Lesley C

You know, before I started this job I would have thought the same thing. But when you dine out this often, you are really after something original, professional, and food that is delicious. As much as I like Toque!, a dinner I had there recently was less enjoyable than the one I had at Cavalli. A meal I had at La Chronique last year wasn't so hot either. These two restaurants are probably considered the top two in the city, but right now, I wouldn't agree. And as much as I liked Les Chevres, there were problems with some of my food (it's all spelled out in the review). I've been back since, and if I were to rate the restaurant again I might give them four stars. I'm upping them to three and a half in my next book. But based on my two meals there before my review, I couldn't give them more than three at the time. I had a terrific meal at Les Infideles. The restaurant was only half full, and the service was great. I make no excuses for that rave review. They deserved it. When you look at the star rating, don't compare a place like Rosalie to a place like Toque!. I rate in category as well as quality and price range. Les Infideles is a BYOW restaurant and in a sense I compare it to other BYOW establishments. Red Thai is being rated next to other Thai restaurants. Cavalli fits into that high-end innovative category much like Toque! and less like Le Latini. Also, I always ask myself whether or not the restaurant is fulfilling its potential -- if it’s good as it could be. The night I reviewed Toque! two years ago, I hit it at its best. But when I was at Les Chevres, I felt it could have been better. And I was right because today it has already improved. And when it comes to Cavalli, unless they buy some fancy china and silverware, and enliven the desserts, I don’t see how they could get much better. Sorry you don't agree with my system, but trust me, I’ve put a lot of thought into it. A lot of people who question the star system have only been to a dozen or so Montreal restaurants. I have been to over 200, and you see things very differently when you have soaked up the scene. And hey, don't knock Cavalli. I heard Normand Laprise has been there twice and Daniel Vezina three times. The second night I reviewed the restaurant, there were 165 people eating there. Toque! serves about half that many customers. There are between 16-25 cooks working at Cavalli at a time. If someone were to offer me a free dinner at either restaurant tonight, I'd probably opt for Cavalli over Toque!. I like to have a little fun with my meal these days -- and I'm sick to death of foamy sauces. Last time I ate at Toque! every dish I ordered had a foamy sauce, and quite frankly, the food was a little weird, and our waiter did not offer to take back a terrible wine. As much as I admire Normand and Christine, the all round experience lacked pizzazz. Give me a Bellini, the beef carpaccio and fontina cheddar pasta at Cavalli these days and I'm a happy girl. Food dwarf, have you been to Cavalli?

I had lunch at La Bastide des Moustiers two years ago and just loved it. It's very pretty, but the food (at lunch at least) was quite casual. There's a lovely chef's garden behind the restaurant and the rooms are charming yet still quite luxurious. After dinner you can have all sorts of drinks at the bar downstairs along with assorted mignardises and a slice of the BEST tarte Tatin I have ever tasted (and I have tasted and made hundreds of these babies). The town of Moustiers St-Marie is just stunning (buy some plates). You are in for a treat.

What's the onion soup "pied cochon?" Is it Pied de Cochon in Paris or Montreal? Hmm..

Yeah, once you have a glass of wine with David, you forget a lot of things. I liked Holder, and I had good food there, from appetizers to desserts. Service was another story. But I liked the room, the high ceilings, all the space. It feels like a French brasserie, even if the menu isn't really aiming in the same direction. Oh and BTW, last time I ate at Rosalie, the fries were quite lovely.

Welcome, welcome, welcome. At first I was confused by your user name. I'm glad you introduced yourself and I wish everyone, especially all the local chefs, would. Sorry about that. No harm meant.

Always be weary of buzz.

Hi feedthegut, welcome to eGullet .

Yes. Go to the second floor, and get ready to hand over some major bucks.

Did you check out France Decor (a.k.a Vixit) on Henri-Bourassa near Jeanne Mance?

Hey, I'm not knocking the desserts at Rosalie. I'm just saying the higher end restaurants should be pulling off fancier plates.

