When I first got invited to a Golden Square Mile press event last year, I knew something big was happening.
If you don’t know about the Golden Square Mile, it was the home of about 70% of Canada’s total wealth from 1970-1900. The money came from the factories in St-Henri, the CP and Grand Trunk railways and the Lachine Canal (an access point for shipping to the west of the country and the US), as well as the timber, mining, fur and banking industries. Most of the workers lived down in Griffintown, St-Henri, Little Burgundy and Pointe St-Charles and the managers lived up by Sherbrooke near Peel Street.
It was a square mile of rich people, and the stores, hotels and mansions that remain are a testament to that time.
To honour this history, the group promoting the area is launching its first restaurant week, meaning places including Renoir Restaurant at the Hôtel Sofitel, the cafés at the McCord and Fine Arts museums, Houston Avenue Bar & Grill and Thursdays are offering discounted prix fixe brunches, lunches and dinners.
Here’s what you need to know to plan your week of dining:
Renoir: French restaurant in the Sofitel
What: Three-course dinner-only menu
How much: $40 (the usual prix fixe is $65, so you’re saving $25)
Menu: Things like foie gras with localorganix maple syrup, pears and seabuckthorn; black rice risotto with parsnip purée, rabiole and burrata; and rack of lamb with lamb ravioli and sweetbreads, mushroom espuma and coffee sauce
Thursdays Bistro
What: Since the reno, much improved quality on an international/French/local menu. You get a glass of Champagne and a three-course dinner-only menu
How much: $40
Menu: Smoked veal; squid-ink seafood spaghetti; mushrooms three-ways with roasted shallot vinaigrette
Houston Avenue Bar & Grill
What: Since the revamp of the menu by Joe Mercuri, much better than you’d think an upscale chain would be, with some local products.
How much: $30 at lunch or dinner
Menu: TBA, but he’s a BBQ specialist (you can check out his eponymous setup in the Old Port if you don’t believe me)
Café Bistro McCord Museum
When: April 25-28th only
How much: $30 lunches with appetizer, main, dessert and coffee
Menu: Smoked trout with pumpernickel chips, beet and cider vinaigrette emulsion; salmon tartare; shrimp and Canadian bacon risotto; and an Anti-constitutional Queen Elizabeth cake in cubes with dark chocolate and raspberry coulis whipped cream.
La Société
What: Brunch and Dinner, April 24-30, 2017
How much: $40 dinner, $25 brunch
Menu: Dinner of duck breast or mackerel escabeche followed by a choice of wild mushroom cavatelli, mussels or short rib bourguignon and either chocolate cake or roasted pineapple with coriander ice cream. Brunch of chicken gizzard salad (gésiers, the word en français sounds so much nicer, doesn’t it?), smoked duck breast of salmon gravlax with a florentine croissant or French toast with pear and chocolate, plus a brunch cocktail.
Here are the other Golden Square Mile Restaurant options.
Happy dining!
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