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Q
Martin Lavertu
THE WINEMAKER
uéc
•
HOW A GROUP OF INTREPID CHEFS, PRODUCERS, GROWERS, RESTAURANTEURS AND HOTELIERS
IN QUÉBEC ARE REDIFINING THE WORD ARTISAN ITSELF. BY KAIL ASH MAHAR AJ
42 | FALL 2009 | citystyleandliving.com
COURTESY GROUPE GERMAIN
of
COURTESY GROUPE GERMAIN
T
he soft Gregorian chant of the
monks, as they begin mass,
reaches all the way to the last
pew where I am standing.
Facing me, the minimalist altar
flanked by two carved wooden
statues reminds me that I am in
Québec at L’abbeye de Saint-Benoît-du-Lac, and
not in France where the monastery’s origins lie.
The Benedictine monastery begun in 1912 in
Québec’s Eastern Townships overlooks Lake
Memphrémagog and only minutes away, beyond
the hills, Vermont. The chants here take a decidedly modern turn, much like the architecture. Designed by Dom Bellot, who was fond of repeating
forms and classic shapes, the monastery resembles Old French structures but its steel rafters and
abstract stained glass windows tell otherwise.
Reconciling the modern with the ancient is
something I had learned earlier that morning when
Brother Gilman and Dom Minier had taken me on
a tour of the cheese making facilities that have
made the abbey so well known in Québec. The
first cheese production here began in 1943 with
just one variety of blue cheese, Ermite. Since then
the abbey’s offerings have expanded and now include nine types of cheese.
Dom Minier’s sprightliness and Brother
Gilman’s sincerity are a dynamic combination as
we traipse from the bell tower to the grounds. At
last, we walk to an unassuming building behind
the monastery where the abbey’s cheeses are
made. It is a rare behind-the-scenes tour of the
only cheese dairy in North America run by Benedictine monks. The facility’s floors are made of a
material which can be disinfected and washed
down daily. Milk is brought in from local farms,
held in giant steel containers, pasteurized, turned
into cheese, stored, labelled and boxed up for shipping on site. Modern computerized technology
merges with old knowledge, and though the
process is mechanized workers oversee every
step. We even peek into ‘mission control’ where
all of the cheese is differentiated by the touch of a
button. “We are a small enterprise, but the first in
Québec to embrace technology like this. People
think we still churn everything here by hand, but
we’re in the digital age just like everyone else,”
explains Dom Minier.
We move inside where the monks have laid
out a tasting platter and Dom Minier grabs a bottle of the abbey’s apple cider (made on the premises using the champagne method) from the
fridge, which he jokingly refers to as Pepsi. He
cuts a slice of the firm ricotta made from pressed
whey. “We don’t have a competitor for this
cheese. Lots of people make a ricotta that must
be eaten the next day, but no one else can figure
out how to preserve it,” says Dom Minier. The
next cheese we taste is the Frère Jacques which
Dom Minier tells me children adore because of its
mild flavour and the cute cartoonish figure of a
sleeping monk on its packaging. Each cheese we
taste increases in flavour and depth. The Mont St.
Benoît is a semi-hard cheese with a slightly nuttly
flavour. “This is our best seller. It doesn’t really
fit any typical cheese category. It was made for
the taste buds of Québecers,” says Dom Minier.
He cuts the Archange a hard goat’s cheese that
Dom Minier calls, “unique in the world. I have
attended cheese conferences in France with cheese
makers from around the globe and no one else
makes a cheese like this.” Finally we taste the
award winning Bleu Bénédictin which is milder
than Roquefort. Brother Gilman says it is a
favourite in the monastery.
I marvel at the progressiveness at the abbey
(Brother Gilman says monastery is split between
PC and Mac users and Dom Minier tells me the
abbey is experimenting with geothermal energy).
The monks, have the ability to straddle the ancient Benedictine way of life while still remaining thoroughly in the present. It is the first of
many surprises on this journey.
The reason I have come to Québec is to meet
its artisans. I want to see how the renowned produce and goods of Québec – its cheese, wine, and
cider in particular are making its way onto the
plates and into the palettes of the province. I want
to see how artisans are plying ancient work in a
modern setting. There are other reasons for coming to Québec too. I was born and raised in Western Canada, where notions of the East run from
the indifferent to the abrupt to the downright unsympathetic. It is a region that still seems remote
to my Western Canadian sensibilities. Yet, even as
I have listened to the raised voices of the West, I
decided to go to French Immersion school where
all of my teachers came from Québec. It is a push
and pull between Eastern and Western Canada that
I have never completely resolved.
QUÉBEC CITY
UTOPIE
1/2-226 rue Saint-Joseph Est,
restaurant-utopie.com
LAURIE RAPHAËL
117 rue dalhousie,
www.laurieraphael.com
HOTEL LE GERMAIN
DOMINION
126 rue Saint-Pierre,
www. hoteldominion.com
HOTEL LE PRIORI
15 rue du Sault-au-Matelot ,
www.hotellepriori.com
BOUDOIR LOUNGE
RESTO CLUB
441 rue du Parvis ,
www.boudoirlounge.com
Opposite: Martin Lavertu with son Guillaume at his
vineyard; harvesting at Les Petits Cailloux; a platter
of cheese wine and pate; This page: Richard Germain; the patio of Hotel le Germain Dominon; the
sunny breakfast room at the hotel.
