With the installation of a more casual counterpart next door to Le Mousso, Chef Antonin Mousseau-Rivard has transformed one end of a block into a compound for culinary experimentation. Occupying the original industrial space, Le Petit Mousso has some of the most colourful, creative dishes in the city—offered à la carte versus in a tasting menu. Launched in fall 2018, it won instant acclaim under Chef Benjamin Mauroy-Langlais, which continued under successor Vincent Baronnat. However relaxed the invitation to stop by and snack, with by-the-glass pours of vin nature, this is sensory mastery: trompe l’oeil tomatoes filled with caramelized fennel rest on a subtly acidic sauce built from ham stock. Super-aerated chicken liver mousse with caramelized black violet is a featherweight champ. A “taco” that is not a taco puts Nordic shrimp and mayo made from cooked-down turnips on a slice of white turnip, with fermented tomato-water salsa. The sourdough ganache is a stunner, aged for two weeks and densely creamy with yeasty whiffs of tropical fruit, wrapped in tuile, and served with buttermilk ice cream, cedar oil and oxalis.
Photo: JEREMY DIONN
