jfl91

zapata, I am sure you will have a amazing dinner. Thomas Keller is just awesome (expensive but worth it). BTW, what I like with restaurants in USA is the corkage fee. That would be so cool to be able to bring our own wine in any restaurants in Quebec.

Best restaurant Mtl: Club Chasse Et Peche Qc: L'Utopie World: Per Se (NYC) Best starter Tuna Tartar at Per Se (NYC) Sweetbreads at CC&P Bluefin Tuna cartoon at Moto (Chicago) Best main Risotto with white truffles at Per Se (NYC) Lamb at CC&P Best dessert Cheese cake CC&P Chocolate cake at Per Se, I forgot the name Best new restaurant CC&P Best service L'Utopie (Qc) Per Se (NYC) Le Bernardin (NYC) Biggest surprise CC&P & L'Utopie Per Se really impressed me and I seriously think Montreal need a restaurant like this. Toqué is good but even not close to Per Se.

Lesley, I love Utopie but for the 31st the menu was not interesting for me and my friends. LA MISE EN BOUCHE : une huître de Gaetan Dugas, vieille de 12 ans dite ‘Acadie royale’, tartine de corail d’oursin à l’aquavit, gelée de pomme verte Bourgogne, Chablis, Bel Air et Clardy, Alice et Olivier De Moor, 2003 PIGEON DE LA FERME TURLO, boudin blanc truffé, trompettes de la mort, topinambours en chips, maïs croquant éclaté Languedoc, Collioure, La Goudie, Domaine de la Rectorie, 2004 LE SERVICE DE FOIE GRAS, en supplément pour ceux qui le désir… Languedoc, Rivesaltes Ambré, 4 ans, Domaine Rancy 8 $ LONGE D’AGNEAU DU KAMOURASKA, crépine à l’orientale, armillaires à l’huile d’argane, rissole de tomates séchées à la livèche, jus à l’ail confit Rioja, Campillo, 1996 TOMME DE CHÈVRE DES JOYEUX FROMAGERS, sirop de liège, feuilles de Bruxelles à l’huile de noix Sud-Ouest, Jurançon sec, Cuvée Marie, Charles Hours, 2002 POIRE POCHÉE AU BEURRE CLARIFIÉ, sorbet fraise des champs de la ferme du bon temps, tuile froissée au cacao Loire, Ratafia de Pinot Noir, Les cailloux du Paradis THÉ OU CAFÉ, MIGNARDISES

The food was really good but deserts were just ok. There was a really bad Riesling from Canada, a bad wine from Chili and who care about a LBV with a strawberry tart! There was only 1 kinda of flat water (Naya) but our server poured Montpellier in our glasses and didn't say anything. The sommelier didn't say anything to us about the wines that were supposed to pair well with the menu. I think the service is a general problem in Quebec while you don't see these kinda problems in the best restaurants in France and USA. Just little things like serving the plates to every people at the table at the same time is a minimum. Asking if we were interested for bread at our 4th service only, no towells to wash your hands in the toilets, Champagne was way too hot etc... I think Daniel is a great chef but his staff need a little training. Don't get me wrong, most of the people would not care about these little things but I think the best restaurant in Quebec city should be more class than this.

We canceled our dinner at L'Utopie because the menu was not interesting for us and we dicided to go at Laurie Raphael. The food was really good at Laurie but the service and the wine pairing was desapointing.

I will be at Utopie also for the 31st with Moose. I didn't look at the menu, I hope they are making something crazy!

Wich Rhone? Because from a Chablis to a Rhone, there is a huge difference!

Moishes is way better than Gibbys. Gibbys is really bad!

Yes, Yannick is on Bernard!

It was 10$ to enter but after you had to pay to taste chocolates. Anyway, you didn't miss anything because it was not serious, full of kids trying to get chocolates every where, I was just freaking out. Sorry but for me only Gendron is worth it and he was not there anyway. I don't really care about GG, her ganache is always too liquid and way too sweet. Gendron roquefort chocolates are just fantastic!

Queue de Cheval is a beautiful steakhouse. The service is really good, the food is ok and sometimes you just need it.

This event was a total deception! I stayed 10 minutes!