Richard Germain
THE HOTELIER
citystyleandliving.com | FALL 2009 | 43
Bernard Monna
THE PRODUCER
Daniel Vzina
COURTESY LAURIE RAPHAEL
THE STAR
44 | FALL 2009 | citystyleandliving.com
COURTESY LAURIE RAPHAEL
I
like the first thing that I see – the Saint
Lawrence River. Water deprived in Calgary,
the length and breadth of this enormous seaway is astounding, it runs nearly 1,200 kilometres
and is a constant reminder of Québec’s fur trading
past and commercial present. In Québec City residents assure me that I am only seeing the smallest, least grand bit of water here running between
the city and Levis, apparently in Gaspésie the
Saint Lawrence looks more like a sea. The impression the river gives is partly due to the new
Promenade Samuel-De Champlain completed in
2008, to mark Québec City’s 400 year anniversary –the quay was rebuilt, new bike paths laid
down and seating areas and gardens constructed
along its banks. My sister, who, like me, took
French Immersion at school and is accompanying
me on this trip, is equally impressed by Plains of
Abraham which overlooks the river. As she says,
“this is the only thing I remember from social
studies, of course I’m fascinated.”
The first ‘artisan’ I
meet is Richard Germain,
administrator of le Groupe
Germain which is headed
by his sister Christiane and
brother Jean-Yves, and includes hotel properties in
Toronto, Montreal, Québec
City and soon an office
tower complex complete
with hotel in Calgary. Germain is humble and unassuming, despite the list of
distinguished properties his
family owns. He has a way
of making you feel, after
only a couple of minutes,
like he is your kid brother.
He tells me about how his
Father started with a small restaurant in Sainte Foy
in the 1970s and eventually made a foray into the
world of real estate.
Germain is also general manager of Hotel le
Germain Dominion, an old stone building with red
accents in Old Québec. “Once this was the banking district, known as the Wall Street of Québec,”
says Germain who has an almost giddy love for
Québec City. Nods to the hotel’s banking past
come in the form of vault doors and floor plans
from the original building. The hotel prides itself
on details like a 24-hour coffee bar, lounging area
with library, and large family style communal
table in the breakfast room, all meant to make
guests feel like this is an intimate extended family
space. The Groupe Germain even has a catalogue
selling jams, chocolates, and bedding so that
guests can bring the hotel’s feel and look home.
Germain foresees hotels in every major Canadian
city in the future, for now, the hotel’s homey elements are a welcome contrast to mass market
hotel chains and the family operation remains utterly chic and hospitable.
Québec City’s breadbasket is île d’Orléans a
small island of 7000 people twenty minutes from
Québec City. Many chefs source their ingredients
from this Manhattan-sized island devoted almost
exclusively to agriculture. The microclimate on île
d’Orléans makes it possible to grow a wide range
of fruit (strawberries, black currants, among others), and cereals. It also allows for the production
of cider and wine. I could spend days visiting
farmers and producers on the island, relaxing in
the sun, driving by beautiful waterside homes
reminiscent of Anne of Green Gables on the south
side of the island, but somehow manage to pack it
all in to one day.
The first stop is Cassis Monna et Filles where
Bernard Monna along with his two daughters
Catherine and Anne are hands on in the black currant operation which makes four types of alcoholic drinks. There is Madérisé an aperitif which
is dry like sherry, crème de cassis which I recognized from my days in Dijon as an ingredient in
kir, capiteux which is a port style fortified wine
and fruité which is wonderful poured over ice
cream. The family began operating in 1992 and
Monna, a native of France was the first to make
black currant liqueur in Québec. It is currently a
member of the Economusee a consortium of artisans. My sister and I decide to have lunch at the Monna’s
small restaurant above the tasting
room. It is as if our lunch was made by
King Midas, if his malady had been
black currants instead of gold for
everything we touch contains black
currants. There are black currant cocktails, onion jam with black currant
syrup, black currant mustard, black
currant jelly, and for poetry black currants sprinkled over our salad. It is delicious and rustic. Between bites, I
gaze upon the sun reflecting on the Titana and Ben Lomond varieties that
stretch out before me, thinking this is
an haute picnic.
That afternoon we visit
Cidrerie Domaine Steinbach recovering after the
whirlwind of a tour group. There are dozens of
mustard stations ranging from sweet to spicy set
out around the tasting room. The Steinbach’s
moved from Belgium in 1995 and own a 4000 tree
apple orchard on île d’Orléans. The family makes
organic apple cider, vinegar, jellies, vinegars and
mustard and work closely with the University of
Laval to improve the organic farm’s cultivation
and biodiversity. Isle de Bacchus is situated along
the same road and we visit for a quick tasting of
the estate’s three wines. The name of the winery
comes from Jacques Cartier, the European explorer who, in 1535 christened île d’Orléans Isle
de Bacchus because of the abundance of Riparia
vines growing wild on the island.
