Tag Archives: laloux

Props for Foodlab in the New York Times

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The New York Times says Foodlab doesn’t engage in molecular theatrics, “just an openness to experimentation.” It’s a nice shout-out for a venture which is not even a year old yet.

I blogged about the departure of Michelle Marek and Seth Gabrielse from Laloux last fall. The laboratory for food was a concept that SAT (Society for Arts and Technology/la Société des arts technologiques) embraced to serve as a kind of intersection of food and performance.

The Times:

A recent visit took place during a Middle Eastern phase and included a mezze platter of thick, creamy labneh, baba ghanouj with tart pomegranate seeds, and a sweet red pepper muhammara dip, all served with fresh grilled flatbread. A simple salad of grilled calamari flavored with tangy chermoula on top of slightly charred cherry tomatoes and zucchini paired perfectly with the tart fruit and acid of a Guy Breton Beaujolais. Dessert was a delicate rhubarb compote sandwiched between two pieces of crispy phyllo, topped with cardamom-spiced cream and drizzled with honey.

The food sounds delicious, and the Foodlab twitter feed has a pile of photographic evidence to back that up.

Eating Montreal, v8.0

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I’ll be in Montréal from 12/16-25 with friends, my eighth Christmas holiday in the city. This is part of what comprises the longest vacation I take during the year, and I make the most of it.

Days in Montréal are easy: breakfast at the auberge, an activity like a museum visit to occupy the morning hours, a trip to the gym, a trek to Café Myriade for afternoon coffee, and cocktails leading to dinner, followed by an hour or two with a good book before bed.

The activity that gets the most attention in the planning process, and much of our attention during the holiday, is dinner. Me and my friends love good food and wine, we are omnivores, and our most relaxed time of the day is sitting around a table filled with great food and drinking wine and talking, sometimes for hours.

Every year, I publish my dining itinerary. It’s not the first word on Montréal dining, nor is it the last. My dining schedule isn’t the list of the best restaurants in the city. Some of those are not on the list by design. After months of reading, asking friends who live in Montréal, and juggling restaurant and holiday schedules, it becomes my personal statement about what I like to eat, and the way I think the city expresses itself at the table.

And what is the essence of Montréal? In my personal view, the city is warm, friendly, convivial, welcoming; when work is done, it knows how to have a good time; many of the formalities of city life are smiled away by locals, who are relaxed and who take having a good time seriously.

Yet again, I’ll stop before the generalizations become too thick and brittle. But, over the years, my list of restaurants has been shaped by my effort to celebrate and absorb this aspect of life in Montréal.

Practically speaking, what’s the approach? A small number of signature fine dining experiences, no more than three in number; and a series of bistro meals at good restaurants that capture a portion of that spirit of Montréal that is so important to me.

So, Montréal Dinners v.8, with commentary:

  • 12/16 Garde Manger: I’ve been checking this restaurant out of the corner of my eye for a few years – it’s 4 doors down from the auberge where I stay. Chuck Hughes has been so exposed that there’s a risk that someone going here is stepping into a TV version of a restaurant. But I like the atmosphere, I like how Hughes cooks and his sensibility in the kitchen, and I think it’s worth a trip.
  • 12/17 Nora Gray: Some alums of Liverpool House have opened Nora Gray. It’s new, it’s Italian, it’s had a very positive review, and a whole slew of complaints on Yelp. I thought the complaints were not credible – either one time issues (a bad night) or customers who are clearly plagued by their own demons. I was impressed by the newspaper review. I asked a friend in Montréal whom I trust implicitly because he has great taste, and he had dined there several times and was effusive in his praise. I expect this to be one of the best meals we have there.
  • 12/18 Le Chien Fumant: This same friend highly recommended Chien last year, and we had such a good time, we tried to go back again, but couldn’t because it closed for the holidays. We’re back again this year.
  • 12/19 Le Local: I wasn’t entirely convinced about Local when I ate there the first time in 2008, but I think the food is more solid now.
  • 12/20 Les 400 Coups: Marc-André Jetté, Patrice Demers and Marie-Joseé Beaudoin have dazzled us for 4 years, as we’ve followed them on their trek through the city: Laloux, Newtown and now at their own Les 400 Coups in Old Montréal. Jetté and Demers can invent and dazzle in the kitchen, with elegance and a surprising assurance given their relative youth. This will be our fifth dinner at their hands – we loved our dinner at Laloux so much in 2008 that we went back two days later.
  • 12/21 Liverpool House: Everyone crowds Joe Beef, and it certainly is a quintessential Montréal experience. But litte sister Liverpool House is next door, it’s smaller, has a higher ratio of locals to tourists, and to me it’s a part of the essence of Montréal, with tremendous pub food, and a Quebecois twist. (yes, that’s horrendous, but you know what I mean.)
  • 12/22 DNA: This will be another highlight of the trip – our fourth dinner here. And each time, we never know what to expect, except that we know we’ll eat at least one thing we might not have considered edible before this encounter, and we know the tasting menu will be fantastic, in one of the only restaurants that looks like a Borg ship.
  • 12/23 Osteria Venti: This is a new restaurant in Old Montreal, in a wonderful space that used to host a very nice food and wine establishment, unfortunately named Stew Stop. Marie-Claude Lortie of La Presse wrote earlier this year that innovation isn’t the hallmark of this restaurant, but if you’re looking for simple, delicious Italian food, you’ve found it. She describes tasty charcuterie plates, and melt-in-your-mouth ricotta gnocchi, and perhaps a too simple tomato sauce. Chef Michele Forgione has a good reputation, and I’d like to see what he’s up to. And frankly, I have fond memories of this space.
  • 12/24 Bonaparte: Christmas Eve is about one thing – tradition. And we always return to Bonaparte for a traditional Quebecois French meal, impeccably created and served in the restaurant’s grand dining room.

Perhaps at some point, I’ll produce a separate list of the best restaurants in the city – as opinionated as this one.

A Few Dinners Past

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Michelle Marek and Seth Gabrielse, formerly of Laloux, are in a new space, literally and figuratively.

The two have joined Foodlab, a venture created by the SAT in Montreal to promote innovation in cuisine, as well as the intersection of food and performance.

Mirror reports on the opening and provides a description of a recent event:

Intérieur, a recent dance show performed in the SAT[osphère], the huge dome atop the SAT. The dancers served food to the audience, four courses in total, at specific moments during the perform­ance. The food was designed to match the atmosphere of the performance. “At one point, as a character descends into madness, we sent out a dish with Szechuan peppercorns,” says Marek. The peppercorns’ strange flavour and mild anaesthetic effect bewildered the unsuspecting audience, as did the character’s downward spiral.

It’s also a restaurant, albeit one based on a spartan aesthetic. Foodlab is open Wednesday through Saturday.

This feels like a big move for these two chefs, and a risk. It’s worth watching.

What’s happening at Laloux? If nothing else, this restaurant is accustomed to chef turnover. Jonathan Lapierre-Réhayem is now in charge. His credits include La Montée de Lait and Au Cinquième Pêché. Stéphanie Labelle replaces Marek as pastry chef.

A check of a couple of menus indicates a return to a somewhat more traditional bistro menu at Laloux – Gabrielse had introduced some Moroccan flavors to the menu.

Notes:

Montreal’s Place in the Dining Scene

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Here’s a provocative opinion from Chowhound:

There are also more Michelin one star-like restaurants in the 6.5 million Bay Area than in the 3.5 million Montreal area, and SF has more money and wealth to spend on fine restaurants. Having said all that, for foodies Montreal is a more interesting place than SF, in my opinion.

It comes from someone who identifies as a part-time resident of both cities. (Oh to be her or him!) Here’s the key takeaway from the post:

… The key to Montreal isn’t the Michelin angle, but rather the literally dozens of outstanding bistros and upscale/re-invented comfort food establishments, most of them relatively informal, yet often delivering presentations that would compete favorably with a lot of the SF Michelin restaurants. Overall, Montreal’s dining scene is both more exciting AND more innovative than the SF scene.

This is something that we really took to heart on our latest trip to Montreal in December ’10. We pursued a couple of the “high-end” dining experiences like Toqué, which is really quite wonderful. But we made an extra effort to seek out even more of the bistro restaurants than before, and we were amply rewarded with unforgettable experiences at Le Chien Fumant, Liverpool House, and even Laloux, which didn’t strike us as quite the brilliant restaurant it had been in 2008 and 2009.

