Marcel's French Restaurant Toronto, Ontario

If looking for an intimate old style French restaurant in Toronto, you might try Marcel's. It's reminds me of New Orleans--that is, you walk up a steep set of steps, with imaginatively painted walls to find yourself in a softly lit dining room with long windows with geranium boxes looking down on the bustling King Street below. The building has the soft patina of age, like a well-made old American cotton quilt. It's an understated kind of place, where you might expect to find an Ernest Hemingway drinking at the bar.

They offer a fun selection of Kir---a sparkling wine with flavored liqueurs. Mark tried the Kir Zazou, a sparkling wine with crème de griotte (wild cherry) liqueur.   I tried one with raspberry (Kir St-Tropez--Sparkling wine with raspberry liqueur), very dry, not sweet, but with an evanescent hint of raspberry, perfect for hot spring evenings-- heat that is followed by a cold front, the weather fluctuating like a nervous old woman.


Considering the heat, we chose salade mesclun, vinaigrette à la moutarde à l’ancienne et balsamique--mixed spring greens in a whole grain Dijon balsamic vinaigrette). We also chose escargots sautés à la crème d’ail et vin blanc sur julienne de légumes étuvées--Snails sautéed in garlic cream and white wine served over a julienne of steamed vegetables, to go with the kir. As a rule, you should always have sparkling wines and champagnes to wash down raw oysters, escargot or to cleanse the palate after caviar.

The decision was whether to aim at the poitrie de pintade et sa mousse aux champignons, sauce suprême au chardonnay et ragoût d’haricots blancs--guinea fowl breast with mushroom mousse, chardonnay sauce suprême and white bean ragout) or the pavé de renne rôti, sauce aux canneberges, purée de pommes de terre et légumes de saison--roasted venison steak with cranberry reduction, mashed potatoes and seasonal vegetables). I triggered the venison anticipating a sanguinary evening exploring downtown Toronto and other activities... We selected the coquilles Saint Jacques poêlées, velouté au safran, légumes de saison (Seared sea scallops in a saffron velouté served with seasonal vegetables), a good choice, though I have always held small bay scallops to be sweeter than the large sea brethren. But if you add a seasoned sauce, like the saffron veloute, perhaps it is wiser to use a mild sea scallop.

For dessert we chose the poire pochée tiède au vin rouge épicé, glace vanille et sablé (Pear poached in spiced red wine served warm with vanilla ice cream and shortbead) and profiterole au Chocolat
With French vanilla ice cream & hot chocolate sauce. The chocolate was outstanding, but I award first place to the pears.

 

Marcel's: 315 King St W, Toronto, Ontario M5V 1J5, Canada

Pierre du Calvert restaurant Old Montreal

The charm of the hostelry Pierre du Calvert is hard to surpass. The restaurant in the old city of Montreal (vieux Montreal) 405 Bonsecours, is situated in a charming, 300 year old building. The hostelry Pierre du Calvet, built in 1725, is an ancestral family mansion. With its exquisite decor, antique furnishings, family heirlooms and European character, it is known also as a Hotel-Chateau.The restaurant is also an inn that has nine rooms for guests, (it is the oldest historic house open for public accommodation in Montreal)  and houses an art gallery of very pricey modern art.


As you walk in the door of this quaint chateaux you are struck by the solid looking stone and exposed beam ceiling of the bright foyer. An array of tropical birds squawk and chatter amidst plants in a bright atrium behind the concierge desk. Off to the sides are some quietly elegant smaller dining rooms.

Our host led us down some stone steps to the main dining room. An ancient room with a high ceiling and tall windows draped in heavy gold fringed raw silk curtains. The painted panel rooms with massive hand carved antique buffets and silver antique decanters suggested Old World elegance. Before dinner we descended a set of steps to  the art gallery, more like a museum of avante garde bronzes and large colorful painting, as large in price as in size.

