Wendake | The great return of La Sagamité

(Wendake) On December 2, 2018, La Sagamité, a veritable institution of the Wendake community, was completely destroyed by fire. Four and a half years later, against all odds, the popular restaurant reopens its doors on June 24, bigger and more beautiful, keeping at its heart its mission to make known the traditions of the First Nations.

“It was touching to read the testimonials we received through social networks, by phone, by email, or when we met people,” owner Steeve Gros-Louis tells us as he takes us on a tour of the facilities. “People, they come here, then it seems like they remember the good times. That touches us, because the original idea was to create a place where we can all be together to share a good meal and discover with our eyes and ears what the rich culture of the First Nations is, whose Huron-Wendat. »

The new restaurant on boulevard Bastien will in fact pursue its vocation launched in July 1999, in particular by keeping on its menu several dishes typical of the First Nations such as sagamité soup, yatista with game or the karakoni with confit wild turkey. But we plan to take advantage of the many bright spaces to organize even more interpretation activities. “It’s fun to be able to sit people down, tell them the little-known story of the Wendat people and demystify the importance we had in the creation of the Kanata or in today’s Canada,” said Mr. Gros-Louis, who also serves as president of Quebec Native Tourism.

The place is decorated with hundreds of artefacts, some from the personal collection of Mr. Gros-Louis – he is also the owner of the Raquettes et Artisanat boutique, a Wendake institution since 1939. “I took over of my father (Antoine) in 2001 with my sister and we make a lot of symbolic objects of traditional dance, teaches us the one who is himself a dancer. So, we have access to a lot of artifacts, in addition to having bought a lot of trappings and accessories used in Barkskins, a National Geographic TV series in which I filmed with my family. »

We also managed to save a few pieces of the old restaurant, including two impressive totems that are found on either side of the imposing foyer of the bar section.

“He was an outstanding hunter-trapper, we made a room really worthy of what he was. We installed the two large totems 16 feet high that we managed to recover from the rubble. It’s near the top of the stairs, a nice aperitif space for 5 to 7. »

The restaurant also has a few rooms that can accommodate families and groups; there is even a VIP lounge on the third floor accessible directly by lift.

Pub and microbrewery

The other important novelty is the imposing industrial kitchen fitted out in the basement, with a completely redesigned execution chain in order to maximize manpower. Thus, although it is primarily intended to serve the approximately 340 guests that the vast restaurant can accommodate – 40 seats are added on the terrace in summer –, it was also designed to do the initial preparation of the dishes served in the Old Quebec branch of La Sagamité, in addition to servicing the pub and the microbrewery, which will open in Wendake by the end of 2024. “It’s no longer my son who will be responsible for the microbrewery,” says Steeve Gros-Louis, who is also a member of the Quebec National Capital Commission. “We have already started to have good negotiations with brewers, then our vats have already been ordered. The pub and microbrewery will be built right next to the new Sagamité. You can also see the brewing tanks from the walkway at the top of the restaurant’s main staircase.

The microbrewery’s beers will be sold in the shop, which is also scheduled to open at the end of 2024, which will also offer homemade sausages, terrines, marinated meats and other game pâtés, all prepared from game pieces delivered to the restaurant. in whole quarters – the debitage is done on site by the butcher of La Sagamité. “Previously, the shop was on the ground floor, so it was an employee or a waitress who provided the service, but we thought that there was no better adviser than a cook to respond to people, explains Mr. Gros-Louis. It also pleases the cooks who have been with us for a long time, because they used to work in an open kitchen on the first level, they are used to seeing customers. »

All of this will make La Sagamité one of the greatest restaurants in Quebec. Too ambitious? “The question is not whether we will be able to fill the restaurant, it is rather that it will allow us to refuse fewer customers, maintains Steeve Gros-Louis with sincere humility. In the early 2000s, people didn’t know what Wendake was because we had just found our name – we had already been referred to as the village of the Hurons for 150 years. But if you said you were going to eat at La Sagamité, everyone knew where it was. We bet that is still the case today.

10 boulevard Bastien, Wendake