Restaurant A Table, Montreal - Review

[aromes]

It's the latest restaurant of Chef Navarrete Jr.

This one is located in Ahuntsic.

(Notice: On this Dinner, Navarrete was cooking. But the Chef at A Table, according to the staff, will be

one of Navarrete's Chef de Cuisine, a gentleman named Rodrigo)

Dinner on Friday July 16th 2010 17:30PM

Full photo & text review: http://tinyurl.com/34jb24n

Picked the $50 (6 course) tasting menu

-Salad of spinach, tomatoes,jicama - Fresh veggies of remarquable quality. Loved the playful interraction between the gentle sweet / subtly sour / delicate acidic flavors. The overall was dressed in a pear balsamic vinegar. The jicama was a well thought addition to the salad: tasty and enjoyably crunchy, the jicama is actually an ideal alternative to green apples in salads. For those who have not tasted jicama yet, it is a bit reminiscent of a green apple but without the upfront sour taste. Simple at first glance, but a lot of work and punch in there. Well done.

-Tuna ceviche, Mango purée - This dish is a showcase of precision and exceptional skills. Why? Because in the hands of an average cook, a mango purée is the ticket to overwhelm anything that it is mixed with. In the hands of a genius cook like Chef Navarrete, it is a revelation. The purée, of outstanding light consistency and delicious taste, was of ideal combination with that fresh morsel of tuna (here again, a lot of brilliant work in balancing well the peppery/spicy/acidic marinated taste of the tuna ceviche). Genius work to let each ingredient oozing in their pristine purity and yet complementing themselves. This is of Michelin star caliber.

-Corn soup, Potato salad, chives, aioli, crab meat -

This soup, served cold, had a succulent rich milky buttery taste with an agreeable consistency that was neither too thick nor too light but rather harmonious. In the soup, a pristinely fresh morsel of crab (tasted wonderfully of open sea) that was incredibly tender, meaty and juicy woke up my taste buds. The warm potato salad, nicely cooked, tasty and earthy, added smartly well to the appreciated contrast of warm and cold temperatures. Again, in line with Chef Navarrete's well known ability to cook food that beautifully stays imprinted in the mind.. Excellent

-Artic char, caviar, quinoa, avocado, salsa verde - On top of the morsel of fish, a delicious light airy purée of fresh avocado. When mixed with the caviar, the taste and texture were simply outstanding . The tangy, zesty flavor of the salsa verde is remarquable. The fish, a morsel of superior quality and of outstanding marine freshness, was cooked with care and tasted great. Quinoa was ideally cooked and packed with flavour. The overall stood as a well structured and delicious dish. Another scrumptious meal.

-Filet mignon (Angus AAA), chorizo sauce,mushrooms, butternut squash purée - Quality, quality, quality. Freshness, freshness, freshness. I kept repeating those words like prayers to myself upon savoring each bite of this lovely executed fork tender and intensely flavorful filet mignon. The cooking was masterful with a strong focus on optimizing the beef flavor . That is how I want my beef! The chorizo sauce was beefy and delicious. The butternut squash, nicely done. The green beans served along the filet mignon were barely cooked, paving the way to upfront freshness of the veggie.

-Dulce de Leche ice cream, Chocolate cake: very good.

Service, wine pairings + ambience were without reproach on this dinner.

Now, I need to go back and try Chef Rodrigo's take on Navarrete's cuisine.