D Liche Cupcakes *FERMÉ DÉFINITIVEMENT*

You would have been hard pressed to imagine an unlikelier way for Robert Plante and Ken Lee to have become Montreal’s cupcake pioneers. “I was working in finance, at Merrill Lynch, and Ken was director of product development in the pharmaceutical industry; we had busy careers that were light years away from what we do now. During a trip to Vancouver in 2000, we came across a cupcake shop, and fell head over heels for those delightful little treats. You have to remember that the trend hadn’t caught on at the time – it was nowhere in Montreal,” Robert recalls.

Upon returning to Montreal, the couple has trouble finding worthwhile interpretations of their new favourite treats in stores. “So we started making our own, creating and perfecting recipes. We would bring them to dinner parties, and all kinds of events; eventually, word of mouth got around, and orders followed suit. The phone started ringing more and more often, and then we got our first big order for a wedding, then a Cirque du Soleil event, then Hydro-Québec came around. We quit our jobs and set up Simplement D Liche on Saint-Denis, and just kept growing from there; we now have a staff of ten and an ever-expanding range of cupcakes and other treats.”