All caps are not taboo, it just looks like you're SCREAMING

I liked some of the desserts at Brunoise (panna cotta), some at Les Infideles, and all the ones I tasted at Les Caprices de Nicolas. I would also think Rodney at Bice is making nice desserts as well. Patrice is certainly making the most creative desserts I've tasted in Montreal in a while. I have had some very poor desserts at Toque! lately. And no offense to Mr. McMillan and the team at Rosalie, but if we rank Rosalie's desserts as the top three in Montreal, we're in trouble. The place is a Montreal bistro folks and the simple desserts follow suit. There is a whole other level of more expensive restaurant that should be producing more intricate desserts. And that isn't happening much these days. It's a tragedy that places like the Beaver Club are serving cheap and crappy chocolate mousse cakes and terrible lemon meringue pies.

Aha! It's a gussied-up Bellini. They told me they add vodka and peach schnapps. You didn't like it? Mine was just fantastic.

Sorry, I don't agree. A Bellini is a mix of prosecco or champagne, and peach juice. Quite lovely.

I never exaggerate in my reviews. In fact, I usually hold back. I had disappointing food at Soto, disappointing expensive food --and poor service. Everything I tasted off the regular menu was seriously weak. And some of the fish on my sushi platter was far from fresh. I'm sorry to see Soto go down the tubes, but I was also sorry to see Soto expand too quickly.

I was at Cavalli last night. In a word: wow! Very exciting restaurant. The food is superb. And the Bellinis aren't too shabby either.

Well ... I think it all comes down to the reality of the situation. We don't even have to look at all of France for this. Just take a pastry tour of Paris and prepare to be awed. And then when you have done the pastry tour, try touring all the chocolateries and then the great boulangeries. Oh and if you have the money, go and try some of the desserts they serve at tea time at the Plaza Athenee, or go check out the carte de desserts at Le Bristol. I'll take that any day over a pastry tour of America's greatest food city, New York, where you'll get a slice of cheesecake from Lindy's, a marbled brownie at City Bakery, a macaron from Payard, and some celery ice cream at a trendy restaurant. Say what you want about innovation in cooking or restaurants, but for pastry, the French are it, and will probably be forever.

MOFs are an interesting group of individuals. I worked for two of them. I considered these men crazed artists, not necessarily the most creative pastry chefs. Also, I never heard a word against Herme or Conticini. Just the opposite in fact. I found there was a lot of jealousy, but also a lot of respect for their fellow chefs. I have always found North Americans much cattier in that respect than the French. Steve, what are the rules regarding nationality at the World Cup? My big question is how could these French pastry chefs compete for the US? Can you imagine three US pastry chefs ever competing for France!

