People have a lot to say about gentrification in Montreal, especially in Parc Ex and Mile Ex, a lot of which ties in loosely to the opening of the Signé Toqué restaurant group’s latest restaurant, Beau Mont.
There’s the Mil campus from UdeM that’s expected to increase property taxes and values while bringing tons of condos, cafes and services to the area along with students, faculty and researchers for what’s supposed to be the new AI hub of Montreal.
There’s the departure of low-income renters from the area as landlords kick out tenants and up the rent.
And there are hipster bars that have been around for a handful of years and cater to the young workers who’ve already moved into the area while it’s still cheap enough for them to buy or rent.
All this makes me feel uncomfortable when I walk into the slick and spacious Beau Mont, which sticks out in the as-yet industrial area.
Who are all these well-dressed people? we ask our server once seated. A lot are from Laval, she says, and it’s great for them because they don’t need to drive all the way into downtown Montreal for a great meal. They’ll pay $36 for Executive Chef André Sterling and Chef de Cuisine Jean-François Dubé’s lamb with coco bean purée and lavender sauce.
Or $30 for trout. Funny story about the trout. Turns out it’s not from Ferme Piscicole des Bobines, the common sourcing for most of the trout on Montreal menus, it seems. It’s from a long-time producer (I think it was pork or deer?) that Normand Laprise worked with who couldn’t sell that meat anymore because of a market scare and decided to start raising trout.
Anyway, the trout was appropriately mild under a delicious and simple salsa of peach and tomatoes concassés with wild herbs below:
Seasonal as the menu is, the trout now comes with romanesco and a tomato water emulsion.
Long gone are the 6 spears of seasonal, local asparagus as a side dish for $12. That’s $2 a spear… Yes, a bit skimpy, but they’re very nice asparagus, I suppose.
Same for the Nordic shrimp salad, with the juiciest, sweetest little mouthfuls of saline joy with radishes, cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, dill and either wild parsley or cilantro with a chili and garlic vinaigrette:
The scallops aren’t there anymore either, replaced by veal tartare, gratinéed sea snails and a celery root and honeycrisp apple pâté called “crethon.”
And the $10 legumes glacés, which used to feature Tokyo turnips and carrots, have also probably been swapped out for other fall root veg. That’s fine, because it’s really just a simple dish of local, seasonal produce at its best. The glazing didn’t add much.
I also doubt the assortment of summer sorbets is still there, but I’d imagine there are some sweet pear, apple and sea buckthorn options.
But the biggest surprise of the meal might have been my drink. There are plenty of excellent bottles of natural, biodynamic and organic wine on the menu, and I tried a glass of white that was fine with the food. But I have to recommend one of the non-alcoholic cocktails. Our favourite was the zero-proof (booze-free) one with cucumber and something like lemongrass or kaffir lime. Not too sweet, not too sour, not watery. It was refreshing and elegant, like the menu.
Would I eat here again? Sure, if someone else was paying or if I lived in the area and had some money to burn. I recreated a version of that trout dish at home for much cheaper. I’m not about to make my own pâté en croûte or rabbit roulade, though. I think I just have a hard time being okay with such an upscale place plonking itself down in the area. The reasons make sense: Laprise and Lamarche use it as a commissary kitchen, so a place they can break down and prep whole animals and share them between their restaurants. They can open a little take-away counter. They can try to make their super-locavore sourcing profitable. I believe in what they do, supporting local farmers. I just worry that there are a whole lot of people who were already living in the Parc Ex area who care more about how to stretch their monthly budgets so they can afford that bag of dried pasta or canned tuna than they do about how beautifully peaches are cut into a concassé for their trout. Yet this happens in every area. And I’m sure there are a bunch of local people who are thrilled to have Beau Mont in the neighbourhood. Besides, in a few years, it won’t be the newcomer. The gentrification seems inevitable. And it’s good for the economy. All these counter-arguments to justify a meal of ethically sourced, well-prepared food…
Who said food was simple?
Beau Mont
950 Beaumont Ave., suite 105
Montreal, QC
Phone: 514-270-8882
How Much: $60-$100 per person with tax, tip and a glass of wine
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