Montreal en Lumière…
…It’s the most. Wonderful. Time. Of the year.
No, this has nothing to do with Kylie, but I find this version a little less inappropriately Christmas-y than the Andy Williams original.
What this is about is a city of great food taking a bleary week-and-a-half at the end of February and turning it into a gastronomic high season. It’s the time when restaurants figured they needed something to get bums in seats, so years ago they starting choosing a guest country, a guest North American City, a guest wine region (there isn’t one of these this year – it’s a free-for-all) and a guest area of Quebec and throwing a big party. Heck, they even tossed in a Nuit Blanche.
But who cares about an all-night contemporary art thing when Laloux is serving dim sum in honour of Shenzhen, China?
Not I.
Besides, why spend your evening pushing through crowds of drunken revellers when you could be slurping high-end dumplings? Throw in a little foie gras while you’re at it, thanks. Because that’s what Montreal’s all about – a little indulgence and just enough of a guilt-free attitude to enjoy it.
Now the only problem is choosing which of the many gastronomic events you’re going to check out this year. The festival is on from Feb. 18 to March 5 and covers a lot of gastronomic territory.
There are the mostly free Friday, Saturday and Sunday events at Complexe Desjardins and the Jean-Talon Market, which include free samples of Quebec cheeses, lamb from Laval, everything sea buckthorn and a cider competition.
And there are some lunches inspired by China, the guest country.
There are happy hours that have nothing to do with China and sometimes (but not always) something to do with Boston beer and crab cakes (the guest North American city, a handful of whose chefs will take over Montreal restaurants for a couple nights during the fest).
And there are the events that really make no sense at all, theme-wise, but could still be delicious – tiki style happy hour and all-you-can-eat raclette…not together. That’s just indigestion waiting to happen.
And then there are the heavy hitters – the $300 honorary president’s dinner (Chef Anthony Dong, the executive chef of Futian Shangri-La in Shenzhen who specializes in Huaiyang cuisine. Who in Montreal even knows what Huaiyang cuisine is?)
So to make your decision easier, here are my choices for the fest. I went through every food event (there are maybe 100?) and chose the ones where the bang for the buck, the novelty and the flavours seemed the most interesting. I took into account the Montreal restaurant that has to share its kitchen with the visiting chef (in the cases where there is a visitor) and I checked out the restaurants of those chefs to see what we might expect.
What you need to know for Montreal en Lumière 2016:
1. Guest city (international): Shenzhen, China
Guest city (North American): Boston, US
Guest Quebec region: Laval (previous years: Outaouais, Charlevoix)
2. Some meals run for the entire week and a bit, while others are one-night-(or day)only.
3. Tax and tip is not included in the price. Often wine isn’t either. For wine pairing dinners, expect to pay a heap more than the listed price unless the cost of the wines is listed too.
4. Some events are already sold out, so get your reservations ASAP.
Best Guest Chef dinners:
legs & eggs tiny maine lobster legs, black river ossetra caviar, tomalley aioli*
salmon unfiltered wheat soy moromi*
kinme dai ume, japanese plum vinaigrette, shiso*
kyoto style wild morel mushrooms bianchetti truffle
foie gras miso, preserved california meyer lemon
tennen madai white soy ginger, myoga, lemon oil*
santa barabara sea urchin & black river ossetra caviar*
dayboat scallop perigord black truffle, sake sea urchin jus, chervil*
shim aji leche de tigre, momiji oil, cilantro, cucumber*
ebi tamago garlic, shrimp, tarragon
foie gras nigiri balsamic chocolate kabayaki, raisin cocoa pulp*
Local Chef Dinners:
Lunches:
Europea’s five-course lunch for $35
Two dates of this week-long even are already sold out. Five courses at this temple of gastronomy, at this price? No wonder.
Three-course Boston-style lunch at État-Major – $22
If you ever needed a good reason to try a place a little off the beaten path, here’s one. Clam chowder, shrimp rolls, crunchy crab cakes and tacos from this French bistro helmed by an up-and-coming chef should be a good reason to go a few extra metro stops.
Le Quartier Général’s Chinese three-course lunch – $25
Aren’t you sick of people saying how much they love Le Quartier Général? Non? Me neither. So to jazz it up a bit, watch chef Jonathan Rassi create a three-course ode to Shenzhen. Who knows what that means? But it’s half the fun.
Brunch:
Wine pairing dinners where it’s really about the wines:
If you’ve never explored Sicilian wines, you should. You can find a handful at the SAQ these days, but if you want refreshing, balanced mineral whites and sunny but sleek reds, here your chance to try them paired masterfully with a gourmet meal.
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