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It's small, it's regionally appropriate, it's exceptional quality...

and I can enjoy a long-time-coming night out with my wife. We're driving from Boston and have arrangements to leave the (young) kids in the dust for one night. We'd like a chef driven, ingredient focused menu...$$ not really a concern, nor is location. Completely uninterested in pretension, "scene" and BS. Have a car, but would ideally like to be 20 minutes from the center of town. I have done some CH research here, but would like any strong / new ideas.

Thanks in advance.

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  1. DNA or Club de Chasse et Peche

    1. I think you'd be interested in MAS Cusine, Au Cinquieme Péché, Kitchen Gallerie, and Jolifou.

      Here are some recent threads discussing these restos:



        1. Also worth considering are Joe Beef and Liverpool House.

          Joe Beef

          2 Replies
            1. re: Eddie Van Hungry

              Eddie, if you are interested in Kitchen Galerie, please reserve well ahead of time - it is small and VERY popular.

              Both Kitchen Galerie and Lucca are close to Jean-Talon market and métro. You are heading up so whirlwind that you may not have time to check out the market, though it can be fun. I'm also mentioning the métro as it is actually often faster than driving from downtown, and you don't have to worry about drinking a bit too much wine.

              Have a wonderful trip! I'm sure there is a lovely place in northern New England where you can stop to break up the trip.

              Kitchen Galerie

          1. Au Pied de Cochon: The hype is worth it.

            3 Replies
            1. re: Voidsinger

              Thank you all for your recommendations. Unfortunately, my plans changed a bit and I was only able to go out one night, a Sunday. I quickly learned that almost everywhere in Montreal is closed Sundays. Au Pied de Cochon was open. I couldn't secure a reservation, but on a whim, walked in around 9:00pm and scored a table for 2. Well...my meal will go down as an all-time memory. Absolutely crazy in every way - delicious, fun, super-creative and wildly free of any pretension. I saw (after the fact) Bourdain describe it as “trans-gressive”. I don't know if that's even a real word, but it fits perfectly.

              We ordered a bottle of 2006 Chatauneuf du Pape – big time markup happening, but it was a fine quality wine that was presented correctly, decanted tableside and served at a perfect temperature in beautiful, appropriate glasses. Sounds like basic service, but it's actually so rare it deserves mention, especially in a place with such a casual vibe. Shared appetizers of cod fritters, fried zucchini flowers and pickled veal tongue were actually a bit underwhelming in hindsight. Standard fry job, although the flowers were an unusual and fun ingredient. We enjoyed them at the time, but more than anything, I remember clearly feeling genuinely excited by the vibe....it's loud, boisterous, fun yet somehow serious. And everyone is clearly having a good time. Quite unusual for my DC and I, we were drawn into conversations with both the tables that flanked us, everyone just expressing exuberance and excitement at such an over-the-top menu, atmosphere, everything.

              For my main course, I chose the well-known “duck-in-a-can”. My DC ordered foie gras “tout nu”, which was actually designed as an appetizer, but given the ingredient and the portion, was just fine as a main. The foie dish was probably one of the more simple preparations on the menu...really just a nice slice seared medium over a crouton with deep red wine glace. Nothing fancy. Forgive me if my memory fails me about the dish, my mind is still blown to smithereens by my meal. My plate arrived simply adorned with a ¼ in. thick crouton with some cauliflower puree spooned over the top. Our waiter then presented my can (with very cool identifying label), poached for 27 minutes, opened the tin top, pried it back and ceremoniously (and yet unceremoniously) emptied the contents onto the plate. What emerged....a glorious vertical composition of silky puree and crisp toast drowning in intense veal and balsamic glace and melted duck fat that waited to kiss a cut of foie gras or duck breast...was so over-the-top that it defies my ability to describe it (do a YouTube search). What a concept! Then, the impossible – I sliced a bit of foie and duck breast and realized that they were both perfectly medium rare. Au revoir mind, see you later...impossible. Incomprehensible. Indescribably delicious.

              We ordered dessert not because we could possibly eat one more bite, but because we just wanted to see what we might get (it's that kind of place). A summer fruit cobbler w vanilla ice cream. So simple, very well done..served in it's small baking dish, warm soft doughy top, sweet raspberries with some natural tartness left and very good vanilla ice cream. A little sniff of Chartreuse and away we went!

              All told, our bill was just under $300, but around $100ish of that was the wine. We both agreed that the quality to price ratio was skewed steeply in the diner's favor – had we been more frugal with the wine (which would have been easy, it's a very good, wide ranging list with a lot of very inexpensive bottles), we could have been in the $75 pp range. If I lived in Montreal and hated my heart and liver, I'd go once a week. A meal that I'll remember forever. Merci!!!

              1. re: Eddie Van Hungry

                I'm such a nerd I just saw that there are about ten thousand APDC reviews and duck in a can references here. Sorry to be so redundant. I really did love it tho.

                1. re: Eddie Van Hungry

                  Don't be sorry! It was great to read this. Your excitement is contagious!