O.Noir - Montreal

When I went to Montreal, I not only looked for the best places to eat, but also those places that were unique to Montreal.  One of the places that I went to was a place called O.Noir, which served dinner in the dark.  The restaurant is located on a wide boulevard that has been made car free, so there is at least a walk of half a block even if you are dropped off on the corner of the street on which the restaurant is located.  The restaurant has a large storefront with glass windows looking into the lounge where you start your experience.  The space has a cement floor and a plank ceiling with inset lights.  There is a bar at the back of the room with hanging lights and a set of lockers off to one side where you are to store your cell phones, watches, and any other light making accessories.  It is in the lounge where you make your drink and dinner selections.  You have the option of ordering two or three courses. and there is also an option for every menu and drink selection to get a dealer's choice and find out after dinner what it was that you ate.  My thought was that knowing what you were getting would make it easier to wrap your head around what you were eating and drinking, so I went all in and ordered three courses and a cocktail, all dealer's choice.  Not only would I not know what I was getting, I wouldn't even know what to expect,  After I ordered, I was directed to a table to wait for my waiter, who was blind, who would direct me to my table. I was told to grab his shoulder and follow him.  The room was pitch black and I was seated at a two top next to a brick wall.  It was so dark that my eyes were seeing swirls of light trying to see something.  From the voices in the room, I would say that the room was crowded.  I heard French, of course, but I also heard English at at least 4 other tables, in addition to Spanish, and what sounded like Russian.  Those were the languages that I could recognize.  It was loud and there were a lot of people speaking, some in languages, that I didn't immediately recognize.

 After sitting in the dark and listening to the room and the conversations around me, there were a group of doctors from South Carolina and Florida sitting one table over, my cocktail was brought to me.  It was interesting. It started with Vodka and also used Creme de Violet, Egg White, Ginger, Simple Syrup, and was garnished with an Orange. I immediately recognized the egg white and could tell that it was a white liquor.  I knew that it wasn't gin and thought it was vodka, but I wasn't certain because of the floral flavors that came from the Creme de Violette and the spice of the ginger.  I also recognized that it was garnished with an orange.  While the flavors were familiar, the combination was not, but I did like it.

My Appetizer was a Turkey Croquet with Spicy Mayo and a Side Salad with Vinaigrette. This was interesting.  The croquette was the first thing that I found and I thought that it was some sort of fried meatball.  I ended up eating it with my hand because I had some difficulty cutting into it with my fork.  While I was eating it, I found the spicy mayo.  I figured it was a sauce for the meatball, so I dipped the meatball into it a few times.  What was left was solid enough that I was just able to grab it with my hand and put it in my mouth.  The side salad I found last and that was mostly eaten with my fork, though it did involve me using my other hand to put the greens onto my fork to eat them.  After the first course, I quickly realized that I would need to wash my hands at the end of the meal because I was going to need to use them more than I normally do when eating.

The main course was actually easier to eat (after I felt around with my hands a little bit).  It was Pork Osso Bucco with Mashed Potatoes and Crispy Kale.  The mashed potatoes and crispy kale were easy to eat by fork and the mashed potatoes were easy to recognize by taste.  The Kale, I was kind of clueless on.  The meat was tender and I immediately recognized it as pork, though I did not recognize that it was an osso bucco.  I was able to mostly cut it off the bone, but since I had mostly resigned myself to eating with my hands, I had no problem with picking the bone up and chewing the meat off of the bone that I was unable to cut off.

Dessert was a Cheesecake with Berries and an Oreo Crust.  With dessert, I wasn't exactly sure what I was eating, though I knew that I liked it.  I recognized berries, chocolate, and cream cheese, but I couldn't put it all together.  It probably didn't help that it came apart so easily that I ate the individual elements separately.

I really enjoyed my experience here.  I had done a dinner in the dark before in Chicago at a pop up in a private residence, but with that dinner we wore blindfolds and our menu was made to eat by hand, so it was a little less messy.  This was more like something that you would find in a restaurant which made it a bit more difficult to eat.  It was all good, but I definitely had to wash my hands after dinner.

