Restaurant review | Restaurant Alentours: from constraint comes creativity

Rising stars in the restaurant industry, institutions that stand the test of time, hidden gems… Our critics dig in and help you make informed choices. This week, one star: Restaurant Alentours, in Quebec.

The issues of food sovereignty, local supply, and food waste are among those to which we would like to find sustainable answers. In the catering industry as elsewhere, many are imagining new avenues, not only from an environmental perspective, but also from an economic perspective.

Why use vanilla when we have sweet clover, whose delicate flowers have a similar scent? Why black pepper when we have Dunes pepper?

Replacing certain exotic foods with local products and working with local farmers and producers is the first step, one that more and more establishments are taking. But some decide to go further. Or, actually, closer.

Originally from New York, Tim Moroney migrated to Quebec City about fifteen years ago. He worked at establishments such as Légende and Chez Boulay before launching into the void with Alentours, which notably rose to become one of the 10 best new restaurants in Canada in 2023.

Restaurant Alentours lives up to its name, because its chef-owner and his small team have set themselves a challenge: only source their food within a 150 km radius of the restaurant located in the Saint-Sauveur district of Quebec.

The only exceptions: salt (from the North Shore or Ontario), yeast (from Montreal), dairy products (La Pinte, near Sherbrooke), as well as spirits – all from the “grain to bottle” principle – and wines (250 km radius).

The place also promotes principles of sustainable development, such as responsible waste management and an ethical approach to human resources, notably by placing people at the heart of its approach.

The realization of all this…

These noble principles are all well and good, even very inspiring, but are they good? Interesting ? Or does it fall flat?

These questions were running through my head when I walked through the door of the very discreet Alentours premises, one Saturday evening in May. The place does not do anything flashy. The decor is simple, but elegant, and the room could be a little cold if it were not for the fact that you are welcomed with such warmth by the staff that you immediately feel at home there.

The choice of a somewhat lost premises in a confidential street is explained by the fact that Alentours needs a large production kitchen, because everything is processed on site – pastry, butchery (from animals received whole), bakery, lacto-fermentation, canning… And everything is done to maximize products and reduce waste.

This is what impresses first: this attention to detail in the way the food is prepared, transformed, sublimated. From this imposed constraint, the chef and his team make a springboard towards a delightful creativity.

What I ate here, I could never have tasted anywhere else. Everything was astonishing, surprising, beautifully presented, but above all delicious – and that’s what we want, because a good idea that tastes bad is, in the end, a bad idea!

The menu has changed a lot since my visit, but there is no doubt that the creativity that I have seen there continues throughout the year.

First delight: a local reinterpretation of panisse, a specialty of Provençal cuisine made from chickpea flour, replaced here by yellow pea flour (Belle harvest de Charlevoix). The little fried cubes are like so many jewels in their boxes, with their little dots of fermented black garlic oil vinaigrette and their red beet puree spread at the bottom of the plate. It is as beautiful for the eyes as it is good for the palate.

The little cold cucumber soup (frozen from the summer before, but still vibrantly fresh and green) is good. The tostada is too stiff, but I like the kick tangy from the sea buckthorn powder which covers it.

The favorite of the evening appears before us. Who would have thought that a plate of roasted carrots, with turmeric vinaigrette, homemade ricotta, marinated onions, dill and little yellow pea chips would arouse so much emotion? The whole is silky, velvety, complex, despite its apparent simplicity. Every bite is perfect.

Speaking of ingenuity to avoid waste: the herb pesto, served with the corn and potato salad, is made only from the stems of different herbs – blanched, chopped, frozen, finely ground, frozen again. The dough is ready to emulsify once thawed. Well done !

For a sweet finish (but not too much), a blueberry and sea buckthorn tartlet, topped with a ginger and blueberry espuma. It’s airy, but perhaps a touch of sugar would have better balanced the acidity of the whole thing.

Price

The menu is “a la carte”. There are some entree-type dishes, others a little more substantial. Everything ranges from $15 to $29. Expect to pay about fifteen dollars for a dessert. The restaurant recommends ordering about four items per person.

Good to know

Alentours is a no-tipping restaurant. The prices displayed on the menu are therefore the final prices, before taxes. There is normally only one meat dish on the menu, but several use dairy products. Vegetarians, you will be delighted here!

Information

Open Thursday to Saturday evening. Reservations strongly suggested.

715, rue Saint-Bernard, Quebec

Visit the Restaurant Alentours website