I’ll have more to say about those meals, but I wanted to throw this your way, if you’re planning your meals in Montreal. And be sure to consider the recommendations in the post I’ve linked: Les 400 Coups (we LOVED it), La Porte, Cafe Ferreira.

Montréal Holiday v7.0: 30 days away

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A month from today, we’ll be on our way to Montréal for 10 days in the city – our longest trip there. Here’s an update.

The restaurant plan: thus far, reservations are in place for Toque!, DNA, Les 400 Coups, and Bonaparte. I expect more reservations for Laloux (11/28 now made) and Au Pied de Cochon this weekend, with some “gap-filling” over the next couple weeks.

  • 12/17 Toque!
  • 12/18 DNA
  • 12/20 Laloux
  • 12/21 Les 400 Coups
  • 12/24 Bonaparte

Another note, while I’m here: Marie-Claude Lortie has an interesting review of DNA in La Presse. Push it through Google Translate if you need to, it’s worth reading.

I’ll leave late morning on 12/17 and should arrive mid-afternoon in Montréal. My friends, my now perennial holiday revelers in the city, arriving late Thursday.

High Praise for Eric Gonzalez at L’Auberge Saint-Gabriel

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Eric Gonzalez has been in the kitchen at The Saint-Gabriel for about 10 months now, so it’s time for the critics to descend. Robert Beauchemin has… and his review in La Presse is laudatory.

A word about Gonzalez. His resumé includes Lutetia, Cube (where I first encountered him, on Cube’s final night in 2006), XO, and Laloux (my second encounter with him, in 2009). The reviews of all the restaurants under his care have been generally quite positive, and I loved the Cube and Laloux dinners.

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photo: gravlax with celeriac puree and granny smith apple, served with the Gerard Boulay 2008 Sancerre (Laloux 12/19/2009)

Beauchemin writes that, after Cube, Gonzalez had a sojourn through the wilderness, in the rococo St James Hotel (XO) and at the small bistro in the Plateau (Laloux). Well, whatever the case, Gonzalez is back in the old city and according to Beauchemin, is winning converts with his cooking – it looks simple and rustic, but in your mouth, what you taste is subtlety and skill.

Read the review… throw it up against Google Translate if your French is rusty. We’re planning to eat there in December and I’ll report back with details and pics.

Planning for Montréal at the Holidays, v 7.0: Dinner

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photo: braised veal with polenta, Restaurant DNA, 2010-12-22

With 92 days remaining before the annual Christmas trip to Montréal, here’s the dinner plan:

2010 Working Restaurant List

There are a number of other restaurant possibilities waiting in the wings, among them Mas, 3 Petit Bouchons, Brasserie t!, La Fabrique, le Saint-Gabriel.

The usual holiday placeholders are present: Otto and Bonaparte… both of which are perfectly good choices for dining on Christmas eve and Christmas night. Making a first time appearance: Le Chien Fumant and les 400 coups, the new restaurant opened by Marc-André Jetté and Patrice Demers.

This list will change over the coming three months, and as we navigate restaurant holiday schedules. But this is where we start.

Laloux under Seth Gabrielse

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As a Chowhounder notes, Laloux seems to get more reviews than any other restaurant. Well, it’s the most stark example of the Chef Musical Chairs that occurred last year among a number of restaurants.

To recap, Marc-André Jetté and Patrice Demers left Laloux in May 2009 to relaunch Newtown, and Eric Gonzalez moved over to Laloux from XO. Both moves resulted in good reviews for Newtown and Laloux. We ate at Newtown and Laloux on December 19th and 20th 2009, respectively, and we loved both restaurants, giving a slight edge to Gonzalez’s stellar performance at Laloux.

Even as we dined there, Gonzalez had already announced he was leaving for a new project, which we now know is Auberge Saint-Gabriel in the Old City.

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Well, that was long.

So, here we are today, with Seth Gabrielse at the helm of Laloux. It’s his first time in charge of a kitchen but he’s had excellent training at the side of Racha Bassoul, who ran the long-closed, long-lamented Anise. (Bassoul joined Gabrielse at Laloux in February for a special dinner.)

Voir has published what looks to be the first major review of Laloux in its new, Middle Eastern-flavored version, and overall, it’s quite positive. The kitchen is “less spectacular” than it was under Gonzalez, writes the reviewer, but there’s praise for the subtle spicing of the new dishes, and there are still a few Laloux and bistro classics on the menu. Special notes for Michelle Marek, Laloux’s incomparable pastry chef, and well as the assistant sommelier Theo Diamantis. We met him in December and greatly enjoyed him. (Sommelier David Vincent is also brilliant.)