I am not sure that CC&P need a award like this anyway but I was really surprised and sad to see this restaurant in first place because it do not deserve it. Pierre Gagnaire in MTL? In a small restaurant like this is something just impossible. A chef like PG would ask for a ton of money and actully these chefs have their own restaurants. Maybe if you want to open a wonderfull restaurant of 10 million $ in NYC in the Time Warner Center and if you are a super well known in the ''gastronomie'' or just really famous you will get a chance to bring a chef like this. How much do you think MGM gave to Joel Robuchon to be the chef at MGM Grand?

Wow, wich chef with 2 macarons will go work at this restaurant anyway? Daniel Boulud just got 2 macarons! eh eh

I am 100% with Lesley and I think that CC&P was robbed. The restaurant is so succefull and the quality is always there! CC&P is not good only because Claude Pelletier is a amazing chef but Hubert Marsolais is a big part of the success of the restaurant. Bronte won that tittle so I would expect nothing but a first place for CC&P.

Seriously!!! Club Chasse et Pêche is not Toqué and I really don't think they want to be a kinda of Toqué! This restaurant is funky and people there want the restaurant to be like this. You need to know that when you go to CC&P, if you look to have the same ambiance as Toqué or La Chronique you are completely wrong. Sometimes it can be really busy and really crowded (it's crowded all the time anyway, because it's good and fun) and it will be way more noisy and crazy than all other restaurants (in MTL) that serve this quality of food. Seriously, CC&P is the only restaurant like this in town and it was about time for us because Montreal was really too serious and boring not long time ago. Montreal need more restaurant like this and I hope people enjoy CC&P because for me it's seriously rocks! Hubert is the best restaurant owner in Montreal and Claude is one of the best 5 chef. The team there is fantastic and you need to understand that you are in Montreal and not in NYC. When there is a group coming on a week night, you accept them right away! The market here is not NYC and the restaurants need all the business they can get to survive. I just hope people will stop complaining about CC&P because I am really crazy about ''gastronomie'' and I am going every where in the world to try all the best restaurants and trust me, many bigger cities need restaurants like this one, we are just very lucky. You know all these best restaurants like Per Se, Troisgros, Bras, Fat Duck, El Bulli etc... is something different and most of these are 4-5 times more expensive and are not friendly and easy to go for a fun dinner on a week night last minute call. Long live CC&P!

It's illegal in Quebec to import raw milk butter. Sometime during the holidays some cheese shops have Échiré butter.

Depend on wich occasion but some oil from France and Spain were in the top 5. Manni and Prunatelli were always the 2 top Italiens.

I already organized blind olive oil tasting and Manni was always in the top 3.

Lesley, I am not gonna defend Tom because I think me too that Manni oil is very expensive. But if you can afford it and it's not something of a big deal to give 400$ for a liter of olive oil for some people, why not? I buy Armando Manni oil since 3 years already and the man is just doing everything to have the best oil available. He is working harder than anybody else in this business and his oils reflect his efforts. When I gave a bottle to Yannick Fromagerie people, they asked me to order some for them right away. If you like the ''style'' of this oil, it's just the best ever! The pepperiness that kick in your throat for so long and the aromas of fruit and olive is so intense and balanced, it's just perfect! This oil is extravagant and should be try at least one time.

For all of you interested in buying some Armando Manni oil, La Fromagerie Yannick (the Bernard address also) will sell it for the holidays (I think they will start selling it in mid-november).

I just hope Utopie have enough clients! This is not easy in Quebec city these days for fine restaurants. I hope they get enough popular to bring the tourists so they can make money. Tom, I tried WD when it first open (not so long time ago) and it was fantastic and far to be overprice.

I said it many times on this board that L'Utopie in quebec city is a great restaurant. My parents live in Quebec city so I have been 3-4 toimes already at Utopie and I have never been disapointed. As for the sommelier choice, I just care when there is a tasting menu and wine pairing. A good sommelier is there to buy and find good wine for the restaurant (style of food) and he will help people who don't know really about wine.

I am going to Taillevent just because I have a wine tasting over there.

Lesley, La Chronique is still doing really good, Club Chasse et Pêche for a new restaurant is on the ball and for me Toqué on some night can be awesome. I just need to go back to France and London soon, it's just a other world! My next trip will include: Michel Bras Taillevent Troisgros The Fat Duck (UK) Tom Aiken (UK) I am working on a reservation for Joel Robuchon at the Mansion (only 65 seats) in Vegas soon also (I heard the restaurant is out of this world) and back in the days I had my best dinner experience when Joel had is restaurant open in Paris.