Despite an “extremely difficult” last year, restaurateurs are standing up to the pandemic and will open new restaurants in time for the summer.
From June, if health regulations allow, the BO Cuisine d’Asie restaurant, located in front of the Le Diamant theater, should welcome its first customers.
The 98-seat restaurant, which has a 40-seat terrace, is intended to be a “refined bistro” where Asian culture and local products will be combined, says executive chef Vincent Morin.
Thus, we will be able to taste Asian citrus fruits grown in greenhouses in Montreal, miso paste from North Hatley, as well as seaweed from the Gaspé.
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The menu, inspired by “Monsoon Asia”, or South and Southeast Asia, will feature new kinds of Asian dishes, thus creating a “new type of flavor,” adds the chef. Food, wine, sake or tea pairings will also be offered.
It was Robert Lepage himself, creator of the theater that hosts the restaurant, who wanted to open an Asian restaurant there, he maintains. “He loves Asian culture. He travels a lot and it also inspires him a lot for his works, ”says Mr. Morin.
S’amuser
Another restaurant, Le Clan, will also open in mid-July, in the premises of the former Café de Paris, on rue des Jardins, in Old Quebec.
For the partners, Yanick Parent, current owner of the Bello, La Buche and Don Vegan restaurants, and his new partner, Stéphane Modat, former chef of Château Frontenac, “the stars were aligned” so that they would go into business, even in pandemic time.
Photo Stevens LeBlanc
Yannick Parent
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“I want us to have fun, I want to have fun, without barriers,” says the chef. “It will be like an orgy in the Palace of Versailles!” he says, to illustrate the atmosphere that will reign in his new establishment.
Gourmet restaurant, but “unpretentious”, Le Clan will offer local food in a warm and relaxed atmosphere, says Mr. Parent.
To compensate for the fact that “catering is going badly” in the midst of a health crisis, restaurateurs will also promote local products, to “give back to the farmers and producers of our region, a community that is dear to us”, underlines M Modat.
Archibald in Old Quebec
Also in June, the Archibald will also make its entry into the Quartier Petit Champlain, a first for the banner in “more touristy” terrain. The new establishment, representing an investment of more than one million dollars, will be located in the former premises of the Spag & tini restaurant, in front of the ferry.
“Yes, it’s daring [étant donné le contexte]. But it’s a great challenge, ”says Ivan Waddell, associate director general of the Archibald de Sainte-Foy.
Photo Stevens LeBlanc
Ivan Waddell
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But these new projects have their share of concerns, confide the restaurateurs, first of all because of the pandemic which is not yet over, but especially with regard to the difficulty in finding labor. “As much as I am excited about this project, I am nervous and stressed,” says Mr. Parent.
The story goes the same for Mr. Morin, who is actively looking for 8 to 10 employees in the kitchen.
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