The Vogue Hotel has just reopened its doors in downtown Montreal. The institution, which changed hands in the summer of 2020, has two new restaurant offerings, managed by Antonio Park: the Yama restaurant and the Café Bazin.
With Yama, the Montreal chef signs his first hotel restaurant here. Contrary to its other establishments — including the Park, in Westmount — the food offer is spread out from morning to evening, with a clientele who dine there seven days a week. Antonio Park therefore describes the style of cuisine that they serve as “international”, since the menu includes as many ceviches or tiradito as breakfast croissants or club sandwiches.
The menu was developed in conjunction with executive chef Konstantin Chakhnov, a Montrealer who returned home after working at the Fat Duck restaurant in the United Kingdom, among others. The Yama has an à la carte menu as well as a tasting menu. There is also a sushi counter, which Antonio Park prefers to call raw barsince they also serve all kinds of raw fish, including sushi tacos.
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PHOTO PATRICK SANFAÇON, THE PRESS
The menu was put together by Antonio Park and Yama’s executive chef, Konstantin Chakhnov.
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PHOTO PATRICK SANFAÇON, THE PRESS
The bar has up to 26 seats. Both hotel guests and people passing through the city center are welcome there. We hope to create a connection between travelers and Montrealers.
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PHOTO PATRICK SANFAÇON, THE PRESS
The places, whose design was carried out by Sid Lee Architecture, are all in roundness.
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PHOTO PATRICK SANFAÇON, THE PRESS
In summer, the restaurant will have a street terrace. It is thus equipped with an “air curtain” which allows the interior to be air-conditioned without wasting fresh air outside.
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PHOTO PATRICK SANFAÇON, THE PRESS
The same aesthetic sense is reflected in Café Bazin, Westmount’s first pastry “franchise”.
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The establishment, whose design was carried out by Sid Lee Architecture, is all in curves. These shapes can be found everywhere, from white oak chairs to light fixtures and countertops. This is also the case for the large oval bar – built of the same Turkish travertine as the hotel’s reception desk – which can seat up to 26 people and which stands not far from the huge cellar.
Yama means “mountain” in Japanese, a nod to the street of the same name where the Vogue Hotel is located.
At the other end of the lobby is Café Bazin, which could be described as a miniature version of the establishment of the same name in Westmount, where Antonio Park is a partner with pastry chef Bertrand Bazin. While the original café has a more bistro offer, the Vogue branch serves more as a take-out counter, where pastries, pastries, sandwiches and salads are offered.
“We decided to open right next to the reception, in case people who are waiting for their check-in want to have a coffee, a tea or a bite before entering the hotel”, specifies Park. By the way, the Krizet sliding glass doors create an interesting connection between the cafe and the hotel lobby. Open every day, the place maintains a presence even when it closes its doors at the end of the afternoon: lit from within, it thus becomes a kind of light box through the glass doors.
1425, rue de la Montagne, Montreal