At dinner that evening I chat with Head Sommelier Jean-Sébastien Delisle of Utopie, an upscale restaurant in downtown Québec City. Next
door, Le Cercle, which shares the same ownership, is a wine bar, concert venue and art gallery
where, Delisle says, guests “come for the show
experience. Here at Utopie they come for the
food.” Judging from the immense wine cellar that
Delisle calls, “user-friendly because it is no problem to open by the glass” and Delisle’s fastidious
attention to wine, it may be said that guests come
for the food and wine. “Wine pairing is a major
We have a
Quec cuisine
because we have
Quec
oducts.
aspect of the experience. I’m always searching for
new pairings based on our menus,” concedes
Delisle, “but we don’t have a wine list per se.”
Utopie excels not only at pairing wine with
food but also using wine as the basis of one of the
restaurant’s three menus. Tonight, the menu revolves around Sangiovese. Dishes like pearl barley risotto with black olives and suckling pig with
balsamic mostarda and white truffle infused polenta are expressly concocted by the chef to accompany the wine selection. All menus including
the tasting menu of nine courses and the à la carte
begin with an amuse bouche. Chef and sommelier work in concert. “Chef and I have a close relationship. The menus are built on teamwork.
There are two artists - the liquid artist and the solid
artist,” relates Delisle.
Delisle may be an artist, but he also believes,
“a sommelier is a machine in the making” which
may explain his carefully dissection of every aspect of wine. Ask him about biodynamic wine
and he is ready with a mini-dissertation. “In
essence, it is something to pursue. It is the countercurrent to technology and I think it is important
not to forget what the ancients did on an empirical level.” With regard to tasting he expounds,
“You taste wine from the inside out, from your
emotions first and then you analyze it.” Echoing
what I had heard at the abbey, he believes wines
should make the best of tradition while allowing
for modern conveniences. When I ask about artisanal wine he responds, “The best wine maker is
the best observer. With handmade wines love is
put into the product. It’s made by humans for humans. The feeling is so important.” Delisle’s approach to wine is most likely the result of his
degree in political science which makes him a
wine activist. He is equally passionate about the
environment noting that the restaurant is on the
Suzuki plan.
Opposite clockwise from top left, A rustic lunch at
Cassis Monna et Filles; Bernard Monna; scallops
with strawberries at Laurie Raphaël; the dining room
at Laurie Raphaël;exterior of Hotel Le Priori; guestroom at Hotel Le Priori; Daniel Vézina; the boutique at Laurie Raphaël.
ILE D’ORLEANS
CASSIS MONNA ET
FILLES
721 chemin royal,
Saint-Pierre,
www.cassismonna.com
DOMAINE STEINBACH
2205 chemin royal,
Saint-Pierre,
www.domainesteinbach.com
ISLE DE BACCHUS
1071 chemin royal,
Saint-Pierre,
www.isledebacchus.com
citystyleandliving.com | FALL 2009 | 45
MONTREAL
LE SAINT GABRIEL
426 rue St. gabriel,
www.lesaint-gabriel.com
SUITE 701
701 Côte de la Place d’Armes,
www.suite701.com
BOULANGERIE
PREMIÈRE MOISSON
ATWATER MARKET
138 Atwater avenue,
www.premieremoisson.com
Opposite clockwise from top left, Maxime Guertin
prepares to flambé; the church window at Boudoir
Lounge; Jean Soulard in his rooftop garden;the
Fairmont Le Chateau Frontenac; Oka cheese fritters at Le Saint Gabriel; the exposed stone interior
of Le Saint Gabriel; Jean-Sébastien Delisle of
Utopie; maple trees are a focal point at
Utopie;roasted New Brunswick salmon with goat
cheese sauce at Boudoir Lounge . Below, a cheese
platter accopmanies Domanie Pinnacle’s Crème
des Pommes; Susan Reid Crawford.
Susan Crawford
THE CIDERMAKER
46 | FALL 2009 | citystyleandliving.com
It is during the last twenty minutes of our
conversation however while speaking about
everything from travel, to politics, to the time he
spent in Edmonton that I hear from the man behind the machine. He says his travels have
taught him that everyone is really the same and
we have more in common than we realize. In a
last minute of candour he reveals, “In Québec,
we have the patisseries and the French passion
and from the English we get the discipline.” It
is a surprising revelation, the sort of pointed remark that in an instant erases divisions between
Eastern and Western Canada.
N
o one here is pretentious despite their accomplishments so I learn one day when
I go to meet Daniel Vézina at his Quebec City restaurant Laurie Raphaël named after
his two children (he has another restaurant of the
same name in Montréal) . The restaurant is effortlessly stylish, the décor self-assured. The
layout representative of Vézina’s various roles –
there is a main dining room; a boutique shop
selling local kitchen tools, jams, jellies and
books; an atelier where Vézina gives five-hour
long cooking classes twice a week; and the bar
area.
For a chef who has achieved star status in
Québec, with cooking shows, books and restaurants, I expect that Vézina had long ago left the
kitchen. As I wait to speak with him, I peer
through a small window in the dining room that
looks onto the kitchen and see him working.
