OUR STORY · JEAN-TALON EAST, SINCE 2004
A father's craft.
Smaïn learned pastry from his father, in Algiers. Since 2004 he has made it every morning on Jean-Talon East, in the heart of Petit Maghreb, with his wife. The way of doing things has not moved: everything is made in house, by hand, in small batches, and a syrup pastry is still cut from the tray in front of you.
- ALGIERS · THE APPRENTICESHIP
The craft comes from the father
Smaïn learns the craft from his father, in Algiers. Semolina rubbed by hand, almond paste, syrup watched to the thread, orange blossom: everything made here today comes from there. Forty-five years of craft later, his hands still do the shaping.
- 2004 · MONTREAL
The arrival
Smaïn arrives in Montreal in 2004. On Jean-Talon East, between Saint-Michel and Pie-IX, Maghrebi businesses have been settling one by one since the early 1990s, drawn by modest rents and a growing community. The street does not have a name yet. It will become Petit Maghreb.
- 2004 · 3640 JEAN-TALON EAST
The opening
The same year, Trésors Sucrés opens at 3640 Jean-Talon East. A small shop, a few chairs, the morning papers, and a counter where a pastry sells for $1.50 apiece. Ramadan 2007: a passer-by photographs the window and writes under his picture “rihet el bled”, the smell of home. It is still what we hear most often.
- 2008 · 2021 · PETIT MAGHREB
A street that becomes a neighbourhood
A hundred merchants, a first association in 2008, a commercial development corporation in 2021: the house is one of those who, together, made these fifteen street corners Montreal's Petit Maghreb. Twenty years later, this is still where the neighbourhood comes for its celebration pastries.
- 2024 · IN THE PAGES OF THE MAIN
“Quietly essential”
Montreal magazine The Main describes the shop as one of the street's most quietly essential stops, run by Smaïn and his wife, where everything is made in house. We have nothing to add.
- 2026 · 3636 JEAN-TALON EAST
Two doors down
The house moves a few numbers down, without leaving the street. New shop, same counter, same morning batch.
THE ORIGINAL SHOP · 3640 JEAN-TALON EAST
“My family has been buying its Algerian pastries at Trésors Sucrés for over 20 years.”
MILESTONES
Opened at 3640 Jean-Talon East, in what would become Petit Maghreb.
Of craft, learned from a father, never delegated. Everything comes out of the shop's workshop.
Pastries online, one single price, $3.50 apiece, plus the honeyed ones by the tray.
On Google, 265 reviews. “It feels like Algiers.”
THE WORKSHOP
What we make, and how
The classics
Tcharek, makrout, dziriète, mchewek, arayech, mkhabez. Semolina, almonds, dates, honey, orange blossom. One price for every piece, because they all ask for the same care.
The honeyed ones
Kalb el louz, ktaef, ribbi, kunafa, khobz el bey. Baked by the tray, soaked in syrup while still hot, cut in front of you. These are the pieces people come for on Ramadan evenings and Saturday afternoons.
The big tables
Weddings, engagements, Eid, christenings. We build the tray with you, we hold the quantities, and we make sure it is ready on time. Griweche and zlabiya come back every Ramadan.
Trésors Sucrés
Trésors Sucrés is an Algiers-style pastry shop founded in 2004 in Montreal by Smaïn and his wife, both from Algiers, of Kabyle parents. First established at 3640 Jean-Talon East, it has occupied number 3636, two doors down, since 2026, in the Petit Maghreb district between Saint-Michel and Pie-IX boulevards.
The craft
Smaïn learned pastry from his father in Algiers and has 45 years of practice. All production is made on site, by hand, in small daily batches: some thirty traditional pieces (baklawa, kalb el louz, makrout with dates and with almonds, dziriète, tcharek, mchewek, samsa, mhencha), honeyed pastries baked by the tray, and orders for celebrations and weddings.
Recognition
The shop appears in The Main (2024) among the addresses that make Petit Maghreb, and Radio-Canada gave Smaïn the floor in 2022 on the neighbourhood's commercial life. It holds a 4.6 out of 5 rating on Google, over 265 reviews, and 5 out of 5 on Uber Eats.
The address
3636 Jean-Talon East, Montreal. Open 7 days a week, 8 am to 9 pm. Online ordering, pickup in store or delivery.
Taste what we just told you.
The counter is open 7 days a week, 8 am to 9 pm. Ordering online takes two minutes, pickup in store or delivery.