Dinner at Pierre du Calvert Montreal

To start, we tried slivers of apple with smoked sturgeon. Then we chose the fixed price menu with a cold tomato soup with crisp Canadian bacon. Next a deer parfait--and walnuts--a sweet, pate with this toast and walnuts, followed by a light berry sorbet, slightly icy. Mark had the smoked duck, thinly sliced, on a bed of endives with bleu cheese. All very nice, and well presented.

Main course: We tried the Pheasant supreme with cranberries, fiddle-heads and red cabbage, and the veal bavette, red onions gratins with Brussels sprouts and some asparagus, in the dining room gazing at old black and white photographs of ancestors formally dressed and posed in early twentieth century style. I loved gazing at the historic photos and the lacquered paneled walls in earth tones as we drank a fine Montrachet.

Dessert: a bread pudding with chocolate to go with the coffee, steaming hot, as a send off into the cool Canadian twilight. Out into the starlit night of the Old City of Montreal, we heard the lonely sound of street musicans. I heard someone playing a "like a bridge over troubled waters" plaintively on an alto saxophone, coins tossed by couples strolling from the myriad of dining establishments of the old city back to the hotels. We passed a movie team working on a set in the China town section, lit by large lights, and policemen.


Would very much like to stay at the Pierre Calvert next time we are in Montreal. Pricing seemed reasonable, considering the atmosphere of ancient respectability, and the dining.

Le Mont Pittsburgh

Adorning Mount Washington's lofty ledge, west side of Pittsburgh along Grandview Avenue, gleams a strand of restaurants. Notably, Monterey Bay at one end, the Tin Angel (boasting of famous guests like Bill Clinton), the Georgetown Inn, and my favorite, Le Mont.

 Appropriate for major events demanding significant expressions and outlay, Le Mont is regally arrayed in chandeliers, immaculate linens, tuxedo clad waiters bearing swaddled bottles of rare vintage.  Floor to ceiling windows perfectly frame the city of Pittsburgh below. You can watch the tour boats round Point State Park drifting from the Monongahela around the point and up the Allegheny, and back again. If your eyes are really sharp and a game is on, you can see the big screen at PNC Park. You can see the stands at Heinz field behind the Carnegie Science Center and may see people strolling the Rivers Casino walks edging the Ohio River on a clear day. One rainy night Mark and I polished off a bottle of champagne, snuggly by the window at Le Mont watching the waters of the rivers slowly rise and cover, one by one, the lights that stud the contour of Pittsburgh's Point State Park: Nature writing life' story.

seafood appetizer, flake pastry

For starters, Mark likes to order a bottle of champagne--this time we tried the Schramsberg, which pairs well with escargot. The escargot al' olio at LeMont is made just right--tender, but not undercooked. I especially like the hint of garlic--enough to season, not overpowering. Portions are sufficient but not extravagant. I tried the seafood in a flake pastry appetizer--shrimp, crab, scallops and cream sauce baked in a flaky crust and worth trying again.
Le Mont Restaurant staff deftly creates the tableside Caesar salad, though if you have an appetizer and the salad, you may not be able to finish the course, especially if you plan a thorough meal with a pasta course as well as a main dish. The Le Mont salad of fresh greens is light and palatable.

For the robust appetite, particularly if there are two of you, the Chateaubriand for two is hard to surpass, though the Steak Diane Tableside is fun. At my LeMont birthday party, the chef let Angela help with the Diane, and she did well, regardless of the cocktails.

If you are trying to cut back on calories, try the filet mignon, or even the petit filet, which is ample for a ladies' portion. The vegetables are well cooked al dente.

Mark seldom passes up lobster, and wasn't disappointed by the twin lobster tails. The difficulty was choosing the right wine, but we settled for a red Cabernet. We watched the darkening sky, the lights of the city with the dessert souffle, we tried the Nutty Irish Coffee made with Frangelico and Tuaca. It's hard not to feel romantic sitting by the window at Le Mont. My niece tells me her husband proposed to her there last year...