“Being a chef means being at ease in the kitchen,
going shopping, wandering the markets, knowing how to handle a knife – all of it,” explains
Vézina when we meet. He is a guy’s guy, with
what I can only describe as a deeply masculine
personality. He is without airs or pretense noting that people come up to him in the street and
pat him on the back greeting him with a friendly
hello. “If I’ve done anything in Québec it has
been making great cooking accessible to everyone. I’ve taught people that fine dining is also
taking a carrot from the garden, and cooking it to
perfection with a little bit of butter,” says Vézina
noting that television has given him the forum
to teach. I see this relate-ability firsthand, when,
after only a short time I am taken as compatriot
– Vézina giving me suggestions for the remainder of my trip.
Vézina’s rigour in the kitchen stems from a
difficult childhood where he saw cooking as a
way out. “I was a real gourmand as a kid. Even
when I was very little I would tell my Mom what
improvements to make on her cooking – more
salt, more pepper, whatever I thought it needed.
One day I went to see a school counselor. ‘Chef’
was one of the professions on the list. My mother
had always said I should be a chef so when I
went into cooking it was love at first sight.” Vézina has passed on this love to his son, Raphaël,
who has just returned from a three year stint in
the South of France to study cooking. Eventually, Vézina hopes that his son will take over the
restaurant so that he can devote his time to cookbooks, television appearances and cooking
classes. Vézina, for all his fame, is an astute ar-
tisan-connoisseur – passing his craft onto the
next generation.
My sister and I move hotels to get a different view of the city. At Hotel Priori we have our
own private penthouse. Marie-Hélène Perreault,
the woman behind the four storey boutique property is an artisanal visionary. “My husband and
I were the first ones here in Old Québec in 1991,
with this boutique concept. We just went for it.”
Perreault is also the hotel’s interior designer,
blending Art Deco with modern furnishings.
Hotel Priori is laden with flowers and vines, a
florid counterpoint to the exposed 18th century
stone walls. I spend an afternoon on the penthouse’s verandah overlooking the Place Royale
where I can see tour groups gazing at murals.
It’s the sort of experience high above the city that
I relish.
I have heard a rumour about beehives and
an herb garden at the landmark Fairmont Le
Château Frontenac. It is a scene I cannot resist,
so I make my way to the hotel to seek out its creator, executive chef Jean Soulard. In the service
elevator on the way to the rooftop where Soulard
keeps the beehive and herb garden, he greets employees with warmth. “You know,” he turns to
me and says, “it doesn’t matter what job they
have, people here are just so proud to work at the
Château Frontenac. You feel the soul of this
hotel. You are not working for the hotel you are
working for history.” In an instant we leave the
frenzy of the four kitchens Soulard oversees at
the fully booked 618 room hotel. I climb
through a small window, the only access to the
roof, which Soulard insists should not be
changed. The rooftop is slightly cooler and all
around plants are growing up, the copper green
of slanting towers protrudes behind us and the
only sound is of the wind.
Soulard’s soft-spoken, gentle presence is
mirrored in his surroundings and like the buds
around him Soulard reveals himself slowly until
finally he blossoms in conversation. Originally
from France he learned cooking “at the apron
tails of my grandmother.” After spending time in
the kitchens of Asia and Europe, Soulard decided to move to Québec. “I had a chance to
work in Australia and in the same week I got a
phone call saying something had opened up in
Canada. I really fell in love with Québec City.
I’ve found that this is my country.” Soulard has
been with the Frontenac for sixteen years and
runs cooking sessions at the hotel. He is happy
and satisfied here in part because of the freedom
he is given – in addition to working at the hotel
he hosts a radio show, had his own cooking show
on television for ten years, and has self-published several cookbooks. He takes me on a
small tour of the garden pointing out blackberries,
mint, oregano, tarragon, chives, sorrel, lavender,
and other herbs. He plucks leaves for me to
taste, periodically quizzing me as to their names.
This season Soulard’s four beehives will produce 300 kilograms of honey, and the herbs will
be used in the kitchen. “We have honey in the
oldest city in North America, on the rooftop of a
château,” he says proudly. Up here I feel privy
to Soulard’s inner sanctum a place to which he
Maxime Gurtin
THE CHEF
Jean Soulard
COURTESY LE SAINT GABRIEL; MARTIN DESAULNIERS
THE MAÎTRE
Jean-Sbastien Delisle
THE SOMMELIER
citystyleandliving.com | FALL 2009 | 47
Dom Minier and Broer Gilman
THE CHEESEMAKERS
Oliver de Volpi
48 | FALL 2009 | citystyleandliving.com
Francis De Lavoie
THE WINEMAKER
COURTESY VIGNOBLE DELAVOIE; EASTERN TOWNSHIPS TOURISM
THE LOCAVORE
COURTESY VIGNOBLE DELAVOIE; EASTERN TOWNSHIPS TOURISM
retreats for ‘therapy’. I appreciate the ease of
conversing with Soulard, whose sentences are interspersed with ‘anyway’, ‘you see’ and ‘ok’
words best said in English. I ask Soulard questions in English and he answers in French for no
other reason than to create a rapport – a sense
that our conversation is happening in both our
native tongues. I feel instantly befriended.
