At La Coupole, lunch is happening.
Sun fills the vaulted room and efficient servers place plates of salmon tartare and skinny frites in frot of heels and suits with somewhat longer-than-rushed and somewhat shorter-than-leisurely lunch breaks. Fortunately, the menu promises that a three-course meal will be served in 45 minutes or less, perfect for rushing back to the office before turning into a (caramelized) pumpkin.
But the less time-pressed might prefer to slowly sip their glass of crisp, St-Pepin white wine from Quebec’s own Domaine des Brômes, while efficient and friendly servers deliver bills and wildrose and juniper berry crème brulées.
The chef changed last year, and the once stuffy bistro has been reinvented as a home of Laurentians cuisine – boreal cooking from the hilly areas north of Montreal.
What does that mean in terms of food?
It means beet carpaccio comes tricolore with honey mushrooms, fried Jerusalem artichoke chips and that fluffy bit of lichen you see on the left on top of the demi-lune of golden hubbard squash jam.
But, because this is a hotel that serves breakfast, it also means they have gluten-free bread that they can toast for people like me! And they serve it with Quebec unrefined canola oil, which makes for a locavore olive oil replacement.
Next, there’s homemade foie gras served with a sweet and sour local berry coulis, and bitter sprouts for balance.
The most popular lunch items are the salmon and beef tartares that come with a corn of fries and aioli. The local twist? Salicorne, aka sea asparagus, adds salty, fishy flavour to the salmon and the accompanying beet-yogurt smear.
And for heartier appetites, the main courses:
Crispy chicken (gluten free!) with celery root, salsa fresca, yellow cherry tomatoes, carrots and broccoli with a soy dipping sauce (I skipped the soy and I didn’t miss it one bit). On his latest menu, Chef Courcoul serves it with a burdock and ground cherry coulis, carrots with caraway, celery root, apple and squash.
Or two giant filets of sustainable Arctic char, seared, with squash slices, carrots, yellow carrots, charred cabbage (get it?) bursting yellow tomatoes, rosehip, hemp oil and a fern whipped cream. That’s enough fish for two. Same goes for the chicken above. In terms of serving size, this French-style bistro is really taking the French (from France) interpretation of lunch as the main meal of the day. Fortunately, they didn’t laugh when I asked for a doggy bag.
That’s really what’s impressive about La Coupole. It’s not another hotel restaurant catering to tourists. Every patron that lunch hour was a local. And the kitchen can adapt to dietary restrictions (and make equally impressive, gourmet substitutions) at the drop of a hat. Yes, a chef should be able to whip up a different sauce if the ingredients are on hand (and he or she has time). The kitchen staff should toast that gluten-free bread, not just defrost it in the microwave. That’s cooking school 101.
The chef of a locavore restaurant should also be passionate about local ingredients! And this one is. The only non-local items are salt, coffee, sugar and chocolate. Too often a hotel restaurant chef is tired from running banquets and preparing yet more crostini for catered events in the conference rooms, so execution suffers. Here, that chicken was years better than KFC. That squash jam with the foie gras was Christmas in a mouthful. And I can’t forget the professional service. I’d definitely come back for a quick lunch. It’s a comfortable atmosphere, a dependable meal that’s a big step up from the burger place your colleagues like a lot less expensive than Europea.
I’d even go for dinner. Or brunch. Just get there before all the tourists find it (especially the secluded upstairs terrasse in summer). Don’t worry, though – for now, it’s a hidden gem tucked into downtown Montreal. More char for us.
La Coupole
1325, René-Lévesque West (metro Lucien l’Allier, Peel or Guy)
Montréal
(514) 373-2300
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