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No. 19

Toqué!

CHEF-OWNER NORMAND LAPRISE is passionately committed to cooking seasonally, and showcasing the finest imaginable local products, wild and cultivated. If the idea is commonplace now, it was radical when he started it here some 30 years ago — and its transition from fringe to mainstream owes everything to the quality of Laprise’s cooking. His compositions are often whimsical and always colourful. Techniques are grounded in French and Asian traditions, but their expression is entirely Québécois. Get started with a cocktail like a spicy rye and brown butter Cinéma L’Amour or the Martinez Boreal with its nutty boreal falernum. Appetizers may include a fluke crudo with fir tree mousse, foie gras terrine with walnut and huckleberry purée, or the latest riff on Quebec whelks. Next, beet gnocchi with smoked ricotta, or duck confit with potato mille feuille, black maitake and serviceberry sauce. Quebec cheeses lead to inventive desserts, each with its own pairing — a pistachio praline bavarois with a lively Jurançon, or a cardamom-infused lemony rice pudding with an organic Quebec sparkling wine. Wine pairings for the tasting menu are offered in two tiers; the Prestige option includes some of the finest wines in the cellar. The décor, anchored by a burnt-orange bar, is sleek and playfully polychromatic. Service is professional and discreet, running like clockwork under the watch of Laprise’s business partner and front-of-house manager, Christine Lamarche.

Fact: With the recent closures of Brasserie T!, Beaumont and Burger T!, Laprise is now focused on his original flagship — which gets a facelift this year.

Foie gras terrine.
Quality and provenance of ingredients is paramount. Sofia El Kahel

Photography by Hans Laurendeau, Shoot Studio


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