Soulard shares the same exuberance as all
the artisans I encounter, not simply for his own
achievements but for those of Québec. He recalls seeing the very first Québec produce.
“Every time I’m brought a product from Québec,
from the terroir, I find it memorable. I remember
ten or fifteen years ago when I was brought the
first cheese. Now in Québec we have more than
five hundred types of cheese, almost more than
the French. Those are great moments not only
because the products of terroir are fairly new in
Québec but first and foremost because of the
great synergy between chef and artisan. The artisans, whether they grow vegetables, or raise lamb, build up
their products that we as chefs
can use and be proud of. We
have a Québec cuisine because we have Québec products.” The products, Soulard
says, are at the centre of this
burgeoning artisanal movement. “Regardless of the time
of year we have fresh produce
in the market even when there
is snow on the ground. That
makes all the difference.” He
attributes Québecers attitude
toward food to ancestry.
“There is in Québec something very Latin, and in every
Latin, conviviality, pleasure, is
had at the table. It’s in the in genes.”
I witness this conviviality at Boudoir Lounge
in the Saint Roch district one evening. This is
what locals have assured me is the hippest place
in town. Couples are sitting outside on the patio,
inside, Moroccan lamps, Buddha statues in the
gaming area, and long bar give Boudoir Lounge
immediate visual appeal. The restaurant, bar and
gaming club is buzzing – it is just after work and
people have come by for a drink and some supper. Marc André FIllion, the barman, as he calls
himself, comes over to take our order, his laidback attitude and sense of humour blends well
with vibe of Boudoir Lounge. “We are all from
little towns outside of Quebec City,” he says of
himself, manager Yann, and chef Maxime
Guertin, “so we’re friendly guys who just get
along.”
Guertin, took a more roundabout route to
Boudoir Lounge. “I was out West and came
back for my mother’s wedding and I thought am
I crazy? Why did I ever leave?” Though Boudoir
is more known for its club scene and inspired
cocktails, Guertin parades dish after dish from
the kitchen, delighting in our expressions and our
enjoyment. He has put thought into every dish
from the deconstructed shrimp lettuce wrap, to
the umpteen slices of Montezuma chocolate cake
to the whiskey maple syrup and passion fruit
granité. The food speaks clearly of the chef, his
past, his taste, and his creativity. Asian flavours
from Guertin’s time spent working at a Korean
restaurant in Banff appear alongside earthy pied
noir mushrooms from Québec. Guertin is adaptable, early in our meal, we ask for a substitution,
without fuss he delivers. Later, he speaks excitedly, confiding “it was like mission impossible,
trying to come up with something new, but I
loved the challenge.”
As we are about to leave, Gilbert Tourville,
the owner, introduces himself. He explains the
origins of the striking focal point of Boudoir that
we have been eyeing. “I bought this church window in Montreal five years ago with no business
plan, no idea, nothing. This street used to be
called Church Street, so I thought this is destiny.
It’s so important to do what’s fun.” Above the reverberating techno music, the pulse at Boudoir
Lounge is pure modern artisan.
I visit Atwa- W
ter and Jean
Talon markets once a
week... to get
inspiration
e take Via Rail to
Montreal right in
the middle of
Fashion and Design Week.
Yves Jean Lacasse designer
of the Envers label speaks
to us about the words that
anchor every collection:
historic, ethnic and fantasy.
He has been working from
his atelier in Westmount for
nearly fifteen years. Here
at Fashion and Design
Week he is showing his
clothing in one of the many
tents set up in on McGill
College Avenue.
His
clothes, like the designer
himself have freeness. It is an attitude I see firsthand that night as I attend a show at the Casino
of Montreal. Not minutes into the performance
everyone is up on their feet clapping and singing
along. There is a lack of insecurity here which
puts me directly into contact with people – there
are no masks to erase. Take it or leave it.
In complete contrast to Québec City, Montreal’s energy is cooler and younger. It is also
busier and more crowded. I am walking down
boulevard Saint Catherine when some shouting
takes place, and the Americans next to me wonder aloud “did we miss something?” This is not
a place of understatement, passions run high.
Montreal is storied, not with the weight of history
like Québec City, but in a more immediate way.
There is a moment where high on a promontory
we look down upon Montreal and everything is
a landmark. Over there is where the Expo was
held in 1967, there is the site of the Olympics,
there is Cirque du Soleil tents and there beyond
the river, Laval.
