Arcade Fire Opening Haitian Restaurant in Montreal This Summer Called Agrikol

Husband-and-wife duo Win Butler and Régine Chassagne, also known as the Quebec based, indie-rock group Arcade Fire, have made an indelible print on the music scene—now, they'll explore new avenues as they open their own Montreal restaurant, Agrikol.

The husband-and-wife twosome responsible for some of Toronto's most popular restaurants, Jen Agg and Roland Jean will assist Butler and Chassagne in their Haitian restaurant endeavor, notes Stereogum. Rhum Corner, the Black Hoof and Cocktail Bar are the products of Agg and Jean's dining expertise. The city of Montreal is inhabited by a large Haitian community, including Jean, who was born in Haiti and Chassagne, whose parents emmigrated from their home country. 

Agrikol will offer Haitian delicacies, a cultural space, music and visual arts and is expected to unveil this summer—the duo's first major venture following their 2013 LP Reflektor. Butler told The Globe and Mail  "it's more of an art project. The idea is that it's a cultural space. The thing that we were really impressed with at Rhum Corner is that it's this space for Haitian and Caribbean culture and it's really cool and contemporary." Although this will be the pair's first restaurant, they've seen previous culinary experience when RaRa, a Haiti-produced coffee in concurrence with La Colombe Coffee, was revealed.

Agrikol's kitchen will be manned by the head chef at Rhum Corner, Jesse Grasso, who worked with Jean's sister and traveled to Haiti in preparation for his latest food-related task. Agg explained that authentic flavor is key and that the food will be cooked with MSG, "which is used in Haitian cooking in a real way, and we want to get rid of the stigma."