Version Laurent Godbout

[moose1111]

okay! so, after reading a marvelous review of the restaurant in le Voir and being a big fan of Godbout's cooking, I decided to check this out.. only a month after opening.. knowing well in advance that the service will not be smooth yet

Upon arriving, we order two cocktails off their very appealing drink menu: one was a twist on a strawberry daiquiri, with the kick provided by black pepper.. the other being a mojito made with rumcoco.. Both were very tasty.. And you can definitly taste the freshness in the ingredients.. Lime juice, strawberry, mint leaves, etc.

The place looks amazing.. A red and brown palette with carefully choosen furniture and vases.. Overall a very beautiful deisgn job. The most beautiful part of the livinbg room was a wall alcove made out of mosaic with a mirror suspended in front of it. very original.. one thing to note is that the seating seems unbalanced; ie, on one side of the table there were some chairs, and on the other side a bench that happenned to be too low for confortable seating

While waiting to be served our apetizers, we munched on their in-house version of a fougasette served w/ 4 delightful toppings: the standard butter, a delicious unfiltered oil, an olive tapenade, and a pepper, tomatoe and carrot jam (which was ridiculously good)..

For appetizers, we ordered 3 dishes.. all having some iberian influences..

The delightful flight de sel, which is a nice play on serving 4 mini portions of food to match with 4 different types of salt: a tasty and soft foie gras au torchon w/ volcanic salt, a very milky broiled egg dish w/ ?? salt, 3 delicious & juicy tomatoes truffle oil tempura w/ amazon salt, 3 slices of petoncle ceviche w/ ?? salt.. All in all, this serving alone was worth the visit for the amazing discovery you could make.

The second appetizer was mussles cooked w/ thyme, mushrooms and onions in papillote (vs boiled).. This was very good but was too messy to our liking since we had to open the shells ourselves.

The last appetizer was a simple brandade (mashed potatoes and "morue") with a bit of oil and pancetta bits.. Very simple yet tasty.

Then, the main dishes which we were looking forward too. The veau de lait was perfectly well cooked and juicy and served with its bone on top of a pea risotto. This was the first time I had seen a pea rissotto; it turned out to be great, just to much on the salty side because of the excess of peas. If I were to make it, I would use less peas. The carrots on this dish were way overcooked and had no taste. The morue a la sauce a l'orange was good, but nothing to write home about.

Then, the desserts, which we were looking forward too... Unfortunately, out of the 4 desserts on the menu, only 2 were available, with us being told to avoid one of the two by the waitress. Hence, we requested for other alternatives, which we were lucky to have, specially made by the chef for us. Hence, we ended up with pinneaple carpaccio w/ port jelly and pinneaple ice cream served like a dish of cold cuts would be served in a restaurant. And I ended up w/ the improvised strawberry and lime mascrapone dessert. Both were delicious. It was just very unfortunate and unprofessional that the other alternatives were not available to us.

Overall it was great, but i would wait another month or two prior to returning to make sure that they are better "oiled".

Total cost for 2 (excluding wine but including tip and taxes): $160 (but we ate like pigs)

[ademello]

How is the wine list?

[moose1111]

the wine list is okay-ish.. primarly focused on italian, portuguese and spanish wines.. there was 1 california wine, 3 french, 2 south american and the rest was iberican or italian..

you will find something, but the selection could be better

they also lack a decent sommelier

[Mlle Tatin]

I had the pleasure of eating at Version last night, and I have to mention something that's been ommitted from all descriptions that I have read so far on the restaurant ... It has a gorgeous terrace! It was SO pleasant to dine outdoors (and so surprised!) on a warm summer night... on a secluded terrace with high brick walls covered in green vines, comfortable couches, roomy tables, low light, and delicious food!! I had to be reminded that I was still in Montreal!

The inside is nicely decorated... very modern, and occasionally over-the-top. It's sometimes a fine line between ultra-hip and tacky. For the most part, a great design job. The kind of place that makes you say ...ooo that's neat... a lot.