At Atwater market there are stalls of flowers, cheese, meat and chocolate, each an artisan
in their own right. I visit Première Moisson
which is decadent with pastries and freshly
baked bread. It is Saturday morning and the displays of cakes and tarts are gloriously shining
EASTERN TOWNSHIPS
DOMAINE PINNACLE
150 chemin Richford,
Frelighsburg,
www.icecider.com
LAKE BROME DUCK
40, chemin Centre, Knowlton,
www.canardsdulacbrome.com
AUBERGE QUILLIAMS
572 Chemin Lakeside,
Lac Brome,
www.aubergequilliams.com
ABBAYE DE SAINTBENOÎT-DU-LAC
Saint-Benoît-du-Lac,
www.st-benoit-du-lac.com
Opposite clockwise from top left,Lake Memphrémagog and Saint-Benoît-du-Lac, the monks at the
abbey’s cheese facility; a sign for Auberge Quilliams;
Francis Lavoie; a glass from Vignoble De Lavoie;the
expert design of Vignoble De Lavoie; Oliver de Volpi
at Terrasse701; the abbey’s cheese awaits packaging; a dessert from Suite701.
with apricot preserve. Half the baguettes have
sold, and Montrealers are taking their breakfasts
to one of the many tables in the two storey shop.
The bread I order is toasted, buttered and divine.
Markets are forerunners of restaurant menus and
plates, a barometer of seasonality.
All of which is at the center of chef Oliver
De Volpi’s cooking. “I visit Atwater and Jean
Talon markets once a week. You walk through
and get inspiration. When wild asparagus come
in you see them first in the market it’s not the
supplier who calls you up.” We are up on Terrasse701 (which serves drinks and food), at the
Place D’Armes Hotel and Suites in Old Montreal
owned by the Groupe Antonopoulos, behind
De Volpi and within view is one of the Notre
Dame Cathedral’s towers. There are two
restaurants at the hotel, each with their own
menu. At Aix Cuisine du Terroir, De Volpi
serves local food focusing on Québec products.
“The people who come here want to taste our
elk, our deer from Boileau. There’s nothing
gimmicky about it, we’re using what we should
be using and people are coming to try it.” At
Suite701 the cooking is modern avant-garde,
with a dinner club, urban dining concept. “We
do things that are fun like lobster bolognese,
Red Bull rabbit wings, oysters with sorbet
pearls.”
Having gained experience at five diamond
restaurants in Quebec, De Volpi believes local
cuisine can change the minds and palettes of
guests. Often De Volpi will roam the dining
room, asking diners about their meal, eager to
discuss food with them. “I want to introduce
the great products that we have to everybody
citystyleandliving.com | FALL 2009 | 49
who hasn’t tried them. We get these scallops
live, some are even still clapping. You can eat
them raw and when you taste them, they are
what a scallop should taste like. To show that
off to people is amazing - and we have hundreds of products like that.” De Volpi recounts
one of his favourite moments in the last year
when he invited producers from the region to
come and showcase their goods at a farmer’s
market set up in the hotel. “I’ve always had an
interest in Québec products. We have some of
the greatest products here, our cheeses are the
best, we have amazing seafood, maple syrup,
strawberries, so much.” While he lauds the region’s products, De Volpi in his typical unassuming manner is quick to point out that, “no
one is inventing completely new things, they’re
modernizing, they’re combining ingredients
that may not have been combined before.”
This, I realize is how modern artisans workusing knowledge to channel the past, and modern techniques and methods to stay in the present.
At the suggestion of Daniel Vézina, my
sister and I spend a beautiful evening eating al
fresco at Le Saint Gabriel, owned by Marc
Bolay and Garou, the famed Quebec singer.
The old stone building in Old Montreal is a
place of remarkable firsts – it was once a soldier’s house until it was turned into the first
North American inn, it was granted the first
liquour license in North America in 1769, and
it was owned by one the country’s first millionaire’s Dolly Hart. Tonight, there is music
and jubilation in every corner as two weddings
are taking place simultaneously inside the
restaurant. It seems the restaurant is also a
popular reception spot.
Our waiter Pascal hails from Montpelier
though he has been here since his “parents
promptly left him in Québec.” He is a fixture at
our table not only because of his affability and
sense of fun but because he is obsessed with
soccer. He is attentive whilst we chat, a mark
of his experience at some of the top restaurants
in Québec. Le Saint Gabriel serves Québec
dishes by Chef Jean-Marc Mathieu and also
prepares the room service for the adjacent Marriott hotel. My salad comes perfectly dressed,
the cheese oozes in long strings from my sister’s onion soup, polenta is creamy and comforting - details of brilliant restraint that speak
of the entire restaurant. As dessert is served we
hear fireworks from the annual competition
going off. It is as though Montreal is bidding
us goodbye with a fireworks display.
ith more artisans to discover I head
to the Eastern Townships crisscrossing the wine route (route des vins).
It is an undulating landscape - the bluish green
Appalachins are convex and soft-edged. I
could take the highway, but I prefer to meander
through these old towns with their antiquated
character. Much of the area including was
founded by royalists who fled the American
Revolution, and it is not uncommon to hear
English on the streets.
W
50 | FALL 2009 | citystyleandliving.com
In Frelighsburg, I meet with Susan Reid Crawford, who, along with her husband, a former
software industry Vice President, founded Domaine Pinnacle cidery. In 1999 the couple saw
the 430-acre property for sale but there was no
cidery on the land only an orchard. Not wanting to cut down the trees, the couple turned to
ice cider. Crawford tells me that the trick in
cider is the balance of acidity and sweetness.
