I just got back from a lovely dinner out.
It was at the Laurie Raphael: Daniel Vézina’s Montréal restaurant in the Hotel Germain on Mansfield street. He is a chef I have always admired, through his TV shows and cookbooks. I find him creative if not inventive yet never pretentious and his food is the same. He has done a fantastic job of promoting local producers by using their ingredients in innovative ways.
The decor is light and offers a lovely view of the street below. The tableware is original, the service manages to strike the perfect balance between friendliness and discretion. The staff is knowledgeable without being snobby.
The menu is varied: you have hot and cold fish and seafood dishes as well as hot and cold meat dishes. They are all appetizer size so you can try several.
Everything was memorable…especially the plate of 5 scallops in the shell each prepared a different way and each flavoured with a different exotic fruit, like a tartare with lichees, and a ceviche with passion fruit, one had some kind of flavoured foam on the dish which felt very “cuisine moléculaire”. Another choice was the oysters rockefeller made with a strong local Portneuf cheese, they were outstanding!… The duck with an elderberry sauce and served with wild mushrooms, brussel sprouts and squash gnoccis was to die for. Another of the hot fish dishes was a tuna tempura served with a general Tao sauce, and yellow beets…Desserts were breathtaking…they had one decadent plate called death by chocolate, I chose a maple pie that came with maple cotton candy that was as soft as mohair…and a small crème brûlée style pastry cream and a sorbet…
This was a memorable meal and a place to go back to…. the hotel is kinda neat too…
http://www.laurieraphael.com/en/restaurant/montreal/montreal_restaurant/index.php