When a trio of Maison Publique alum opened their restaurant/food shop in Montreal’s Little Italy in December, they named it Salle Climatisée after signs in Parisian café windows indicating that the place has air conditioning. In Covid times, the promise of good ventilation and a great meal are almost equally tempting. But it’s the latter that lures the passersby — for morning coffees and apple-tahini turnovers, lunchtime roasted-rutabaga sandwiches lathered with creamy garlic confit and, at dinnertime, bronzed half chickens lined with ’nduja sausage, chicken hearts and Swiss chard. When dining rooms reopen, expect lineups at this compact space. But the wait will be worth it for offerings like seared local trout with saffron butter sauce and the selection of low-intervention wines. You can also grab a top-deck sausage roll, chopped-to-order beef tartare and sweet clover panna cotta to go.

—Amie Watson


Radish salad with seaweed dressing

Ingredients
60 g (¼ cup) apple cider vinegar
2 egg yolks
15 g (1/2 cup, crumbled and loosely packed) dried kombu or dulse, powdered
15 g (3–4 cloves) roasted garlic
1 clove raw garlic, micro-planed or finely minced
1 anchovy filet, chopped
7 g (½ tbsp)
granulated sugar
7 g (1 tsp) salt
400 g (2 cups) canola oil
50 g (¼ cup) yogurt
mixed radishes sliced thin
mixed greens

Method
Combine vinegar, egg yolks, seaweed powder, roasted and raw garlic, anchovy, sugar and salt in the container of a blender and pulse until smooth. With the speed at medium-low, add canola oil in a slow steady stream until emulsified. Add yoghurt and pulse until homogenous. Set aside in refrigerator, preferably overnight. Says chef Brendan Lavery-Breier: “We use this dressing with radishes because they are the first crunchy vegetables of spring. But you can use it to dress any hearty salad — or even as a dip for pizza.”

Photo credit: Harrison Shewchuk

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