Inspirational Eats

Le Boulevardier at Le Germain Hotel Montreal

While sifting through the 60 restaurants taking part in the Montréal en Lumière festival at the end of February, I targeted Le Boulevardier for a dining experience. Located in downtown Montreal’s popular Le Germain Hotel on Mansfield, this place is a gem.

Headed by executive chef Florimond Hannoteau, it seats 125 in the dining room and an additional 45 at the bar. Le Boulevardier has accessible options including a ramp at street level and elevators, which take you to the second-floor restaurant. The hotel offers valet parking for a fee.

We started off sharing 12 oysters, followed by two real treats: duck confit and foie gras cromesquis with mushrooms and truffle cream, followed by a filet mignon tartare, with poached quail egg, shiitake and gochujang. Moving on to the main courses, I took the chef ’s recommendation of a rack of lamb from Kamouraska, with vitelotte, candied tomatoes and roasted peppers. The two others in my party shared their main courses: a lobster risotto and a sirloin steak with truffle jus and potato and asparagus, and foie gras. We did save some room for dessert: the vanilla and caramel millefeuille with vanilla ice cream and the hazelnut and maple moelleux, with chocolate cream, mushroom crumble ice cream and Coureur de bois caramel.

Info: www.leboulevardierrestaurant.com

Tommy Café + Apéro

Tommy Café + Apéro is one of the few Montreal restaurants where you can get a refreshing array of breakfast and brunch items all day. The new Royalmount location is a stand-alone spot outside of the mall beside the skating rink. It is open until 9 pm weekdays and 5 pm on weekends. There is accessible access via a sidewalk ramp. You can park indoors at Royalmount for free for up to four hours with the app. There is accessible parking and an elevator to bring you to the main level of the mall. You will need to go back outdoors to reach the restaurant.

The place can seat 72 people and 20 more on a seasonal patio. For drinks, we enjoyed an Americano and a mango dragon fruit smoothie. Avocado toast is the Tommy trademark, and it comes in different incarnations. We shared the classic: multigrain bread, smashed avocado, fleur de sel, chili flakes and lemon. From the main menu we selected the BAE (two eggs scrambled with bacon and multigrain bread, served with salad and potatoes), La Totale (French toast, scrambled eggs, maple syrup and bacon or sausage) and the Gobble (ciabatta, sliced turkey, honey Dijon, mixed greens, bacon and tomato).

Since the decadent dessert choices are not on the menu, and since they do change from time to time, we ventured towards the yummy looking display case and enjoyed the key lime pie and chocolate cheesecake. There is a nice assortment of iced coffees, teas, espressos, cappuccinos and even hot chocolates.

Info: tommycafe.ca/en/menu-royalmount

Terrasse season at Petros

Terrasse season is upon us, so it is time for me to share two “go to” spots from the Petros Taverna group of restaurants: one on St. Joseph Blvd. in Lachine and the other in Little Italy at the corner of SaintDominique and Bélanger. Both patios have complete accessibility and washrooms on the main floor. They are entirely covered in the event of inclement weather. Lachine has its own parking lot. I frequent both locations. In Lachine, chefs Karim and Siful know how to please customers. In Little Italy, partners Jahad and Enam know the value of good customer service. Let me recommend the warm pita or French bread with multiple spreads (I favour the taramasalata), expertly prepared chopped salads with feta cheese, crispy fried zucchini, fresh grilled fish, lambchops cooked to perfection, steak, Greek chicken and a whole lot more.

Both establishments are BYOB. Petros Lachine is open seven nights a week. Jardin Petros in Little Italy is open every day except Monday. From Tuesday to Friday, they even serve lunch. Ted Dranias is the founder and brand ambassador for the Petros Group, which also has locations in Griffintown, Westmount and the Mile End.

Info: www.restaurantpetros.ca