Café Quebecor by Laurent Godbout | Laurent Godbout loves Quebec

Chef Laurent Godbout is not one to twiddle his thumbs. Since the closure of his renowned restaurant Chez L’Épicier in 2019, he has carried out several projects and has several on the table. “My strength is starting from concepts, I love doing that! »

Iris Gagnon Paradise
The Press

Among them, the opening of La Boissonnerie, in Granby — where he also owns the Attelier Archibald —, then Fiorella, a restaurant specializing in fresh pasta in the brand new gourmet complex Le QG, in Sainte-Foy. This food fair, which has several other counter-restaurants, is also a great success, according to what the chef was able to observe.

And now another project, which he couldn’t refuse, was offered to him in Quebec: take control of the 70-seat café located in the luminous glass hall of the Pierre Lassonde pavilion, the entrance to the National Museum of Fine Arts of Quebec. “It’s a great challenge, because the space in the kitchen is limited and I have to build a solid and stable team. It’s adaptation! »

The menu will evolve and change with the seasons, but also with the exhibitions, with always a starter and a dish created in connection with the current exhibition. Right now, a smoked meat egg roll and a lamb burger are a nod to America. Between dreams and realities, which will be presented in June. To be enjoyed these days: Brussels sprout Caesar, fine burrata and mortadella tart, smoked trout toast, grilled octopus or even crab ravioli with asparagus and corn emulsion.

But what he is most looking forward to is this road trip in American lands that he was preparing with his wife before the pandemic hit. At the wheel of his 1982 Airstream motorized trailer, which he has revamped from top to bottom in the last two years, he will travel along the East Coast to Wisconsin.

179 Grande Allee West, Quebec