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DINNER April 30, 2010
We’ve already seen some interesting restaurants open further and further from the city center (notably Michel Ross’ Mas Cuisine) but Marc-Andre Royal’s new restaurant way up in Ahuntsic was by all accounts bringing fine dining where it had not tread before. Fleury Street, with its mix of little independent stores and apartments actually has a sleepy charm that is somewhat punctured by the hip (in a Laval way) crowd drawn to Le St-Urbain. The restaurant, located in what once housed a fruit store, looks a bit thrown together. An open kitchen at the back and a wall size blackboard dominate a sizable dining room featuring modern chairs matched with melamine wood tables. Mass produced vintage prints, bits of wine crates, assorted knick-knacks and dim lighting give the room an unassuming but welcoming feel. The best tables line the immense windows fronting on Fleury where one can check out the locals walking their dogs whilst eating dinner. This isn’t a slick restaurant but the space feels relaxed and comfortable. The crowd is eclectic, though tending to older, the music is varied, the restaurant is packed and mackerel wafts out of the kitchen and throughout the room. In a word, this is the place to be on Fleury.
In Montreal, where a French backbone, a few local ingredients, a variation on poutine and a chef with a couple of tattoos is often all you need to get critical acclaim, the accent is not on innovation. But Le Saint-Urbain is a rare local restaurant that tries to push the envelope through the tedium of French bistro-inspired cuisine. First up is a poached egg with pork belly, sunchoke puree and truffle sauce. Initially, the sunchoke overpowers everything else, but the combination of some of the flavours in this dish work really well together. The richness of the egg, pork and puree are set off by the sharp earthiness of the sauce and the acidity of lightly dressed greens and seasonal fiddleheads. The combination of ingredients is confident but the technique is a bit of a letdown: the egg is a little undercooked, the pork charred in a couple spots and the plating a tad clumsy. Interesting, but does not feel fully developed.
A salad of roasted beets, asparagus, fiddleheads, hazelnuts and Comte sounds like a dog’s breakfast, but once again the kitchen works the ingredients together nicely with a well balanced (and not too acidic) orange vinaigrette and crunchy croutons. A beautiful presentation and a dish that, overall, feels much more accomplished. A huge fried sweetbread, served with a tumble of fiddleheads, braised chard and carrots, features a crisp exterior and creamy interior. However, the accompanying disc of potato and the jus are underseasoned and underwelming. Another dish that is not bad, without being great. A smoked halibut fillet served on celeriac puree with asparagus, chorizo and a sauce vierge, lives up to its billing. The fish is reminiscent of the food Royal used to serve when he was in charge of Brasserie Brunoise, although with an added layer of complexity. No complaints but no fireworks either.
Desserts feature a verrine of lemon cream with whipped goat cheese and cardamon puffed rice which gets top marks for being not too sweet and offering up some interesting flavour combinations. Also very good were the piped beignets, like skinny churros, served dusted with cardamom icing sugar on a slab of granite with a dark, salty caramel. The beignets are light, not greasy at all and the caramel has a great complexity and a nice salty-sweet balance. Perhaps the best part of the meal.
The service is professional and attentive and the wine list, geared towards the affordable and by-the-glass choices, is accessible (even if our waiter’s suggestions were less than stellar). Two can partake in a meal here for $150 (all in, with tip) which, while it might not be a steal is a lot less than a dinner of this quality might set you back in a more central part of the city. Maybe if I had wandered into Le St-Urbain and had a meal this ambitious I would be a little more enthusastic, but after hearing the local food media wax poetic about Le St-Urbain for the last few months, I have to admit I was expecting a lot more. Mr. Royal has created something very solid in Le St-Urbain and, while it might be brightening up Fleury, it doesn’t seem to be the world beater it has been made out to be. Still, kudos must be dispensed for pushing the envelope and doing it well. That alone is enough for me to gladly return for a second meal.
Le St-Urbain
96 Fleury W.
514.504.7700
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you sound too philosophical at times, when describing food. we just need to know if it is good or not. also felt that you went there with just this in mind: ‘”but after hearing the local food media wax poetic about Le St-Urbain for the last few months” which automatically always takes some points out from your dinner experience.
It is rarely as simple as saying whether the food is good or not, because it usually isn’t really good or really bad, but rather falls within a big band of average. I went expecting fireworks and did not get them, but on there is lot more good than bad when it comes to Le St-Urbain.