Restaurant review | Espace Old Mill: the best of the countryside

Through the good shots and, sometimes, the not so good, our restaurant critics tell you about their experience, introduce the team in the dining room and in the kitchen, while explaining what motivated the choice of the restaurant. This week, we’re taking you out of town to discover the excellent new rustic restaurant at Espace Old Mill, in the Eastern Townships.

Why talk about it?

This is Jean-Martin Fortier’s new “house”, a historic building dating from 1849, with rooms for rent upstairs, in the “Cecil House” portion of the project. The star farmer and his team have deployed gardens and a heated greenhouse there, set up the offices of the Institute of Market Gardeners and opened the Growers & Co boutique. Open since the end of autumn 2022, the Espace Old Mill took some time to break in before it started making noise. Then a favorable rumor began to emanate from the historic building in the pretty town of Stanbridge East. It was high time to sit down there.

Who are they ?

In the kitchen, the eternally curious and very gifted Éric Gendron (Lawrence, Manitoba, Table fermière de la Brasserie Dunham) was hired to enhance the plants in the gardens and match them with the best meats in the region. He is very solidly supported by Manu Langevin, from the late La Famille project, in Sutton. The experience of the latter’s picnic baskets is put to good use on weekends, for visitors who would like to have lunch on the grass. For desserts, Charles Provost, who made me taste one of the best cream puffs of my life while working in Manitoba (before migrating to the defunct Pastel), continues to produce sweet wonders with our ingredients. still too little known. The room is under the direction of Caroline Longpré, absent during our visit but well represented by a competent service team.

Our experience

There are three ways to eat at Espace Old Mill. On Saturday and Sunday, it’s possible to order a picnic and buy your bottle at the boutique. The basket is to be eaten on the spot or taken away to the place of your choice.

In contrast to this meal of which you are somewhat the hero, there is the farm table on Saturday evening. It’s total care, the experience in seven or eight services with the possibility of selected agreements and visit of the farm given by Jean-Martin Fortier himself.

I very consciously chose to experience the “between two” version, the one offered every Thursday, Friday and Sunday evening.

Tastings that last four or five hours are certainly memorable experiences, but sometimes the “starter, main course, dessert” formula with a more reasonable addition works well.

It was the first Sunday of the restaurant, which had just changed hours. A rather quiet evening, therefore, where we were able to experience the luxury of a very relaxed and available staff, then of a large calm room, but no less warm, with a low ceiling and exposed joists. There is no doubt that we are in a country restaurant and not in town or in the suburbs.

We are first offered a welcome cocktail, the “mojito ti-pois” (to be pronounced “moGIto” and not moHIto, as we would normally do!). It lives up to its name, with its subtle chlorophyll taste. It’s the beginning of summer in a glass. My young companion opts for the Antioxidant, a mocktail with blueberries, dune pepper and Labrador tea. Its touch of vinegar makes the drink very thirst-quenching.

Just like the “farm table” on Saturday, the à la carte menu lives to the rhythm of Mr. Fortier’s gardens and those of the neighbours, where the restaurant supplements its supply. There is no cooler. We even see a member of the team running in the vegetable garden during the meal!

First comes an assortment of small vegetable dishes. There are the pretty raw vegetables of the day in their simplest form. It is an introduction that is essential. The young carrots are well grilled and placed on a delicious nduja cream from the Ferme des Quatre-Temps (somehow Mr. Fortier’s alma mater) and topped with a salad of fresh herbs. Sugar, richness, spiciness, acidity: it’s all there.

Choron is a Béarnaise sauce to which tomato is added. It accompanies beautiful fresh blanched tomatoes to which the kitchen has taken care to add a little crunch in the form of fried brioche and a few pretty and tasty chive flower petals.

We say goodbye to asparagus season with delicious spears grilled on the Big Green Egg and wedged on a tasty green strawberry gribiche. There is also asparagus in the pasta dish of the moment, very green. To finish the salty component, a little meat.

If the chicken thigh is still on the menu when you come by, you have to order it. We feel that this dish could become a house classic, a bit like the grilled one at the restaurant Lundis au soleil.

And finally, the desserts… Charles Provost is not afraid to experiment, but without sacrificing indulgence. As proof: a rhubarb tartlet, covered with a fennel diplomate cream and topped with a surprising minty-flavoured agastache ice cream. That works ! I don’t like the “BBQ sundae” with strawberries and smoked ice cream, which slightly bury the caramel with pork fat. But maybe it’s my love-hate relationship with the smoker that’s at fault.

To drink

David Lessard-Gagnon, the mustachioed bartender, challenges himself to use only local ingredients. Acidity comes from rhubarb juice, verjuice and shrubs instead of citrus. The spirits are from Quebec. Its non-alcoholic cocktails are just as inventive. In a country restaurant, it is even more important to offer them for the designated drivers. The beers and ciders are obviously local (except the non-alcoholic De Proef) and several wines too, although the menu prepared by the maître d’hôtel Caroline Longpré also contains some European references. What a pleasure to see the (best) Quebec cuvées taking up more and more space in our glasses. In mine: the excellent Pinot Noir New World, from the L’Espiègle estate, located about 10 km from the Espace Old Mill, as the crow flies.

Price

Picnic basket for two is $90 plus tax. The Saturday night farmer’s table is $110 per person ($65 cash deal, $40 half deal). As for the à la carte menu, the smallest plates cost from $13 to $18, the largest, from $24 to $40. Desserts are $12 each.

Information

Espace Old Mill is open from Thursday to Sunday. You must reserve your picnic online before Friday, noon, for the weekend. For restaurant reservations, they open on the first day of the month for the following month – so this 1^er July for the month of August!

7 Caleb Tree Road, Stanbridge East