DINNER April 18, 2009

I feel pretty lucky lately. I had a great meal at La Chronique and finally had the opportunity to trek to Verdun for a meal at Michel Ross’ new restaurant, Mas Cuisine. I shed a few tears when Brunoise closed. It was that rare restaurant that provided culinary thrills without breaking the bank: modern, inventive cuisine backed up by a value-studded wine list and supported by excellent service. Sadly, it may have been too much of a good thing because, despite the accolades, Brunoise was apparently not a profitable enterprise.

And now that Obama has started this global recession, the economics of the restaurant business are not getting any better. A prime location, big staff headcounts and high end ingredients all command big bucks. Enter Mas Cuisine, where chef Ross handles the cooking, his wife Sandra Auger does the desserts and a couple of sharp, veteran waiters man the 30 or so seats in a low rent district in SoLaCa (south of Lachine Canal). Continue Reading…

LUNCH April 16, 2009

After my first visit to McKiernan my impression was pretty much what I had anticipated. Good, but not amazing, and not living up to the hype.  I’m not a big fan of either of this group’s other ventures, Joe Beef or Liverpool House, and McKiernan seemed painted with the same brush: fairly average food, barnyard hurricane decor and service ranging from nonchalant to arrogant–another stop for the hipster set.

McKiernan is impossibly small but exudes a certain disarrayed charm as a result. On one side of the storefront, a few tables with worn and chipped black paint play off an old school orange floor while the sandwich counter occupies the other side. Wine is stocked in crates overhead,  fishing odds and ends dot the wall from some unfortunate tackle box explosion and a blackboard at the back lists the menu. Continue Reading…

DINNER April 9, 2009

La Chronique is my favourite restaurant, but to be honest I don’t eat there often. A meal here can easily set a couple back $300 and since I need both of my kidneys I still can’t afford it on a regular basis. To be honest, my last couple meals here, one in the context of Montreal en Lumiere and a weekday lunch, had failed to transport me to the same heights as my first few meals here so it was with great excitement that I noted La Chronique is offering a new Sunday through Thursday 4 course/$49 chef’s menu.

Taking it in on a Thursday night, there is no ambiance. There is no ambiance because the restaurant is empty–four or five tables for the evening. That’s a shame, because the service is charming as ever. A little banter an exchange of witticisms and subtle clues about the top secret dishes the kitchen is preparing to turn out turns into an ad hoc discussion of the wines on offer. This is confident service but without a trace of snobbery, a rare commodity in this age of semi-literate wait staff. Continue Reading…

DINNER April 5, 2009

I have been to Vinizza a few times and like it well enough, but I was surprised when it started getting named to a bunch of “restaurant of the year” lists. To me, Vinizza is a value play.  The food is good, but not so amazing that it could bring you back in and of itself. And, while the service could make eastern Europe look charming by comparison, the wine is affordable and the prices ensure you don’t feel duped after eating here. If it wasn’t two blocks from my house, to be honest, I might never have had another meal at Vinizza. But it is close and I am glad to have given it a couple more whirls. Continue Reading…