Restaurant reviews: Chez l'Épicier revisited makes a creative leap

At the Grocer's

★★★ on ★★★★

$$$

Address: 311 St. Paul E. Street

Phone: 514-878-2232

Website:chezlepicier.com

Open: Tuesday-Saturday 4 pm to 10 pm

Wheelchair Access: A few steps at the entrance

Reservations: Yes

Cards: All the big ones

Vegetarian: Limited options

Authorized: Yes

Car park: In the street

Scale of prices: Inputs $ 4-20 $; $ 30 to $ 44; tasting menu $ 90 ($ 160 with wine / wine agreement); desserts $ 8- $ 12

Sometimes I wonder if the statue of Mary at the top of Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours is not so turned towards the port as to turn her back to the restaurants of this part of the city. While the other side of Old Montreal is not too shabby, picking is thin closer to the tourists.

But Chez l'Epicier is considered an exception since it opened 18 years ago – more than a generation of restaurants. Chef-owner Laurent Godbout held his position, even opening a branch in Palm Beach, Florida, in 2015. Last year, Godbout was ready to change, closing the Montreal restaurant for a five-month renovation. and reopening in May with Samy Benabed also as a chef. There are now two sides to the restaurant: a bistro and a bar on one, a dining room on the other.

We settled into the latter, quite elegant and comfortable, with gray stone, whitewashed bricks, black ceilings and copper candlesticks curved so as to suspend the lights at the right height above our heads. I enjoyed the wooden tables and the wooden floors arranged diagonally while I was installing on a blue sofa, leaning against the wall.

We looked at the menu while listening to the kind of generic jazz chill that I only seem to hear in Old Montreal. We were tempted by the eight-course tasting menu, but being three, we decided to cover the basics by ordering from the regular playful menu and sharing.

Instead of a breadbasket, you can order sourdough toast with wildflower honey and softened butter with slightly crunchy caramelized butter stains. Very amusing, although the pre-buttered toast was too golden.

A salmon tartare was cut to obtain a perfect texture and sprinkled with grated nasturtium root, resembling a wasabi bite. There were peppery nasturtium leaves on top, and it was served with delicate shrimp chips – the ones we usually encounter in American-Chinese restaurants. When a friend told them what was best, I was suspicious: how much can they vary, outside the fat spectrum? But they lived up to the hype. Nicely delicate.

The unconventional tacos had thin slices of celeriac as a tortilla and had a very well-smoked piece of eel. The elements were stronger than the whole; Overall, it was a bit strange.

The winning appetizer was the roasted carrots. Not really! "These carrots rock my world," said a friend about fat sausages to orange. The vegetables were prepared in three ways and textures: the fatties, a velvety must, as well as lacto-fermented carrot discs (in brine for three days, then in the refrigerator for 10 days) that had a beer flavor.

Then the three main ones. The pork belly, we have been informed, is not fat free. I'm sure all our midriffs are at least delicately larded, so it goes without saying that the pig would be too. Many people ask, says our server.

It was a generous plate, with grilled cauliflower, small raw cauliflower slices for texture, plus a cauliflower purée resembling mayo. Beautiful and rich, and balanced when a bite was taken with a caper. I'm glad we share that; it would have been too much for one person.

The most charming presentation was roasted boneless quail. The plump little beast was set on a nest of "hay" leeks shredded on small potatoes arranged like eggs laid. The actual hay cream was poured into the shallow bowl. (Hay had dipped in the cream for hours, then mixed with roasted and seasoned quail juice.) Nice to eat, but not breathtaking.

The duck bad was a marvel. It had been aged with bee wax for 14 days, which gave it a weak but rich flavor. It was accompanied by thin slices of beetroot berry arranged on top, with more beetroot next to it, tasted as if roasted with wildflower honey. There were some ongoing molecular type experiments, with a maltodextrin crumble flavored with juniper oil. The small curd starch has created a burst of dry, sweet flavor and has definitely added to the dish.

At dessert, curiosity led us to order the Jerusalem Artichoke ice cream, which refreshes while retaining its root. Knowing that I have an irrational aversion to parsley, my friends insisted on a pie, frangipane and cheese pie, with a layer of baby parsley. There was a nice mix of sweet and salty, although the pear slices were a little tasteless. The parsley was blessed subtly for my taste, and even I could recognize the welcome green note.

Chez l'Épicier's cuisine is commanding and imaginative, with vegetables well exploited and explored. However, we all agreed that if we had not shared our dishes and had only complied with one order, we would not have enjoyed the meal so much. This makes me think that a tasting menu would be a good way to make or always share with your friends.

My small complaint is that the service was nice but spacious. The menus were offered twice, there was some confusion about the preparation, and a water bottle cap lingered at the table for as many hours as us. Freeloader …

But overall, it was a good meal. Too bad that the lady of the port could not get up to join us.

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