montmartre

You read it perfectly. They share chef duties. Lunch and dinner; 12 services / week.

Luc has been our chef for the past 2 years. In reference to the new chef, Gabriele, has joined our team this past month...

LOL. I stand corrected. Got my chefs and wine producers mixed up. Thanks.

Our new chef at Rosalie is Gabriele Campanelli, formerly of Brasserie Brunoise. He has begun his experience at Rosalie only a few months ago and we are carefully going to bring him to the forefront. With our past experioence with two other montreal stalwart chefs, Picard and McMillan, we believe this is the best approach. Hopefully things will be in place, for our busy summer season. Finally, we welcome the oppotunity to work for the second year in a row with Team Tourondel and we believe this can only be a postive experience for our new young chef.

I reply on my tippy toes, because i'm starting to feel like Joe Clark taking a walk on Sherbrooke Street every time i post anything. I believe that anyone who invests as much as Peter Morentzos does, and takes the chances he does to bring important additions to Montrealrestaurant scene, i applaud it. I'd rather be walking by a french brasserie than a boarded up location in the heart of downtown. Now wether the steak/frites, boudin noir, oeuf meurettes or just a fine herb omelette will be noteworthy or not, i am sure he will figure it out. Hope it works out because the 24 hour open idea, as ambitious as it is, is kinda cool.

Following your lead last night my wife and i cracked open the French Laundry book and made the Pacific Moi with Fresh Soybeans , Scallion and Radish Salad, and Soy-Temple Orange Glaze...I gotta say that was a pretty good piece of fish. I guess i stand corrected. Mr. Keller has nothing on me. I jest. I find it difficult to apprehend how someone can state, that a few cracks at recipes out of a book, and bingo your gnocchi's are better than many grandma's who have been doing it for generations. I may have misunderstood the Ratatouille moment in the Disney movie, but i believe it was an ode to all grandmothers simple recipes and how no book in the world can teach you how simple food can be made, but that's just me! There are words that you hear in a kitchen all the time: " Do it again!", surely a testament to how important it is to hone your skills in a kitchen before you make that perfect tomato sauce or demi-glace or just a simple soft boiled egg. Time spent cooking practicing, tooling with the recipe, learning from our predecessors is of the utmost importance. Today i am learning that someone's 1 day worth of experience is just as noteworthy as a generation worth of experience. Hence the Ratatouille experience. As for the success of Milos are we forgetting that Milos is an ingredient based cuisine. I remember reading about Costas's trips to Fulton Market some 20 years ago when we in Montreal had no fish selection whatsoever, and how he refrigerated his van and made numerous trips down the I-87, how today, he has licences to fish in Marocco and Greece. Maybe today there arent many greeks in the kitchen but to dismiss all the work that has been done til now would be offensive to many. May i also add that he is probably the lone Montrealer to have a very acclaimed and successful restaurant in NYC. As for our other francophone chou-chous: 1- Did Matin Picard become legendary after Bourdain acclaimed him and made him part of the 50 best chef's in the world or was he just forgotten in Montreal prior to that. I believe many people revisited their opinions on APDC when Mr. Bourdain gave him the blessing of all blessings. 2- A Nicholas Jongleux-less Caprices may have deserved a drop, unfortunately we lost a great chef and i will leave him out of the debate. Dan Medelsy is a great food connaisseur and he will be the first and certainly not the last to tell you that to replace a chef of that stature is very difficult. 3- Was the half star that Toque lost based on the relocation and the fact that he found himself in a completely different arena? Should we have given him sometime to get acclimated in his new digs? Maybe, because last i noticed he was back to a 4 star restaurant. 4-As far as Bottega is concerned the son of the original owners of Il Mulino spent two years making pizza in Naples and today he makes sure he makes every single pie. They did not simply fly in an oven from Sorrento. His success is today gratifying his efforts and the background his family has given him through the years. Finally, i would like to encourage some anonymity when reviewing a restaurant (Reichl). Let's see a restaurant bang out good food on a chef's day-off or when he is enjoying a fine Bordeaux at the bar with a few friends. It is certainly a different ball game when everyone in the room knows that a food critic is in the room. Anyone who has been part of that experience can attest that the restaurant is working on all cylinders when Mme Keller walks in. Maybe all restaurants should have the same benefit. Once again i respectfully submit my opinion and appreciate the time of all who spent a few minutes reading this. A pleasant evening to all. My haterade Kir is awaiting.

