When Eric Corbeil’s office contacted Frank Servedio, the latter didn’t believe it. ” I thought it was a joke. »
Did the co-president of the Home Société group really want Frank Servedio to open a café in a new MUST store in Kirkland?
The Clarke Café in Pointe-Saint-Charles is not a well-known business, but its history is. In fact, this is the second life of the family bakery of the same name which served customers in Mile End from 1980 to 2015.
Éric Corbeil wanted to attract an authentic café with a neighborhood atmosphere to the chain’s largest MUST store, even if we are on the edge of the Metropolitan highway. “It was flattering to think of us and I had the West Island market in mind for a while,” says Frank Servedio, owner of Clarke Café.
PHOTO FRANÇOIS ROY, THE PRESS
Frank Servedio, owner of Clarke Café
We opened a café in Pointe-Saint-Charles because there was a need, and I felt it was the same here.
Frank Servedio, owner of Clarke Café
When he was young, Frank played a lot of sports in the West Island and his partner taught there. “There is a great sense of community here and I knew a father-and-son Italian coffee would be appreciated. »
Almost 45 years of history
PHOTO FRANÇOIS ROY, THE PRESS
Family photos are proudly displayed in both Clarke cafes.
Salvatore Servedio, Frank’s grandfather, opened Boulangerie Clarke in 1980, at the corner of Clark and Saint-Viateur streets (where the Kotn store is today). His father was only 20 years old. “I worked there from 1999 to 2015,” says his son Frank. I thought we were going to stay open forever and I was going to take over. That’s not what happened, but everything happens for a reason. »
What happened ? To summarize, the Shiller Lavy real estate group – often associated with the real estate speculation of recent years in Mile End – made an offer to buy the building. An offer that the Servedio family could not refuse. “It was very difficult at the time, because I didn’t know what to do, but it was perhaps the best thing that could have happened to me,” says Frank looking back.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY CLARKE CAFÉ
Damiano Servedio and his brothers at Clarke Bakery in 1986
For two years, Frank Servedio worked in LaSalle, where he grew up, in the restaurant La Campagnola. Then, in 2017, he gave a second life to the family business in Pointe-Saint-Charles. The Clarke Café has undoubtedly participated in the rebirth of Center Street, encouraging other merchants to take up residence there, including the L’Avant Goût grocery store, the Laotian restaurant Sep Lai, the Milky Way bar and more recently the June Refreshment bar.
Pointe-Saint-Charles reminds me of what Mile End was at the time. A mix of students, artists and young people who live in a more affordable neighborhood.
Frank Servedio, owner of Clarke Café
“The Clarke Café remains the same thing as the bakery: a place that is not trendy where everyone feels comfortable entering,” argues Frank Servedio.
PHOTO MARCO CAMPANOZZI, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
The Italian sandwiches have made the place famous.
Since last September, the Clarke Café is no longer on Center Street, but not far away, on Sheerer Street. We reassure you: every bite of its Italian sandwiches – which have made it famous – remains as tasty. And what about the cannolis, the same family recipe for 45 years!
Damiano Servedio told his son that he would not help him behind the counter. However, we find him almost every day at the Clarke Café in Pointe-Saint-Charles. “Without him, I wouldn’t have made it,” says Frank.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY CLARKE CAFÉ
Damiano Servedio, Frank’s father, at the opening of Clarke Café in 2018. He holds a breaded chicken sandwich and another called porchetta, or the most popular.
Today, Frank can count on 30 employees, but during the first 9 months of Clarke Café, he worked 14 hours a day without ever taking time off. “The illuminated sign that I had ordered remained with its manufacturer for a long time, because I could not pay for it,” he recalls. We have come a long way. »
Proximity links
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PHOTO FRANÇOIS ROY, THE PRESS
At 2 p.m. on a Wednesday afternoon, Clarke Café in Kirkland was filled with customers.
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PHOTO FRANÇOIS ROY, THE PRESS
From Clarke Café Kirkland, there is direct access to the MUST store.
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PHOTO FRANÇOIS ROY, THE PRESS
Sandwiches are made to order, never in advance.
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PHOTO FRANÇOIS ROY, THE PRESS
There is a mini grocery corner with pasta, tomato sauces and take-out pizzas from Angry Parsano.
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The Clarke Café at 16 902 Trans-Canada Highway has been serving customers since the end of November. “We opened a year after announcing it, so there was a lot of anticipation,” emphasizes Frank Servedio.
We visited both Clarke cafes in the same day. In Kirkland, no customers worked behind a computer. Frank shook hands with groups of Italian men like at Caffè Italia and Chez Vito.
Here, people sit longer. I’ve been in the business for a long time and I can tell you that it works very well. We are really happy.
Frank Servedio, owner of Clarke Café
Éric Corbeil was therefore right in attracting a family café in the ninth MUST store in the image of his company which celebrated its 50the anniversary and which also owns the Maison Corbeil and Jardin de ville chains.
Visit the Clarke Café website