Thierry Baron

[Monterey]

About a year ago, we had a marvelous dinner at Chorus. I understand that Thierry Baron has left and the restaurant has since closed. Does anyone know where Baron is working now? Is Chorus reopening?

[riboflavinjoe]

Chrous is something like AGAPES or something along those lines now.

i passed by recently and they have quite a casual bistro menu there now, looks pretty iffy. and they have these awful chairs and tables. it was great when it was jongleux café, i enjoyed a nice meal there dans l'temps.

[Lesley C]

Welcome to eGullet Monterey .

Thierrry Barron is now a co-chef at Cafe Ferreira. He's a great guy, and a terrific cook.

[unreserved]

Chrous (sic) is something like AGAPES or something along those lines now.

i passed by recently and they have quite a casual bistro menu there now, looks pretty iffy. 

I should like to disclose from the outset that I have a personal interest in Restaurant Agapes.

I can assure everyone that the current management is both serious and dedicated to continuing the excellence that once graced the establishment when it was operated as Café Jongleux. The thought behind Agapes menu is to offer the highest quality cuisine without unnecessary price bloating.

For the avoidance of doubt, I can further assure everyone that Agapes is far from “iffy”. The menu endeavours to be responsive to the freshest produce available in Montreal each week. This is why a portion of the menu changes every week. Finally, if by “iffy” the implication was that it might not be around tomorrow, all I can tell you is that a difficult decision was made to ensure that the shameful circumstances, which occurred under the Chorus management, would never happen again.

In order to live up to my username, let me be even more candid. At the moment, the service at Agapes is not at the level it should be. However, I am confident that you would have a hard time finding better value for your money anywhere in Montreal. So, my only question is: any idea where to find quality servers?

[Lesley C]

unreserved, who is the chef at Agapes?

[riboflavinjoe]

note to self: watch what i say.

[mcmillan]

interesting,i thought it turned into a turkish restaurant or something,what does the word agapes mean?and what kind of food are you doing,or iguess i mean ,whats the menu like,everyone always asks me about that space....nice to meet you unreserved,good luck

[carswell]

what does the word agapes mean?

Not to steal unreserved's thunder, but here's the definition for agape (transliterated spelling) from Liddell and Scott's [Ancient] Greek-English Lexicon:

love : esp. brotherly love, charity ; the love of God for man and of man for God, N.T. II. in pl. a love feast

Whaddyaknow, a classical education is good for something after all!

[unreserved]

Lesley C:

Thank you for the interest. The head chef at Agapes is Mr. Kaoui and the sous-chef Mr. Himmi has been by his side for the past two years. Both chefs have sound experience and excellent backgrounds. They have worked for Moroccan Cruise lines with postings on the Royal yacht used by the King of Morocco. Since his arrival in Montreal in the 80’s, Mr. Kaoui obtained his equivalence at l'Institut de tourisme et d'hotêllerie du Québec and worked in various hotels and restaurants among which the Hilton Dorval.

mcmillan:

Thanks for the good luck wishes. Though the menu does change each week, it can be described as Continental cuisine incorporating Mediterranean, French, Spanish and North African (Maghrebian) methods used to prepare our meats (venison, Angus), fish and fowl.

carswell:

We prefer a variant to definition II, a joyful feast promoting good feelings

[grill-it]

Sorry, I never went to Jongleux, so I am unfamiliar with it's location... so, while you're pluggin' Agapes, why not fill us in as to where the restaurant is located? Tx.

Oh, and BTW, I want to know, 'cause I want to go....

Edited July 13, 2003 by grill-it (log)

[unreserved]

While it would be disingenuous of me to suggest that I was doing nothing more than simply clarifying Agapes current situation, promotion (or pluggin')was really not my primary intention. I was replying to a posting that did not seem altogether precise. Having said this, Grill-it, your posting is appreciated and should you come by and find that what you fancy is not being offered “grilled”, be sure to ask for it that way and I am certain you will be accommodated

All right, now that my disclaimer is out of the way Agapes is located at 3434 St-Denis Street, just North of Sherbrooke on the West side. Closed Sundays, open M-S from 5 p.m.

[grill-it]

Thanks for your reply - I know the space, and I shall be visiting soon (and of course, contrary to what my username suggests, I enjoy food prepared in a variety of cooking methods, and not just 'grilled'.) Nevertheless, my own culinary skills, or lack of, dictate that I restrain myself to the BBQ for fear that I might seriously disappoint my dinner guests.

