SubscribeDINNER March 2, 2008
This is my favourite restaurant in Montreal. You could easily miss it strolling down Laurier but this charming little space, all reds and light wood offset by linen and black and white photographs, is the perfect blend of refinement and comfort. Not too uppity but with all the bells and whistles of an upscale restaurant. The food complements the space. Chef Marc de Canck emphasizes the quality of ingredients and takes no short cuts in preparation. La Chronique consistently serves top notch cuisine in hearty portions. If I could, I would eat there once a week, but sadly this is not the case.
To close out the Montreal Highlights Festival, La Chronique laid out a special menu (La Chronique Bussonière) paired with a selection of wines by the glass. As it had been almost a year since a visit to my favourite restaurant, I was happy to snag a table.
We started with a quator of amuse-bouches. Escargots dumplings in a light garlic and parsley sauce a round of terrine on a crouton with thin sliced pickled beet, cod accras with homemade tartar and marinated salmon on a bed of black beans, sweet red peppers and green onion. The terrine, a little bland, was the only dull spot although the presentation with a razor thin round of beet reinforcing the shape of the terrine I thought quite nice. The accras was beautifully light and airy and the accompanying tartar delicious but apart from that it was good but not great. The amount of food served as an amuse-bouche was stupendous. This is usually a healthy-sized appetizer. Served with a F.X. Pichler Wachau Reisling 2003 from Austria.
I continued with the beef cheek ravioli topped with a selection of panfried wild mushrooms and a demi-glace. Sinfully delicious. I find La Chronique’s deft handling of sauces second to none and cannot get enough of this dish. Served with a Cascina Adelaida Amabilin Barbera d’Alba 2005.
The one disappointment (and to be honest the only real one I have ever had in this restaurant) was the coffee and smoked paprika rubbed lamb gigotin served atop a candied fruit pastilla. The gigotin is essentially a deboned souris (lower shank) crusted, browned and roasted. I found mine overly cooked and the coffee rub only added to the dry granularity of every mouthful. The idea to pair it with the pastilla was an interesting sweet and savory match but I had a hard time getting over the meat. In all fairness, those who took the black cod or the blackened duck breast were raving about them, so this whole gigotin episode may just be the exception that proves the rule. Served with Vin de Pays L’Herault Mas Laval 2005.
Dessert was a trio of chocolate desserts featuring the obligatory fondant au chocolat and a chocolate creme brulee, both of which were very well made. The third, a milk chocolate mousse round with a chewy caramel interior served on a chocolate cookie base and topped with cinnamon ice cream was excellent.
Until next year’s Montreal Highlights Festival….adieu…
La Chronique
99 Laurier W.
514.271.3095