Candide - Montreal

 

One of the things that I make sure to do before I go on a trip is to try to find out what the notable restaurants are in the area.  Before I went to Montreal last month, I looked at several lists to try to find out where to eat and Candide kept on coming up.  I noticed that it was in the Little Burgundy neighborhood and was actually located in the basement of an old church.  While they did have a menu, it was simply the menu of what they would be serving on that given night.  Every night, they served a 4 course seasonal menu based on what they could find in the markets.  The only choice that you had to make was whether you would also be doing the wine pairing.  This sounded very much like the thing that I am very much into, so I made sure to make a reservation.  The place was a 40 minute walk from where I was staying and when I got there, I found that not only is it located in an old church, but the church was located in the middle of a park.  While there was an address, the road on the block where the restaurant is located is pedestrian only, so even if I were to have taken a cab to get there, there would have been at least some walking.  The entrance had a large covered porch with strung white Christmas style lights, but it was not yet being used.  I walked in and found a ramp that led (slightly) down to the host station.  The dining room was small, seating about 30 people in total between tables and the counter overlooking the kitchen, where I was seated.  I really enjoyed the counter seat because the chef and his two sous chefs were literally across the counter so I could both watch what was being done and ask questions.  Shortly after I was seated, the Sommelier came by and asked if I would like bubbles.  It is very much both a French and Fine Dining tradition to start things off with a sparkling wine because it opens up your taste buds and allows you to be better taste what you are about to eat.  I said yes and was served a Cava which was dry, very sparkling, and very good.  I also said yes to the wine pairing.

For my first course, which was actually kind of a pre-appetizer, we started with  a simple dish of Asparagus wrapped in Greens and topped with Seaweed Butter.  It tasted very fresh and green and while the butter did add an element of savoriness, the seaweed that it was infused with added to the green flavor.  It was very good and almost as if I was eating directly from a garden.  In addition to the Asparagus, I was served a bowl of Housemade Bread and Whipped Butter which was very good.  I did eat all of the bread and I was offered more, it was just sitting on the other side of the counter,but I waved it off because, while it was very good, I didn't want to fill up on bread.

 

The actual first course was also vegetable based.  I was served Red Romaine Lettuce with Bottarga  Sauce (a sauce made with tuna roe), Pickled Blueberries, and Farmers Cheese.  It was crunchy, creamy, briny, and a little bitter.  It really didn't look like much, but it did have a wealth of flavor and I really liked it.  It was paired with a local white wine called Nibiru Alte Reben, which, while I have never heard of, I liked and thought it went well with the lettuce.

The next course kind of skirted the line between a vegetable dish and an entree.  Also simple (and actually a favorite), it was Crab, Carrots, and Yogurt.  It was very fresh, sweet, tart, and sour, and both creamy and crunchy.  The wine served was another white, Stefan Vetter Sylvaner (shown on the right in the picture below) which was crisp with a very minerally flavor.

The main course also very seasonal.  The star was the Guinea Fowl which was set on a Parasol Mushroom Puree and served with Fiddlehead Ferns and Local Greens.  It was savory, salty, and tasted very fresh.  The mushrooms added a savoriness to the already savoriness of the Guinea Hen and the fiddlehead ferns contrasted that with a green flavor.  The wine pairing was a Methode Sauvage Syrah which was both very rich and savory and very floral.

Dessert, while it was seasonal and fruit forward was kind of unexpected.  Dried Plums (Prunes) were rehydrated with Strawberry Juice and served over Malted Wheat with Sweet Bread.  It was sweet, fruity, and a little tart with the richness of the malted wheat.  The sweet bread was sweet and crunchey and paired well with the malted wheat.  I was actually surprised that the plum, which had started as a prune had not retained any of the bitterness of a prune.  The fruit went well with the dessert pairing, which was a Sauternes.  It was sweet and slightly syrupy and gained from the tartness of the strawberry juice rehydrated plum.

Many fine dining places will finish things off with Mignardises when the check is brought.  While I was served a sweet surprise, it was actually Linden Honey with Honeycomb.  The check was also served with a little toy hippo which was cute.

Dinner was very good and the experience was great because I had the chefs there to answer my many questions.  It was a lot of fun and I would highly recommend it to any friends who decide to visit Montreal.