Montreal in light | Finally back to the restaurant

After an edition that had to adapt to confinement and its closed dining rooms last year, the gastronomic component of the Montréal en lumière festival will be back “face-to-face” in restaurants for a 23^e edition whose theme revolves around nordicity.

Iris Gagnon-Paradis
Press

“Last year, it was not going well! How can you have a gastronomy festival without going to a restaurant? The answer was found in resourcefulness; not to reinvent, but to invent ways of conveying gastronomic creativity in boxes, in bags, the famous takeout. “

It is with these words that the general manager of Montréal en lumière, Jacques Primeau, returned to the unique edition of the festival last year, during the press conference which took place on Tuesday 7 December and announcing the colors of the gastronomic section of the next edition, which will take place from February 17 to 23.

In 2022, he rejoiced, festival-goers will be able to rediscover the pleasure of dining, and that of coming together to taste local gastronomy. The objective of Montréal en lumière is always to energize the winter season with an international event “in order to consolidate Montréal’s positioning as a cultural, gastronomic and festive metropolis”, added the general manager, inviting people from all over the world. province to converge on the metropolis. “This year, Montreal welcomes you! “

Nordicity and indigenous gastronomy in the spotlight

This 23^e edition of Montréal en lumière puts forward proven concepts. The Air France Bonnes Tables are obviously back. The 35 participating establishments will offer exclusive menus that will focus on the theme “Savoring our northernness”.

Among these tables, several regulars of the festival, including the Restaurant de l’ITHQ (which will be in its 20^e participation), Auberge Saint-Gabriel, General Staff, Ikanos and La Chronique, but also a number of new participants, many of whom opened their doors during the pandemic: Bivouac, H3, Mastard, Mon Lapin, La Sobremesa, Kamuy, among others.

Some restaurants will welcome guests – around twenty in total, chefs, winegrowers and producers from here and elsewhere – for cooking pairings. These include Michelin-starred chef Julien Royer of the Odette restaurant in Singapore, who will join the Monarque brigade. For his part, Simon Mathys will welcome pastry chef Rémy Havetz, from La Bijouterie restaurant, in Lyon, as well as starred chef Andy Doubrava from Rustic Canyon, located in Santa Monica, California. At the Marcus restaurant, chef Jason Morris will cook with the “star of Nordic cuisine”, Danish chef Bo Bech, enthused Julie Martel, head of gastronomic programming for Montréal en lumière.

For the first time in its history, Montréal en lumière is giving pride of place to Indigenous gastronomy, by inviting eight First Nations chefs (Lysanne O’Bomsawin, Rich Francis, Norma Condo, Maxime Lizotte and Joseph Shawana, among others) as well as the British Columbia wine estate, Nk’Mip, to come cook alongside Montreal chefs including Normand Laprise (Beau Mont), Jean-Sébastien Giguère (H3) and Paul Toussaint (Kamuy). Martin Gagné, head of the Parliamentarian in Quebec City, and Jonathan Lapierre-Réhayem, at the ITHQ Restaurant, will cook up a menu inspired by the flavors of six First Nations.

Launched last year, the Couette et Gastronomie component was a great success, and will be back in February. Festival-goers will once again be able to book in a dozen Montreal hotels (Hôtel Marriott Château Champlain, Boxotel, Auberge du Vieux-Port, etc.) with, à la carte, a gastronomic experience in their room or in the hotel restaurant.

Also back: the Gourmet Circuits offered by Tastet, with thematic itineraries (France, Italy, sake, Japan, etc.), as well as the Gourmet District, in collaboration with Place des Arts, the program of which will be unveiled later.

Intriguing novelty in association with the Japanese festival Yatai MTL, the activity From film to table with Studio Ghibli will offer screenings of six films by the famous Japanese studio at the Cinéma du Parc, while a dozen Japanese restaurants in the metropolis will feature an iconic dish from one of the feature films on their menu.

It is possible to reserve places now via the Montréal en lumière website.