To achieve this Domaine Pinnacle Ice Cider relies on a blend of six varieties of apples. Domaine Pinnacle also makes use of two
longstanding techniques, cryo-extraction and
cryo-concentration. In the former, apples
freeze naturally on the trees where their sugars
are concentrated, until they are harvested between October and January. In the latter, apples are picked in the fall and then stored and
crushed. The juice is then left to freeze separating water from sugar.
“For a long time, cider had a negative connotation in the Québec market. We knew we
had a great product, but we had some concern
about the old image of cider. But it hasn’t been
the problem we imagined.” Domaine Pinnacle is sold in 43 countries has experienced
enormous growth in just nine years thanks in
part to a strategic alliance with Camus La
Grande Marque.
I drive a short distance to Lake Brome
Ducks. Founded in 1912 by an American who
imported Peking ducks, the company now produces 2 million ducks annually. The ducks are
grain fed, Stéphanie Hauver, the store manager
tells me. Although the duck facility is not open
to the public, Lake Brome sells a variety of
raw, frozen and pre-prepared duck products in
their store. Lake Brome Ducks is served on
many restaurant menus in Québec. This quick
detour has allowed me to heed the advice of
countless chefs to gain a better understanding
of my food and how it gets to the table.
It has been a long day of driving and I am
looking forward to our stay at Auberge Quilliams which boasts a faunal nature reserve behind the property. My sister and I spend an
eventful afternoon attempting to canoe. One
of the first creatures to greet us is a snapping
turtle who is giving birth in a small innocuouslooking gravel area. I do not pay much attention to the turtle until I meet owner Gilbert
Delvaux who assures me that this is not his pet.
Though the Eastern Townships and Montérégie are known for their apple orchards, the
next day I go in search of grapes on the west
side of Mount Yamaska at Les Petits Cailloux
vineyard. As I speak to owner Martin Lavertu,
classical music wafts through the air. He and
Françoise Goudreau came to the region for
windsurfing, fell in love with the land and
thought it would be a great place to start a family. After the ice storm in 1999 however, the
place looked like a disaster. That fall, Lavertu
who worked as a software developer, took a
trip to California for work. “I visited vineyards
in the Napa valley one after another. Eventually we got to one winery and it felt different.
I sat down at a picnic table under a tree and
MONTEREGIE
VIGNOBLE LES PETITS
CAILLOUX
625 rang de la Montagne,
Saint-Paul-d'Abbotsford,
www.lespetitscailloux.com
VIGNOBLE DE LAVOIE
100 rang de la Montagne ,
Rougement ,
www.de-lavoie.com
AUBERGE HANDFIELD
555 rue Richelieu,
Saint-Marc-sur-Richelieu,
www.aubergehandfield.com
LA CABOSSE D'OR
973, chemin Ozias-Leduc
Otterburn Park,
www.lacabossedor.com
FOURQUET FOURCHETTE
1887 avenue Bourgogne ,
Chambly,
www.fourquet-fourchette.com
connected it with this property.” The couple
quickly bought the 20-acre plot and began
planting vines in 2003-2004. The winery currently makes 1000 cases a year and will soon
begin shipping small quantities of their wine to
Alberta. They make six types of wine all
named after the wind. There is everything
from a tame breeze (La Brise de Bois, a white
wine) to a gusty zéphyr (Zéphir, a red).
Lavertu lays out a platter with cheese, bread
and paté for us to have with our wine. I think
Lavertu has found the great secret of the artisan
– learning from others and improving.
Vignoble De Lavoie, my next stop is only
a fifteen minute drive away in Rougemont.
After the success of cultivating apples the
Lavoie family turned their attention to grapes.
Between 1997 and 1999 they planted grape varieties known for their hardiness, able to withstand Canadian winters: Maréchal foch, Baco
Noir, Lucy Kuhlmann, Sevyal Blanc, Cayuga,
Geisenheim and Dechaumac.
Owner Francis Lavoie, a former architect,
is the picture of artisanal contradiction when I
first see him, sporting a Bluetooth outside
amongst the vines he sips a glass of Perle rosé.
One of his sons is already in the fields tending
to the vines. With 23 000 vines on twelve
acres, harvesting is a huge undertaking. Lavoie
explains that for four weekends in September
they invite 50 to 100 people for harvesting, followed by a celebration. Every member of the
family pitches in. Lavoie drew up the plans for
the winery, his sons, both engineers, built the
wine cellar by hand during a summer break from
University in 2005. Lavoie even uses an old
press to make the ice cider. The entire family is
involved in manually bottling and corking the
30000 bottles Vignoble De Lavoie produces annually. “My boyfriend is very fast, he can do
1200 bottles an hour and I’m usually struggling
to keep up,” says Maude who has come especially to translate the technicalities of wine for
me. Among the product offerings at Vignoble
De Lavoie are red wines (Rouge Mont Rouge,
Tourelle), white wines (Onir, Seyval), ice cider
(ACE), rosé (Perle Rosé), traditional cider
(Halbi), draft cider (Insolite), and ice pear wine
(Le poiré), my favourite, a unique utterly delicious wine made from Beauté Hanarde pears.
