Restaurant review | Maison de Soma: a beautiful setting that lacks substance

Rising stars of the restaurant world, institutions that stand the test of time, hidden gems… Our critics dive in and help you make informed choices. This week, an experimental restaurant that’s still finding its feet: Maison de Soma, in Mont-Tremblant.

A few weeks ago, my colleague Iris Gagnon-Paradis spoke to you briefly (and positively!) about the picnic formula at Maison de Soma. It was time to sit down at the large table of this ambitious farm restaurant that won the Laurier du tourisme gourmand in May.

Read “Soma’s House, refreshment side”

Verdict: a disappointment with a hefty bill.

Upon arrival, all hopes are allowed. The place is of rare beauty. The landscaping, the light at the end of the day, the wide steps leading to the superb cedar shingle building, the dining room with large bay windows overlooking the fields: everything about this bucolic setting enchants and soothes us.

My companion and I find ourselves seated under one of the large hanging lamps made of woven straw. The intimacy created by this small private palapa compensates for the fact that the tables are much too wide, forcing us to speak loudly to hear each other and to stretch out our arms to have any physical contact. At the counter, it is the ceramic lamps fashioned by Basma Osama (Céramik B) that gently illuminate the diners, in a greige palette.

The tasting formula works (or worked, because we quickly learn that it disappears the following weekend, oops!) in a single service, like a country table. From 7:15 p.m., the dishes start to come out of the kitchen for all the guests at the same time.

Wrapped in its beige linen, the sourdough bun from the Jolifeu bakery in Saint-Sauveur is accompanied by a kimchi and honey butter so delicious that expectations are raised a notch. The first course, a trout gravlax, is rather bland, but its surprising pairing, a junmai sake in the umami/mushroom/soy sauce register, elevates it with each sip.

This seems like the start of a grand meal, but the next plate, two spring onions cooked over a fire and a sprig of garlic flower, apparently “softened” in koji but nonetheless difficult to cut and unpleasant to eat, leaves one perplexed. The next course, a wedge of napa cabbage also grilled over a fire, with a sauce of mussels marinière and sour cream, goes down a little better, despite a certain redundancy in the charred tastes.

It is not necessary here to go into detail about each of the seven courses we ate since, in any case, this menu is no longer offered. It is fading in favor of a “wine bar” and small dishes formula from August 8. But a few more general observations are necessary.

First of all, when you want to do experimental cooking where fermentation is one of the pillars, you have to be sure of what you are putting forward so as not to break the trust of your customers with inedible preparations like this barley rice pudding style with kale puree. All combinations are possible in the kitchen, as long as it tastes good!

Afterwards, cooking on the fire is powerful. You should not overdo it, at the risk of making the experience uniform. You also have to master it, so that the food is really and truly cooked, not just briefly licked by the flames. The same goes for fermentation and the vinegary tastes that can result from this process.

The wines on a tasting menu are usually exciting and a bit rare, in short, not entry-level like the ones we were served about ten days ago. At this level of dining—the one where you leave the table with a bill of about $600 for two—they should be poured by people who know what they’re talking about.

Of course, there were mitigating circumstances to this unsatisfactory evening, of which I was not aware at the time of the meal. One of the two chefs, Jérôme Bigot, had just left the project he had joined a few weeks before the opening, less than a year ago. The other chef, Édouard Lacouture, is faithful to the post.

Two days after my incognito visit, Maison de Soma co-founder Didier Lortie told me over the phone that he would be more present in the kitchen for the new formula. Fermentation is the hobby horse of this creative who worked in design before realizing his dream of a countryside and culinary laboratory with his partner Édith Foliot. He also makes very good ciders, which I had the chance to taste last summer.

While some people – Chef Bigot being one of them – manage to get into the restaurant business on their own, it’s not for everyone. The experimental nature of the Soma project can excuse a few failures, but we shouldn’t be ambitious. After all, all we want is to fall in love with this absolutely marvelous and unique place in the Laurentians.

Price

The tasting menu, which cost around $600 for two with pairing, taxes and tip, is no longer offered and we don’t know the prices of the new menu yet. The way it works will probably be different in the future formula, but I must mention in passing that it still bothers me to be forced to give a 20% tip on taxes BEFORE a meal. The picnic basket at $50 per person ($35 per child) is more reasonable.

Good to know

Vegetarians, and even vegans, are well catered for here. At least half of the new menu will be free of animal protein, and picnics can be meat-free.

Information

The “wine bar” will be open from Thursday to Saturday evening, from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. Picnics are held in the fields from Thursday to Sunday, from 11 a.m. to sunset (last reservation at 5 p.m.).

380, Paquette Road, Mont-Tremblant

Visit the Maison de Soma website