A Quebec traditional comfort food, the shepherd’s pie from restaurant Mâche (pictured above) in the Latin Quarter is definitely a hit for people avoiding the cold. With six different variations of the original classic of ground beef, corn and mashed potatoes, this spot is offering variations that include pulled pork, merguez sausage and veal.

Restaurant Biarritz on the Main offers up a seasonal menu that changes weekly. Reflecting what’s available at the market, the winter season sees its share of soul soothing menu options such as the pork belly confit with cauliflower puree, romanesco, currants and capers.

Baxo, located in the Old Port, serves up modern terroir inspired dishes in an atmosphere as rustic that is able to charm the snowpants off of winter. Not to be missed is the entrecote for two – served on their signature butcher block with seasonal root vegetables, this dish will help you hibernate well into the night.

There’s nothing like a big bowl of hot soup on a cold and blistery day to keep you warm. What’s even better is if that bowl of soup is piled high with barbecue pork, saucy braised beef. Nudo in Chinatown offers a dinner and a show – the show being your noodles being made in front of your eyes.

If it’s coming in after having a snowball fight, or fighting your neighbour for a parking spot dug out in a snow-bank, warming up with a hot chocolate is synonymous with winter. Nowhere does it better than Montreal’s primere “Chocolate Bar”, Cacao 70. Close to 25 different kinds of hot chocolate ranging from 29.2% purity, all the way to 100% (with or without alcohol), a definite chocolate lover and aficionado’s fantasy destination.

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FoodLab has been serving outstanding food in a very casual, trendy atmosphere for the past year. The menu changes every 2 to 3 weeks and is always centered around a specific theme: French Holidays, Japanese izakaya, etc. I sat down with Michelle Marek and Seth Gabrielse, the two talented chefs at the helm of FoodLab, for a Q&A session right before the big birthday event.

What was it like at the beginning?
Michelle Marek: We took a tour of the kitchen space a month and a half before it opened, it was in construction and we were planning it all out. But really, what we got was what we saw. The same empty, completely empty, space.
So when you started out, you didn’t even have the home ovens?
Seth Gabrielse: Nothing, no tables, nothing. We had a piece of the stage from downstairs.
MM: We covered it with a tablecloth just so it didn’t look so trashy.
How did you cook with no water?
SG: We cooked at my place and Michelle and I biked everything in.
And how long did it take before you had water and ovens?
SG: When we opened officially – because we did several events before FoodLab was launched – but when we opened officially, at that point, there was water at the bar area (several feet away) and we could use one third of the bar fridge.
Was there one single moment when everything came together for you?
MM: It’s a series of moments. We had a lot of nice experiences. We’ve been building something and we keep getting proof that, yes, this is still interesting and there’s still a lot that we can do. Despite our limitations, we’ve never let that stop us.
SG: There were moments at the beginning when we looked at our kitchen and realized that it would’ve taken 3 or 4 of the tech guys who work here about half an hour to dismantle it all as if it never existed.
MM: That’s a weird feeling.
SG: Now it’s fun because we see it becoming more permanent. And for me too, it was a series of events but one of the solidifying things was when we decided to start doing the themed-menus and we had a very positive response to them.
Can we expect the same kind of theme format for year 2?
SG: I think so.
MM: What freaked us out at first was not having some sort of direction. It’s literally impossible to work like that. There was no direction so we imposed this direction so at least there was a structure within the menus, because otherwise, it’s all over the place. We’re also looking forward to more collaborations next year, more festivals and more longer-running events.
In your wildest dreams, if there was no budget limit, what would you want? Who would you want cooking in your kitchen?
SG: This is not so wild and crazy but we would love to do an event with some of the old-timers of Montreal, some of the guys who pioneered this business. You know, James MacGuire, Joël Chapoulie, etc. It would be a lot of fun to bring some these guys together and do a meal with them.
MM: We’ve always wanted to do a big dance in the dome, open it up and have a dinner and dance event, but not techno dancing, more like ballroom. We’ve always wanted an educational element to what we do here so it would be cool to explore more workshops, more cooking classes or host these micro workshops here. The demand is there and it’s a neutral space in the city. We’re only open four nights a week so we are flexible and space is not an issue.

