Inside Marché Mon Pitou: How This “Café” May Redefine Vancouver's Hospitality Scene
It’s no secret that Vancouver has a competitive hospitality industry. While this has unearthed some truly impactful gems it’s also fair to say that it has had an equally stifling effect on innovation. Occasionally, though, leaders emerge whose paths, unconventional, compelling, and deeply personal, reshape the city’s culinary landscape. Triet Duong and Jesse Jonathon Hawes, co-founders of Marché Mon Pitou, exemplify precisely that kind of panache and leadership.
The charming café-bistro hybrid in South Granville, beloved for its elegant Parisian aesthetic and bustling vibe, has swiftly become a Vancouver hotspot since its launch amid the height of the pandemic in February 2021. But the journey behind this success story stretches far beyond perfectly executed pastries and impeccably curated interiors. That story is rooted in authenticity and a radical approach to blending personal heritage with contemporary hospitality.
In his own way, and not entirely by choice, a career in hospitality started early for Triet Duong who learned entrepreneurship from the ground up. Growing up in his parents’ Vietnamese grocery store, My Tho Supermarket, Triet’s earliest memories involve resting on bags of rice and sorting through shipments of durian and exotic Southeast Asian ingredients. Triet vividly recalls the intensity of delivery days: “Thursdays were the double whammy. We’d receive shipments from Thailand in the morning and Vietnam by afternoon, both having flown overnight.”
The small, bustling grocery on Vancouver’s East Side didn’t just provide a livelihood for Triet’s family; it became an important education for a young son. Triet watched as future culinary icons, including chefs Angus An of Maenam and the Nguyen family of Anh and Chi fame, frequented the shop to hand-select rare ingredients. His parents, Vietnamese refugees who pioneered Southeast Asian produce imports into Canada, instilled in him invaluable lessons from within their store. “From age ten, I was literally behind the register, dealing with customers, vendors, and learning to navigate difficult conversations,” expresses Triet. In this environment he developed timeless skills and traits like courage, negotiation skills, and multilingual adaptability, all of which have become important parts of his powerful hospitality toolkit.
This education was especially critical because there were times where Triet’s parents would return to Southeast Asia to source ingredients and negotiate with their vendors. “I remember my dad or my parents would take me out of school,” Triet shares. “We would go to Thailand, go to Vietnam, meet the vendors, meet the farms, because we have special requests from the chefs here. We’d be gone for a month at a a time.”
While these experiences proved formative, at the time they belonged to a very different perspective. “Back then, I just helped Angus carry groceries to his car,” Triet laughs. “I had no idea who he was!” Now it's like, oh, this beautiful restaurant in Kits - that's yours, oh, this other restaurant is yours.”
Nonetheless, these interactions embedded an entrepreneurial spirit in Triet, along with a deep appreciation for authentic food cultures - all of which continues to shape his hospitality attitudes today.
On the other side of the partnership, Jesse Hawes’s route to prominence took a markedly different path. Originally from Ontario, Jesse spent nearly a decade as a WestJet flight attendant before stepping into hospitality entrepreneurship. His vibrant, charismatic approach and keen eye for design quickly positioned him as the creative force behind Mon Pitou’s unique blend of sophistication and accessibility.
When Jesse and Triet first conceived Marché Mon Pitou, they envisioned more than just a café. They aimed for something experiential, bold, and deeply personal. Jesse explains, “Triet and I wanted to create a space we would want to spend time, which was sort of a blend between a grocer, a café, a bistro. We wanted something comfortable for everyone, from Gen Z to our people and older.”
The café-bistro has its inspiration in France. Triet and Jesse have been together for 10 years and one of their deeply mutual passions is the country famed for romance, design, food, and wine. “We go probably every season, every quarter. We love it,” Jesse beams. “We wanted to bring a slice of that to Vancouver.”
Mon Pitou translates to "my pooch" in colloquial French-Canadian, a playful nod to Jesse’s childhood nickname and their two beloved English Bulldogs, Roux and Jelly Bean. It’s a subtle yet intentional branding which exemplifies their business philosophy: meaningful stories drive lasting customer relationships.
Jesse recently expanded this personal branding approach with the launch of his lifestyle brand, Jonathon Hawes, which seamlessly integrates Mon Pitou’s café culture with curated apparel and home goods. "The Jonathon Hawes brand is an extension of everything customers experience at Mon Pitou: recipes, playlists, fashion," he explains. The merging of these two deeply personal brands reflects a broader trend in hospitality, leveraging authenticity and storytelling to cultivate deep brand loyalty.
The partnership between Triet and Jesse thrives precisely because of their diverse backgrounds and complementary strengths. Triet’s operational savvy harmonizes perfectly with Jesse’s creativity and marketing flair. They recognize this synergy as their strategic advantage.
Their carefully executed menu, known for standout items such as the grilled cheese with tomato bisque and turkey and beef sandwich, is concise yet exceptionally well-curated. “Triet and I only serve food that we genuinely love,” Jesse affirms. Their coffee, sourced from JJ Bean, aligns with their emphasis on local collaboration, while their pastry program, small and selective, is praised city-wide for consistent quality. But beyond food and drink, it's Mon Pitou’s cultural ambience that has made it a hidden gem in the city.
Perhaps the most striking element of Mon Pitou’s rise is how Triet and Jesse have maintained authenticity while scaling their business through a tumultuous start. Bravely launched in the middle of Covid, they have had to overcome labor shortages, inflation, and post-pandemic industry instability. To their credit, Triet and Jesse’s ability to retain loyal staff and earn more and more passionate customers is outstanding. Triet’s HR experience, combined with lessons from his entrepreneurial parents, proves invaluable. “We learned early how critical courage and communication are to running a successful business,” he asserts. “There is this level of humbleness to it when I'm running Mon Pitou.”
As Marché Mon Pitou evolves, Triet and Jesse remain deeply invested in their roots and community. Triet continues to highlight Vancouver’s Asian culinary traditions through ongoing collaborations, sourcing partnerships, and active community engagement. Jesse, meanwhile, plans to expand the Jonathon Hawes brand, further bridging hospitality and lifestyle retail.
Marché Mon Pitou stands today as a striking example of what bold and visionary entrepreneurship, anchored by authenticity and heritage, can accomplish. For Triet and Jesse, the upcoming years promise even greater influence, setting trends rather than following them, and redefining the very concept of elegant, intentional, and fiercely authentic hospitality in Vancouver.
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