The Voir assessment: This is the kitchen of a promising young chef, who will only get better.

photo credit: Christine Bourgier

Trip Countdown: Dinner List

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With less than 40 days remaining before this year’s trip to Montreal for the holidays, the dinner plans are starting to fall into place. First, a reset: Each year, we spend the Christmas holiday in Montreal, with a trip of 6-8 days. We’ve done this since 2004. We do it because it’s relaxing, a nice time to reconnect with friends who join us, and it’s become, over time, its own holiday tradition. We like to eat good food, and so a big part of our planning for the trip is actually planning where we’ll eat. Each year, we choose a mix of favorite restaurants, as well as a few new ones to try. This year, with 8 nights to fill and perhaps a 9th, here’s the plan:

There are long-time favorites like Toqué and Au Pied de Cochon; restaurants we tried last year and enjoyed, like DNA and Laloux; new restaurants on the list, like Trois Petit Bouchons and Newtown; and the Christmas Eve tradition, Bonaparte. In the case of Newtown, we’re following the chefs, Marc-André Jetté and Patrice Demers, from Laloux to their new venue.

I’ve written about this before, but one of the factors Chuck considers when he’s working on the plans is the style and type of restaurants on the list. He likes a mix of “signature experiences” and homier fare. Naturally, he wants all of it to be good. Now, he’s figuring out whether we’re too heavy on a certain style of bistro cooking – expressed differently at each restaurant, but still similar in style and concept. If that’s the case, I expect we’ll see a replacement of the dinner for Monday night – jumping into one of the ethnic traditions, perhaps. More to come.

2009 holiday plans, v. 1.0

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Well, with only(!) 110 days left before the next trip to Montreal, and our sixth holiday spent in the city, our restaurant plan is beginning to take shape. Readers of this blog know that food matters a lot to us, and on a vacation where the goal is to relax and do little or nothing, planning meals takes center stage.

Each year, we choose a mix of old favorites, as well as new restaurants to try, and for our 8 dinners this winter, here are the 10 restaurants that have made the first cut:

  • Laloux
  • Newtown
  • DNA
  • Le Club Chasse et Peche
  • Toque
  • Mas Cuisine
  • Au Pied de Cochon
  • Restaurant La Chronique
  • Bonaparte
  • Otto

Favorites:

Laloux is now helmed by Eric Gonzalez, and the initial reviews are good, as expected. We ate his food at Cube in 2006. We went to Laloux twice in 2008 and loved it.

Newtown is where you now find Marc-André Jetté and Patrice Demers, lately from Laloux. Their review in the Gazette in July was more guarded, but we were so impressed at Laloux that we’ll head to Newtown.

DNA is impressive; we had an excellent meal there in 2008, and our friends enjoyed it again in May of this year. Plus it’s kind of fun to sit in a space that looks like a Borg cube and watch the holiday fireworks over the Old Port.

Toque has had its ups and downs with reviewers, but we’ve had two excellent dinners here in 2007 and 2008, so we’ll return. The wine list is also quite good.

Au Pied de Cochon – well, what can we say that hasn’t been said? A dinner here is de rigeur.

New Entrants:

La Chronique has floated around the planning list for a couple years now, and I think this will be the year when we give the bistro a try.

Le Club Chasse et Peche is another restaurant that’s landed on our restaurant list at least twice, only to drop off. Not a statement about the quality of its food, but more the result of difficult choices. 

Mas Cuisine is run by the former chef from Bruinoise, which was a restaurant we loved in 2006, now just a memory. Brunoise is still fresh in our minds, so we’ll hope for a repeat at Mas Cuisine.

Christmas Eve and Christmas Night: These two days present their own challenges, since so many restaurants close for one or both days. Hotel/Auberge dining options are usually reliable, and while Bonaparte and the W Hotel’s Otto aren’t what I would call stunning, each is reliably good. And as I’ve said so many times here, Bonaparte is kind of special on Christmas Eve, with its traditional, beautifully cooked, French/Quebecois food.

I’ll say more as we get closer and start working the list against our calendar and each restaurant’s plans around the holidays.