Having tasted many of Québec’s artisanal
products, there is one more that I am tempted to
try – chocolate. La Cabosse D’Or in Otterburn
Park is the brainchild of Martine Crowin who is
spirited, flamboyant and always smiling. The
family had originally moved to Canada from
their native Belgium to operate a dairy. Two
years later, in 1986 and after time spent searching for recipes and technique in Belgium the
family returned to open the chocolate shop. The
business began out of their home and as it grew
the family acquired neighbouring plots of land.
Today, La Cabosse D’or includes a large patio
and mini-golf course with educational information on cacao and chocolate production. Most
people come for the chocolate but my sister and
I devour our ice cream and cake, saving the
chocolate for our drive. “There is an Italian
touch to the ice cream,” says Crowin not divulging anymore. As we part she leaves me with
these words, “all of these wonderful things are
happening for me now.”
I am enjoying smoked salmon made inhouse, with the local Unibroue beer at Forquet
Forchette. The Chambly rapids are coursing by,
reminding me of the Auberge Handfield, a
rolling property overlooking the Richelieu River
where I stayed last night. Its soothing blue and
white tones and country nautical feel are charming. When I awoke in my room on the marina,
the river was ablaze in sunshine. I am easily distracted by the reflections on the surface. They
conceal what is always there, the water. It is
then that I get an answer for a question I did not
think I had asked of Quebec. It is something I
could not have known at twelve years old when
I made a decision to go to French Immersion
school leaving behind all of my friends to learn
French – this is ma terre patrie – Québec too is
my homeland.. CSL
GUIDE TO QUEBEC
WHAT TO DO
vices/nosservices_ecolobus.html
Economusées Network of artisans
throughout Quebec and Atlantic
Canada, www.economusees.com
TOURISM OFFICE
QUEBEC CITY
GETTING THERE
WestJet Several daily flights fromCalgary to Quebec City with connections, www.westjet.com
Air Ca nada Several daily direct
flights to ottawa, Toronto and
Montreal from which connections
can be made, www.aircanada.com
GETTING AROUND
Ecolobus Ride the eco-friendly,
electric, Ecolobus for free, along a
limited route in old Quebec City,
www.rtcquebec.ca/ancais/ser-
Québe c Cit y Tourism Listings,
maps and a calendar of events, a
good resource for planning your trip,
www.quebecregion.com/e
MONTREAL
GETTING THERE
VIA Rail e daily route between
Montréal-Québec City lasts approximately
3.5
hours,
www.viarail.ca
WestJet Several daily flights from
Calgary with connection and direct,
www.westjet.com
Air Canada Several daily direct
flights, www.aircanada.com
WHERE TO STAY
L e Square Phillips Hôtel & Suites
Modern decor at this historical
building-turned hotel designed by
Ernest Cormier, 10 stories, 80 studios and 80 suites (1 and 2 bedrooms with fully equipped
kitchen), Junior Suite from $197;
1193
Place
Phillips,
www.squarephillips.com
WHAT TO DO
Montréal Fashion & Design Week
on McGill College Ave. Held each
year in June, the Fesitval celbrates
local designers with a boutique,
catwalk, music and parties,
www.festivalmodedesign.com
Casino de Montréal In addition to
gaming, there is a 500-seat theatre
home to cabaret performance, dinner or snacks available; 1 avenue
du Casino; www.casinosduquebec.com/montreal
Martine Crowin
THE CHoCoLATIER
Opposite: cups of Unibroue beer at Fourquet
Fourchette; the exterior of the restaurant; Above:
the marina at Auberge Handfield; a gilded sign for
La Cabosse D’or; Martine Crowin smiles in her
mini-golf course.
Envers Clothing designer YvesJean Lacasse’s boutique, 4935 rue
Sherbrooke ouest, www.yvesjeanlacasse.com
And en ere Was Lig ht Basilique Notre-Dame Sound and
light show Tuesday through Saturday, Adults $10; 116 Notre-Dame
Street
West,
www.basiliquenddm.org
WHAT TO DO
TOURISM OFFICE
Cidrerie Michel Jodoin one of
the first cider makers in the area,
1130 Petite-Caroline, Rougemont,
www.cidrerie-micheljodoin.qc.ca
National Historica l site of Fort
Chambly Near the Richlieu river and
Chambly rapids, French fortifications
designed by Vauban, www.pc.gc.ca/lhnnhs/qc/fortchambly.index_e.asp
EASTERN TOWNSHIPS
TOURISM OFFICE
L es Chanterelles du R ichelieu
611, chemin des Patriotes, SaintDenis-sur-Richelieu,
www.leschanterelles.com
Tourism Montreal Blogs, video
and RSS feeds, www.tourismemontreal.org
Tourism Eastern Townships Information, on the route des vins
(wine route), postcards and online
tourist guide, www.easterntownships.org
MONTEREGIE
WHERE TO EAT
TOURISM OFFICE
Tourism Montérég ie, Photo
gallery, and recipe for the Montérégien cocktail www.tourismemonteregie.qc.ca
citystyleandliving.com | FALL 2009 | 51