[Restoswillmakemebroke]

Hi all,

I have visited Agapes (weird and uncatchy name) on several occasions, the food is very good with good variety (not a BIG menu but varied).

The management and staff seem to be doing there best, the kitchen's product is of high standard and quality, especially for the price.

Needs allot of work (wine list, tables & chairs, PERSONALITY) but strongly do-able.

Good luck to the team, good job guys.

[unreserved]

I have been contemplating whether I should reply for the simple reason that it could appear contrived. I do not know “Restoswillmakemebroke”, I thoroughly cross-examined the staff at Agapes, and most had not even heard of this site. Therefore, my conscience is clear. Why am I being so anal? Well, it is b/c the tables changed this past Saturday and the chairs should follow within a week or two. In addition, I just met with our wine supplier last week and am waiting to see the new layout of the wine list. This seemed a bit too convenient and so I was reluctant to post.

Now that I have, I wonder if experienced members can give their thoughts with respect to Agapes wine list. We are trying to keep the number of bottles to a modest 20. The question I have is do you think it is better to cover all the bases by having eg. Merlot, Shiraz, Cab-Sauv., Beaujolais, Bordeaux, Pinot Noir…and only have one choice per or is it better to just stick with a few grapes and have 2 or 3 choices for each? For the moment, we are leaning towards “covering” with a main list and then having a separate, shorter list of wines of higher quality, which will vary depending upon availability and interests such as an Oregon Pinot Noire etc.

Finally, thank you Restoswillmakemebroke, we are glad you like our food – regardless of price. As for personality, I am not sure what you meant but with all things, there is always room to improve.

[carswell]

Now that I have, I wonder if experienced members can give their thoughts with respect to Agapes wine list.  We are trying to keep the number of bottles to a modest 20.  The question I have is do you think it is better to cover all the bases by having eg. Merlot, Shiraz, Cab-Sauv., Beaujolais, Bordeaux, Pinot Noir…and only have one choice per or is it better to just stick with a few grapes and have 2 or 3 choices for each?  For the moment, we are leaning towards “covering” with a main list and then having a separate, shorter list of wines of higher quality, which will vary depending upon availability and interests such as an Oregon Pinot Noire etc.

Personally, I'd suggest foregoing the varietal approach. First, lots of wines are blends (e.g. Bordeaux, southern Rhones, many Languedoc and Loire reds, California meritage wines); where do they fit into such a classification? Second, depending on factors like terroir, vinification and vintage, a given grape variety can produce wines of wildly differing styles: a young Pommard can be downright rebarbative while a Mercurey from the same vintage can be a silky, gulpable delight; many zinfandels are galumphing mastodons, yet some are made in a fruity Beaujolais-like style; a sharp and gun-flinty unoaked Chablis is worlds away from a fat and blowsy California chard overladened with vanilla-oak and tropical fruit flavours. Third, a percentage of your customers are going to have no idea what, say, malbec is.

A more customer-friendly approach would be to organize the wines by style. Something like:

Sparkling/Champagne

White

- Crisp and dry (e.g. Muscadet, aligoté, Sancerre, some Chablis)

- Aromatic and dry (e.g. most dry Alsatians, pinot grigio, Graves, many chenins, malvasia bianca, Pouilly-Fuissé, most southern Rhônes, Soave)

- Rich and dry to off-dry (e.g. California chardonnay, Montrachet, most late-harvest Alsatians, Hermitage)

Pink

Red

- Light and fruity (e.g. Beaujolais, Tourraine rouge, generic Burgundies, run-of-the-mill Valpolicella, medium-bodied wines from lesser vintages)

- Medium-bodied (e.g. Côtes-du-Rhône, Chinon, many Burgundies, Oregon pinot noir, Barbaresco, Barbera, many Rioja, most Chilean reds)

- Full-bodied, beefier (e.g. Châteauneuf-du-Pape, cru classé Bordeaux, top-drawer Languedoc, higher-end Shiraz and California cab/merlot/zin)

Sweet

Edited September 8, 2003 by carswell (log)

[unreserved]

Thank you Carswell for your very informative post. It is very kind of you to take the time to help by sharing your knowledge. Your post supports Fat guy’s description of egullet as "the most civil, literate, intelligent message board site in the history of the Internet bar none".