Le Cuisinomane visits the 2023 Restaurateur Award Nominees: Part 1

Kebec Club Privé

Capitale-Nationale

767 St-Joseph Street East, Quebec City (QC), G1K 3C6

Kebec Club Privé is guided not only by masterful hands but also by a strong local conscience. Guests are impressed by the precision, finesse, execution, and message conveyed through every dish.

But the work begins long before the plates reach the table—sometimes weeks or even months in advance. Chef duo Pierre-Olivier Pelletier and Cassandre Osterroth personally forage many of the ingredients they use throughout the year (sweetgrass, melilot, goldenrod, wild roses, daisy buds).

I loved that education is central to the experience—about products, artisans, and techniques. My favorite dish of the evening was the lobster prepared in two ways. This small restaurant is doing big things for Quebec.

Les Mal-Aimés

Estrie

429 Route 253, Cookshire-Eaton (QC), J0B 1M0

Les Mal-Aimés offers a farm-based gastronomic experience with a 10-course tasting menu. The cuisine of chefs Daniel Charbonneau and Yannick Côté highlights fruits and vegetables grown on site—especially the “mal-aimés” (forgotten or neglected produce)—along with the best local products from the region, cooked over a wood fire.

In this kitchen, it’s not only lemon that’s banned: pepper is too, along with olive oil, avocado, and any seafood not sourced from local waters.

I was particularly impressed by the duck tartare (the best tartare I ate all year), freely inspired by the Ethiopian dish Kifto. The spectacular result comes from emulsifying finely chopped duck meat with duck fat and enhancing it with a blackcurrant leaf sauce. A small pillow filled with house-made cheese and a roll of braised cabbage complete this incredibly satisfying and playful dish.

Stopping at Les Mal-Aimés is a deliciously transporting experience.

Baumier – Wine Bar

Laurentides

695A Avila Road, Piedmont (QC), J0R 1R3

When I read a menu, I like to know what month it is and where I am in the world—that’s often the first message a chef conveys about the restaurant’s values and philosophy.

At Baumier – Bar à vin, you feel exactly that all year long.

A menu that breathes summer in July and comforts in February. It takes you into the woods in autumn with wild mushrooms and celebrates spring with fiddleheads—the first eagerly awaited green vegetable of the year.

The young and very talented chef Arianne Faucher boldly introduces guests to the flavors of the region: cedar, persimmon, daylily, fir, cattail hearts—prepared in a very personal style, sometimes daring but always confident.

It’s beautiful to see—and above all, delicious.

Hoogan et Beaufort

Montreal

4095 Molson Street, Montreal (QC), H1Y 3L1

After eight years of operation, Hoogan et Beaufort has firmly established itself as a great restaurant. Over time, chef Marc-André Jetté has built a strong team both in the kitchen and the dining room, achieving the highest standards of a “chic yet relaxed” dining experience.

High-quality dishes are paired with service worthy of the finest restaurants, all within a welcoming, unpretentious atmosphere.

Every visit should include a fresh pasta dish highlighting seasonal ingredients (here, the chanterelle-corn-shishito trio was masterfully executed). Duck, Gaspé halibut or lobster, pork, and vegetables from small local farms also regularly shine on the menu.

It’s cuisine that honors both the seasons and Quebec ingredients.

Le Hatley

Estrie

575 Hovey Street, North Hatley (QC), J0B 2C0

Running a hotel restaurant certainly comes with its share of challenges. Chef Alexandre Vachon has chosen to lead Le Hatley with intelligence and elegance.

One of his first priorities was building strong relationships with local artisans and producers—and today, that work is clearly paying off.

On the plate, the result is a celebration of the seasons and regional ingredients: duck egg enhanced with scallop sabayon and Lake Saint-Pierre caviar; expertly prepared coquelet ballotine with nostalgic peas and mushrooms finished with a supreme sauce; sea buckthorn used in both savory and sweet preparations; and duck, among many others.

A refined expression of local terroir and seasonal cuisine.