La Montee du lait, 71 Villeneuve, est, Montreal, 2008

I had been interested in trying this small restaurant for a number of years now, and upon hearing that it had altered its menu (making it more of a fine-dining establishment and less of a wine and cheese bar), I was more eager than ever. Thus, on a recent Thursday night – looking for a nice restaurant to celebrate a friend’s academic accomplishment – we headed to the small restaurant on a quiet corner, just West of St. Denis.

To begin, the restaurant is quite small (as previously mentioned), which makes for loud dining. Sitting at a spacious table for four, our little trio had troubles hearing each other, and thus spent much of the dinner admiring the blonde wood accents of the restaurant. Many years ago, while conversing with my father on the subject of Montreal restaurants, he suggested that restos should come with a noise rating. At the time I scoffed at his paternal hearing impairment, but even at 32, I found the noise to be distracting.

But, on to the food. The set-up at LMDL is not unlike Atelier (another fine Plateau/Mile End restaurant), where diners make up their own tasting menus. At LMDL, one can choose the four or seven course tasting menu (there is also an ‘a la carte’ option), with each course being paired with a featured wine by the glass. I began the meal with an aubergine “pancake,” which consisted of a pancake... of eggplant and other odds and sods, topped with a piece of wonderfully light and creamy goat cheese and a mixture of greens. The pancake was sitting atop a layer of onion confit and surrounded by a grape/balsamic flavoured reduction. The dish was outstanding -- a perfect starter. At this point, I should mention that the portions are just right, neither too big, nor too small, however, I could have been happy with three courses rather than the suggested four. My next course consisted of a “deconstructed” romesco sauce served atop a seared skirt steak (served Tataki style). Each piece of rare beef was topped by one element of the romesco sauce – almond (a kind of almond butter), tomato (tomato foam), garlic (garlic chips), etc. The beef was perfectly done and despite the seemingly pretentiousness of the ‘deconstruction,’ it actually worked. The third course was described as ‘glazed suckling pig breast,’ but the waiter informed us that they had run out of breast and were now serving the loin. Although still delicious, we couldn’t help but think that the other cut would have been better suited to the dish; however I do appreciate the fact that the waiter alerted us to the replacement.

For our fourth courses, we were torn between a dessert (they looked wonderful) and a cheese course. Given that we had Cocoa Locale cupcakes waiting for us at home and that we were at a wine and cheese bar, it seemed only fair to forgo the desserts. And indeed it was the right choice. With three of us choosing the cheese plate, we had a sampling of six different cheeses, ranging from a Tomme to a creamy blue, which were accompanied by lightly-spiced almonds, prunes and of course, fresh baguette.

All in all, the meal was delicious. With regards to the food, there were no off-notes. The service was a trifle confusing, as we seemed to be served at the beginning by one of the ‘head’ waiters and then were attended to by a myriad of other servers. A quick note about the wine list: while the wine list is vast and features a number of very interesting wines, there are very few (especially red) under the $50 range. Instead, we opted for several glasses of the featured wine pairings which worked just as well.

Would I go back to La Montee du Lait? In a heartbeat. Would I wait until tax refunds come? Yes.

Thanks for visiting, Jen-Jen.


8.5/10

Four course tasting menu: $44

Tasting Menu, March 2008, Montreal

Every February, Montreal plays host to the HIGHTLIGHTS FESTIVAL which, among other things, brings in chefs from around the world to create menus in some of Montreal’s finer restaurants. This year, one of my friends and I decided to make a concerted effort to partake of the highlight festivities (read: tasting menu) at one of our favourite restaurants – Le Jolifou. However, due to last minute financial restrictions, we decided rather than heading out for a tasting menu, we’d invite a number of guests and bring the tasting menu in. The menu plan for the evening was simple: each guest was to bring one small course along with a wine-pairing. We had briefly consulted with each other beforehand to make sure there were no duplicate dishes (we almost came to blows over beets – beets on repeat).

The evening began with cocktails, or rather hard liquor. While we sipped on any one of the following: whisky, vodka -- herbed and otherwise, as well as aged rum, we munched on spiced cashews and toasted baguette with herbed goat cheese and grapes. Following the hors d’oeuvres, the first course consisted of a small espresso cup filled with lentil soup. It must be said that this was one of the best lentil soups I had ever tasted (an “old country” recipe) -- it was hearty, without being heavy and had the perfect amount of spice. The soup was paired with a glass of “La vielle ferme” – a good Cotes de Ventoux stand-by. The second course consisted of a toasted corn tortilla (fresh from the Mayan store down the street-ish), topped with a combination of slow-cooked black beans, yam, onions, cherry tomatoes, cilantro and feta. The delicious dish was paired with a Domaine de Moulines “vin bio” merlot (2006), which promised, and did, go quite well with the vegetarian dish which was the only one to follow Jolifou’s menu of Latin-inspired dishes. The next course comprised roasted beets topped with a slice of ashed goat cheese and arugula, surrounded by a beet reduction. While the beets were tasty, the “reduction” suffered from being heated, and reheated ad infinitum, and ended up being dubbed “beet candy,” as it hardened as soon as it hit the plate. I can be critical as it was my own dish. The wine pairing fared better. I had asked the SAQ guy for a wine that would pair well with beets and goat cheese. He suggested a Cabernet Franc, and I ended up with an Alain Lorieux Chinon from 2005 -- also quite a good match. The fourth course consisted of a mushroom charlotte topped with a port sauce -- it was rich and filling and a perfect end to the savory part of the meal. As we already had a number of unfinished bottles of wine, we skipped the wine pairings and continued with the wines already on the go. The tasting menu was rounded out by a key-lime-esque pie with a hint of cream cheese and a graham cracker crust. The wonderfully tart and tangy slice of pie was equally well-matched with an amazing sparkling dessert wine -- Nivole Moscato d’Asti (certainly the wine highlight of the evening for me).

All in all it was an excellent evening. There was little jockeying for the kitchen, all of the courses were well-paced and there was a wide variety in the dishes. I had planned to take photos of each of the courses, but as the wine-tasting progressed, the photography suffered. The above photo is one of the few that turned out (and even that’s debatable). As such, I would have to pronounce the tasting menu a success. We may not have had the culinary chops of the Highlight chefs, but we made up for lack of skill in unbridled enthusiasm… or something like that.