January 2023. Mild temperatures. It makes winter romantic, I think. The snowfalls are much better taken on the moral side when you don’t chatter your teeth. And then I stress much less to see my teenagers going out in shoes or without a coat. A few beautiful sunny afternoons that allowed us to walk under a sun that blinds us, it made it all not worse in the end.
The dream
As February arrived, I suddenly felt the urge to take my winter antidepressant. The anticipation to go feast on my comfort food favorite live me cheerfully. I’m salivating just at the thought of sticking my spoon into the famous giant French toast at the Leméac restaurant. Its height, its main attraction, overwhelms my senses as they prepare to taste this brioche bread cooked on site with maple caramel and dulce de leche. A combination of moist and hot with a scoop of ice cream flowing from all sides. It’s the emblematic Montreal dessert three inches high that we put in front of us. Each time, I can’t believe my eyes.
Nice mistake
Photo courtesy of Alexandra Diaz
The brioche bread that comes out of the oven, with Émile Saine.
The charming 77-year-old owner, Émile Saine, is still present every day in his bistro. It was he who seized the ball on the rebound twenty years ago, when his new pastry chef made a big mistake, it has to be said! The latter sliced their homemade French toast three times too big. American tourists passing through, who served as guinea pigs without knowing it, were the first to roll on the ground as they loved this delicacy. “We keep it as it is! then decided Mr. Saine.
A reference
Clearly a perfection at brunch time, but fortunately this dessert appears at any time of the day, and above all, throughout the year on the restaurant’s long menu. Moreover, there are also 18 starters and as many main dishes that never change. A faithful clientele like a dog that sets the mood in a very simple bright classic decor on a marble mosaic floor broken piece by piece by the founder and his contractor.
My lifelong favorite
You can even prepare this mythical dessert at home thanks to the Leméac recipe book, which can be found on site. The ritual of being served this beautiful pig dessert, as they say, has become an essential happiness of my winters.
Photo courtesy of Alexandra Diaz
Say hi to Max for me if you go. It is the son of the boss who greets customers every day, taking over from now on. It is the signature of the establishment, to be welcomed like at home and to order a dish that does not change.
And you, your comfort foodit’s what ?
That’s what I need in the coldest weather. A classic that comforts like a baby comforter. We all have a little pick-me-up up our sleeve to face winter. Onion soup au gratin, braised, neighborhood tonkinoise, Baileys coffee, fudge.