and this led to actual people going to the restaurant, there is room for future plays. I’m sure it would start with begging for free clothes, but at the end of the day if I can go rap, release music videos and other promo, and sponsor it with restaurant money, that would be fun. It’s also possible if you build your deck right.

Now imagine if 20 rappers were wearing that same shirt across shows over 3 months. Maybe it leads to the Chez Simon Cantine Urbaine team sponsoring a show one day. Or even sponsoring individuals to do bigger and better things.

It’s a way we can invest in brands to build that relationship.

It’s a neutral way for us to wear a “flag” regular people can connect to

In my big picture vision, we can turn restaurant merch into a Pokemon style game.

Who got the wildest collection? Who has the rarest drops, those restaurants that lasted a year and are gone? There are probably hundreds of options available today. 

Then as we’d be out there with random restaurant shit, it serves as an ice breaker. People who’ve eaten there will be like, why in the world is homie rocking my local poutine place at the show? It’s silly fun, but also actually good for the local economy.

I’ve spent a long time trying to think of a way to rep Montreal in a distinct way and this is where I’m at with it.

I’ll keep you posted with how it goes one day.

Live Long and Prosper Everyone