I believe that in a small circled society, as is Montreal's culinary scene, it is very difficult for Lesley to do her job unbiasly. We are not in New York. We are not talking about Ruth Reichl nor is this the Michelin Guide. JAS was simply stating that a chef, who lets not forget does a great job cooking up his comfort food and who has had his training at Sooke Harbour House and a disciple of James Maguire, all of a sudden would venture to open an italian restaurant. I understand that Liverpool House as Leslie mentioned, is more Jamie Oliver than an Italian restaurant, but this is where the dilemma lies. How does a chef with no formal training nor any experience in an italian restaurant, pick up a few Jamie Oliver or a Gennaro Contaldo book and open a restaurant. Surely a difficult task for anyone. I feel for young chefs and restaurateurs that spend the last 2 years in Naples refining the making of an original Pizza (Bottega). Maybe he should have invested in a couple of books at Nicholas Hoare. Trust me i am all for venturing into other projects and Fred Morin and co have every right to, but bigger chefs and/or restaurateurs have failed but for some reason there were doubts that Lesley C would give them a fair review. This is where the skepticism began and lo and behold, voila 3 stars! Two months worth of experience making homemade gnocchi's (and we are not talking Grandma's recipe here) and no mention of: "nice effort, keep it up i am sure you will get the hang of it". Believe who you want to believe but some credibility will instill when we start seeing the chou-chou's of Montreal culinary get some come-uppance. Thank you all for your valuable time. LM

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Or you could cover the whole decadent dining club scene, Time etc... ←

Thank you guys, but i dont seem to detect a clear cut winner of the restaurant to be at . I travel frequently and god knows im always ending up in the newst hip place. New York - One Little West or Spice Market Miami- Azul , Casa Tua, Nobu Paris - Baccarat, Hotel Costes London - Hakkasan, Spoon+ Montreal - Buonanotte, Globe Now what about Vancouver?

Coming in to town for labor day weekend and looking for happening/trendy restaurants. What are the latest restos to have joined the fashionistas of the Canadian West Coast? Is Yaletown still the only place to hang out or are there up and coming neighborhoods?

we are the world we are the children... i love you guys lol

i think we are talking in circles. but do you believe that an essex house or le cirque can be playing at the same level of a spoon or an osteria del circo. they are two products from the same groups, but yet one is aiming to be a three star resto and the others are aiming for another type of market and hence rating. i don't think spoon or osteria del circo not being rated are failures by the maccioni's and the ducasse's of the world, their mission is to make solid restaurants that have an excellent backbones and structures in a more fun affordable lighter way. yes, a 4 star resto should be a white glove experience and yes, there are enormous amounts of good restos that don't aim to be 4 star restos. my only peeve is when we try rating restos on different levels. les infideles, cube, globe, rosalie, red thai etc all at 3 stars. les infideles chooses to be a BYOW resto and getting a star is huge because of their setting but cube or Queux getting 2 or 3 stars is maybe a let down.

this is exactly what i mean... a balthazar in new york city is on its best day a 1 macaron type restaurant and given the product that mcnally intended to put out it is an extreme success to get 1 star. but on the other if mr maccioni, boulud, ducasse, ripert et als. open a restaurant "a la essex house" getting 1 sta woulb be a disaster. even better example would be the ducasse and the boulud's of the world who have different concepts of restos out there. i guarantee you that boulud or ducasse do not aspire to get 3 macarons at their cafes or spoon's. they want solid restos that at most are one star restos that bang out good solid food at more modest surroundings and at more marketable prices. they have their 3 star restos amd know what it entails but they also know that there arent that manu foodies around and therefore are opening concept restaurant. check out a very interesting article in last months W magazine, they discuss the future foodies food mart that is being opened at the AOL building on columbus circle, and i believe they mention the difference between 3 star restos and all the others. moreover one of the nicest critics Leslie gave was the 4 star review of Dan Medelsi's resto. and you clearly mention that in order to get 4 stars you have to consider the sommeliers en salle concept, the amuse-gueule at the onset of your meal , the surroundings etc. all this to say that i enjoy 1 star restos that are meant to be 1 star restos and also know that when i'm dining at a 3 star resto the experience is totally different at all levels.

how does the michelin guide hand out macarons? why not have a guide that follows one line of judging and that's it. example: a caprice de nicolas should be aiming at 3 macarons because the "package" is there: fine linens, amuse gueules, somelier on board etc. but a rosalie or an express getting 1 macaron would be phenomenal considering they are either bistros or brasseries: no linen, simple menu, etc. and finally the byow, sandwicheries, etc . just getting a good review and in no way could they get a macaron and in no way would the owners expect one would be just fine. here in this situation for a rosalie to have 1 macaron would be exactly what they aimed for and getting 3 macaron would be misleading and eventually a failure for the owners 'cause all they really wanted was a solid one macaron 'kinda restaurant. And getting 3 macarons misleads clients. but when we arbitrarly give stars to the type of restaurants or the potential that they reached .....this is where the gray zone begin