Until November 28, Foodlab will feature a Kamouraska menu inspired by a trip Michelle took to that region earlier this summer and then again a couple of weeks ago to collect ingredients which will be part of the menu. From November 29 to December 2 there will be a Quebec Christmas menu (Pea soup, tourtière, cretons, and a lot of traditional dishes will be on the menu at FoodLab while SOUK@SAT is taking place) and in December there will family-style set menus throughout the month for all your holiday parties. These will change on a weekly basis.

A

THE DETAILS

FoodLab, Society for Arts and Technology, 1201 Saint-Laurent Boulevard, 3^rd floor
Tuesday to Friday starting at 5pm

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In that spirit, we headed out to a different neighbourhood – downtown – to eat somewhere I’d usually be less likely to try, seeing as I live here– a hotel restaurant. And we ate well! We elected to try the TASTE MTL set-menu at Le Montrealais Bistro-Bar, the casual resto in the Fairmont Queen Elizabeth hotel. The bistro is open late and has lot of space for families and large groups.

Because it’s a hotel restaurant, there’s this pleasant in-transit feeling, like maybe I’m eating there because I’m about to go on an exciting trip. The menu is a four-course set-menu, with two choices for each of the courses. Since there were two of us, we were able to try one of everything.

Our menu started off with two refined entrees: A white-tuna and arctic char carpaccio that looked like a mosaic (very pretty), and a duck foie-gras crème brulee flavoured with sortilege (a maple-flavoured, whiskey-like spirit.)

Then, we both had a saffron shellfish bisque with this little fella, a Quebec crawfish, perched on top.

The mains were both refined and simple: A rack of lamb with salted herbs from the lower St-Lawrence region, so tender I could cut it with a fork, and a filet of sweet-salty black cod with a tomato, olive and caper sauce.

The desserts were quite special, too: A chocolate/meringue fondant and pistachio macaroon sandwiches with raspberry sorbet filling.

And all this, for under $40 per person! TASTE MTL goes until November 11, check out all of the menus here.

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Joining the league of extraordinary North American cities like New York, San Francisco and Vancouver who also host respective restaurant weeks, it came as no surprise when Montreal announced one of our own. For 11 days, November 1-11, TASTE MTL becomes Montreal’s inaugural restaurant week. Close to 100 restaurants scattered around the city are offering table d’hôte menus at $19, $29 or $39, showcasing Montreal’s finest talent, luring local foodies and visiting epicurean enthusiasts.

I visited Ferreira Café in the Downtown core – a popular upscale Portuguese restaurant.  Serving inspired and refined Portuguese cuisine; their “ocean-fresh” ideology resonates through all their signature dishes. If you’ve ever seen a restaurant menu that you’ve wanted one of everything, go with a friend and you’ll be able to tackle Ferreira Café’s Restaurant Week menu. Chef Tavares and team are offering a choice of two appetizers and two main courses as a part of their 11-day showcase.

Warm mushroom salad, truffle oil and Parmesan tuile. Served on a square of puff pastry, this dish is earthy and aromatic.  Toothsome bites of warm sautéed cremini and oyster mushrooms in a simple pan sauce. The mysterious notes of truffle linger long enough to be highlighted by the sharp Parmesan chip and its crunch.

Cured Mediterranean sea bass, yuzu and fresh coriander – thin slices of fresh sea bass topped with strips of next-to-candied yuzu.  The Japanese citrus awakens your palate as it intermingles with the bitters of diced radish and shaved celery tops.  The fish was sweet standing alone – a true testament to the quality and freshness of the fish.

Ferreira Café’s famous pork and clams. Slow-roasted and seared, the pork was fork tender and delicate as you make your way through the slightly crisp pan-sear. Briny little morsels of clams took on the richness of the braising liquid as did the potatoes did the rosemary from the roasted pork.

Pan seared fresh cod, “new potatoes”, roasted red pepper marmalade and a bouillabaisse broth. A thick cut steak of cod, the meat was supple and sweet. The savory marmalade balanced the broth whose spicy notes were reminiscent of Portuguese piri piri sauce. You could smell this dish coming.

For dessert, caramel and Ferreira white port flan.  The tartness of the berries were able to take away what we thought was an overly sweet flan.  However a great way to round out the back and end a great meal.

The Montreal Restaurant week – Taste MTL initiative is an amazing opportunity to explore Montreal’s culinary landscape featuring some of our city’s finest and most talented chefs and Ferreira Café’s refined menu is no doubt a great way to start a week of culinary hedonism.

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