Patrice Demers

IF YOU CAN SECURE one of the 14 seats at Sabayon, you’re in for one of the most refined — and intimate — dining experiences in Montreal. Chef-pâtissier Patrice Demers works solo in the kitchen, serving a tasting menu that flows from amuse-bouches to savoury courses, desserts and mignardises — with a sweet à la française tea service on weekends.

“Restrictions help me create,” Demers says. “They force me to go to the essential.” That means pared-down plates with focused flavours, featuring peak-season fruit, measured sweetness and delicate textures that dissolve in a beat.

When you don’t lean on visual impact, there’s a bit of mystery — but it all reveals itself in the tasting. Chef-pâtissier Patrice Demers

Born in Laval, Demers trained in professional cooking before focusing on pastry. After tenures at Laloux, Les Chèvres and Les 400 Coups, he opened Patrice Pâtissier in 2014 — a pastry shop celebrated for its fresh, seasonal desserts and curated wine selections — with sommelier and partner Marie-Josée Beaudoin. Their efforts earned Demers the title of Pastry Chef of the Year at Quebec’s inaugural Lauriers awards in 2018. After closing Patrice Pâtissier in 2022, the duo took up a two-month residency at Fulgurances Laundromat in Brooklyn, refining the vision that led to Sabayon’s 2023 opening. Beaudoin designs the wine and tea pairings that accompany each menu.

At Sabayon, a signature financier — gluten-free, crafted with almond and buckwheat flour, and sweetened with maple sugar — is baked just before service. It arrives warm and crisp-edged, with a hint of salt balancing the sweetness. Choux pastries filled with candy-cap-mushroom cream offer an unexpected maple biscuit flavour. Demers’s favourite, automne dans un bol, layers roasted-squash ice cream, chai mousse, pumpkin-seed cake, browned-butter caramel and warm, pan-roasted apples.

The intimate scale of Sabayon suits Demers perfectly. He enjoys observing his guests’ reactions as they dine. “I love to surprise, but never just for the sake of it. It has to be something they’d want a second bite of, without hesitation.” They always do.

—ALANA LAPIERRE