Gee Michael so many questions... I would say, absolutely. You still see people lining up in front of pastry shops in Paris and not just at Hermé or Hediard. I was lining up for croissants and pastries in small pastry shops in Brittany this summer. The French are still eating pastry, and I don’t know many French people who shun pastry because of calories. I see no crisis in the world of French pastry. The 90’s were looking a bit bleak, but now, IMO, it's flourishing -- like never before. There may be a crisis in Austrian pastry or even American pastry, but the art of French pastry is going forward thanks to chefs like Hermé, Caffet, Violet and so on and so on. Is Payard in America advancing anything more than his bank account? Don't know. Isn't he just a satellite operation, a French pastry shop that fell from the sky into the middle of the Upper East Side? Also let’s not forget that all most of the pastry being produced by pastry chefs world wide is based on French techniques. In cooking, there’s also a strong French base. BUT there are other influential cuisines such as Japanese, Italian, Chinese, Greek etc. It's not like the top pastry chefs in Japan are renowned for their red bean paste confections, or some Greek pastry chef in Athens is making baklava with a twist. High-end pastry is French. I know people like Steve are often talking about the influence Spanish style is having on the pastry scene. But these influences, certainly in my neck of the woods, are minute. And as for a public relations lift I have two words for you: Pierre Hermé. I hear there are still plenty of youngsters entering the profession in France, which isn’t the case here in Montreal. The only flaw I see in their system is that the responsibility relies heavily on the chef they end up working with and their repertoire is limited to the pastries and entremets sold in that particular patisserie. But French pastry chefs are encouraged to change jobs often so they quickly end up covering most of the bases. And unlike North Americans who are always looking to transform their career somehow, the French chefs I know are committed to their careers for life. Also, many pastry chefs follow-up their education with a maitrise and government subsidized perfectionnement courses and daily seminars given by people like Bau, Caffet and Perruchon sponsored by chocolate companies like Barry, Valrhona and DGF. Because the French patisserie du coin is still quite strong. You hear about the decline of the patisserie de campagne, but you’ll find a boulangerie or patisserie (and often both) in almost every single town in France. The goal of most French pastry chefs is to own and operate their own shop, not work in a restaurant. In restaurants they work in the shadow of the chef. It is a different métier, as much as chocolatier, glacier and boulanger. If you look at the programs of study, they are geared to patisserie de boutique, not patisserie de restaurant, which is a course often followed by cooks. I don't think you can underestimate the title of MOF or Compagnon. These men are Gods in their homeland. Just the fact that that competition exists means there will always be a group of ambitious pastry chefs pushing the extremes to get the title. Look at the sugar pieces Thuries and Michel Roux produced when they became MOFs and look at what the latest MOFs are pulling off. It's very impressive -- even more so than any other pastry competition in the world. Why are French pastry chefs drawn to America? Try James Dean, Ronald Reagan, cowboy movies, and most importantly, money. They’re drawn to America for the same reasons everyone’s drawn to America. But I have met quite a few pastry chefs who have come this way only to go running back. The Valrhona people are pulling their hair out because so many chefs they send to the States have only lasted a matter of months before they go home. It means the Americans should be mortified they had to settle for an all-French team to represent them at the World Cup. That was ridiculous. I bet the French had a good chuckle over that one. Money. Oh and I guess, awe and respect. I think they sense the freedom, but I don’t know about excitement. I think they are often disappointed with the number of customers here who don’t order – or care about – dessert. But I agree with Chefette about fewer boundaries. (I didn’t run into many restrictions in France, besides their lack of appreciation for carrot cake). No, there will always be work for good pastry chefs in France, though the salaries are considerably higher in North America. Could Hermé set up a shop in Kansas City and succeed? No. Could it work in New York? Maybe. Outside New York? Too expensive and maybe too sophisticated. Americans still like their hulking cheesecakes, no? And considering today’s political climate in the States vis-a-vis France, a French chef would be nuts to take that kind of financial risk. Anyway, Hermé sells a liter of ice cream for $28. How could he compete with Ben & Jerry’s? You’ll have to answer this one Michael. Is there an American pastry chef out there making any kind of waves in France. Doubt it. Is there any American chef making any waves in France? Doubt that also.

I recently bought a copy of Plaisirs Sucres in France in a new, small format. It's still hardcover and all the pictures and copy are the same, but this book would fit in a glove compartment or purse. It's even smaller than your average paperback. I think I paid about 40 euros for it. It's very convenient for chefs.

I heard Ms. Corriher was supposed to release a book called BAKEWISE as a follow up to the first. Let's hope it happens. I love COOKWISE, though I can't really say it taught me how to cook.

When I interviewed Spanish pastry chef Jordi Butron earlier this year, he told me his mentor was NOT Ferran Adria but Pierre Gagnaire. Butron worked for Gagnaire as a stagiaire in St-Etienne.

No no no!!! It's just that they usually follow an established style and it's rare to find a chef that breaks out of that genre. Give me a River Cafe or Nobu any day. But that rarely happens. Certainly here in Montreal, it's usually same old, same old...

Go for Jambon de Bayonne.

Savour chef, I don't think we mean the same thing by the expression up and comers. Challet has been on the scene for ages, as have Thuet, McDonald, and McEwan. I'm talking about young chefs, under 40, who are making waves or opening restaurants and have a distinct style. I can name close to a dozen right now in Montreal, and none of them are doing Japanese or Italian food. Here the young chefs are dominating the scene. Does anyone on that list fit that description? I remember an article in the Globe years ago saying Ned Bell would be the next great one. What happened? And what about young chef/owners?