The wine list is small, but interesting, with enough Portuguese and Spanish wines to suit any taste, and the wines are much more reasonably priced than at Chez L'Epicier. It just so happened that I went on the night of the Torres Spanish wines tasting, which was intimate, tasteful, and lovely. A table d'hote was offered for $50 including wine pairing. We opted to dive into the full restaurant menu, which seemed more exciting.

The food was very well thought-out and brilliantly executed. The fougasette was delicious! What a great touch. We tried the Flight de Sel as our first appetizer, and to fill in blanks in mose1111's description... the salts offered with our dish were Hawaiian black, Hawaiian red, Himalayan, and Fleur de Sel. A great dish... I could have eaten hundreds of those delicious cherry tomatoes in truffle tempura!

We also shared, based on our waiter's recommendation, an appetizer of baked dates wrapped in proscuitto and served with some sort of a red pepper and tomato salsa ... I had my reservations about this dish, but it was *sumptous*! Very intriguing mix of flavors, sweet and salty. (Couldn't really see what I was eating because of the very lowly lit terrace, but it sure tasted great!)

We then moved onto our main course, a large coldron-shaped pot of shrimp, fresh corriander, cherry tomatoes, and sauteed eggplant, over rice. Simple, fresh, amazing! I couldn't get enough!

I was also pleased with the selection of imported Spanish and Portuguese cheeses available, which we couldn't resist sampling at the end of the meal. They also seemed to have a few interesting dessert choices... I'll have to try some next time.

The service was quite slow despite how quiet the restaurant seemed. Our waiter was often absent, and when present, very rushed. Regardless, he was very professional, knowledgeable, and pleasant. Of course, there are a few glitches which need smoothing out... with every new service, a new plate and dinner napkin arrive... leaving us with quite the collection at the end of the meal!

All in all, a very enjoyable night, especially with the beautiful patio! Total cost for 2: $160 including a bottle of wine, tax, AND tip... but we were pretty modest!

I will definitely go back!

[moose1111]

Total cost for 2: $160 including a bottle of wine, tax, AND tip... but we were pretty modest!

This is where I realize how bad/big of a pig I am.. hahahaa!

[Lesley C]

I have read a couple of reviews of this restaurant, but so far no one has mentioned that this is a boutique restaurant, that is, everything in the place is for sale. The salt shakers, the chairs, the cutlery...

Did any of you pick up on that? Or am I dreaming?

[moose1111]

I have read a couple of reviews of this restaurant, but so far no one has mentioned that this is a boutique restaurant, that is, everything in the place is for sale. The salt shakers, the chairs, the cutlery...

Did any of you pick up on that? Or am I dreaming?

←

It is.. I bought some olive oil and some rectangular long plates..

[Mlle Tatin]

I have read a couple of reviews of this restaurant, but so far no one has mentioned that this is a boutique restaurant, that is, everything in the place is for sale. The salt shakers, the chairs, the cutlery...

Did any of you pick up on that? Or am I dreaming?

←

wow. I honestly had NO idea. strange....

[ABG]

What happened to Chez L'Epicier? Is it still around? New chef?

Is there a website yet?

[Vinfidel]

What happened to Chez L'Epicier? Is it still around? New chef?

Is there a website yet?

←

Witness the wonders of Google:

www.chezlepicier.com

[ABG]

Witness the wonders of Google:

www.chezlepicier.com

←

Thank you for your smart ass response.... but the thread is about Version Laurent Godbout not Chez L'epicier. I am wondering where chef Godbout is spending his time or if he is spliting it between the two places. Lesley or Carswell? Any info?

[Vinfidel]

Witness the wonders of Google:

www.chezlepicier.com

←

Thank you for your smart ass response.... but the thread is about Version Laurent Godbout not Chez L'epicier. I am wondering where chef Godbout is spending his time or if he is spliting it between the two places. Lesley or Carswell? Any info?

←

Since you asked about a website right after asking about Chez L'Epicier, anybody would assume you wanted their web site. Anyway, I shook the magic Google tree and this came out:

Version Laurent Godbout