Mon Lapin: From Humble Natural Wine Bar to North America’s No. 2 Restaurant in 2025
MONTREAL — Mon Lapin has always punched above its weight. What began in 2018 as a 30-seat natural wine bar in Montreal’s Little Italy—just a stone’s throw from the Jean-Talon Market—was once considered a charming neighborhood outlier among the trattorias that line Saint-Zotique Street. Last night, it was voted the No. 2 restaurant in North America at the World’s 50 Best Restaurants awards, second only to Atomix in New York.
Humble beginnings
Founded by chef Marc-Olivier Frappier and sommelier Vanya Filipovic, ( Voted Best Somm in North America ) Mon Lapin quickly won over locals with its sophisticated French-Italian cooking rooted in Quebec’s seasonal bounty. From the outset, it drew lines out the door, prompting a doubling of its space in 2020. What hasn’t changed is its spirit: ingredient-driven cuisine paired with a fiercely curated list of natural wines.
Dynamic duo
Frappier and Filipovic, partners in life as well as business, built Mon Lapin on the belief that food and wine should work in conversation, not competition. Co-chef Jessica Noël joined to shape the restaurant’s evolving menu of small plates—dishes like honeynut squash with pig’s head and camelina, or salt cod tonnarelli with courgette and tomato ice cream—that balance creativity with comfort.
A natural wine pioneer
Filipovic, who was also named North America’s Best Sommelier 2025, has assembled one of the continent’s most distinctive natural wine lists. Instead of pages of luxury labels, the cellar champions producers like Jean-François Ganevat, Athénaïs de Béru, and Giuseppe Rinaldi, alongside grower Champagnes and rising names from Europe’s progressive winemaking scene. Through her import agency, Vins Dame-Jeanne, she has helped connect Quebec to small-scale producers whose bottles might otherwise never leave their villages.
For Filipovic, wine is never just a drink but a story: about the grower, the soil, the harvest. That philosophy has resonated not only with sommeliers and diners but with the wider restaurant community, where Mon Lapin has become a touchstone for natural wine culture in North America.
Beyond the restaurant
Filipovic also serves as president of Table Ronde, a collective working to elevate Quebec’s culinary identity. Her dual recognition this year—as both top sommelier and co-owner of the continent’s second-ranked restaurant—underscores how her influence has extended beyond her own dining room to shape a broader movement.
Recognition for a philosophy
Mon Lapin’s rise from a 30-seat bar to the No. 2 restaurant in North America highlights not just the ambition of its team but the growing appetite for natural wine and Quebec’s culinary voice on the global stage.
“She’s not just pouring wine,” a fellow chef remarked of Filipovic. “She’s connecting people to a way of thinking about food, land, and culture.”
With its place on the awards stage secured, Mon Lapin remains, at heart, what it has always been: a humble wine bar with a big story to tell.
