Restaurant review: Parcelles

Amazing food, beautiful setting, friendly staff. Go!

During the pandemic, I seriously considered opening a restaurant. Well not THAT seriously, but I did give it some deep thought. The reason for this sudden desire for career upheaval at my somewhat advanced age was that I had spotted a property in the Laurentians for sale that included an old house and quite a bit of land next to a lake. With visions of Nova Scotia’s famous Bite House dancing through my head, I imagined a terrific little restaurant in that house with a set menu and great cocktails at night, and wood-burning-oven-made pizza, cool wines, and fresh salads served in the garden by day. I yearned to make it happen until one day I noticed the property had sold (for a ridiculously low price) and suddenly my restaurant dream vanished as quickly as it appeared.

Since then I’ve been particularly drawn to restaurants in the country, my favourites being the amazing L’Épicurieux in Val-David, the outstanding La Belle Histoire in Ste-Marguerite-de-Lac-Masson, and the always terrific bakery/resto, Merci La Vie, in Piedmont. Keen-eyed observers will note that all of these restaurants are located in the Laurentians, an area I know pretty well. As for Quebec’s Eastern Townships? Not so much. Besides a handful of restaurants I’ve visited for reviews over the years, the only one I’ve returned to is the über posh, Hovey Manor. Yet in the summer of 2021, while visiting the vineyard Pinard & Filles in Austin, the owner Frédéric Simon recommended we try a new restaurant opened down the street by the name of Parcelles. It had recently been reviewed favourably in La Presse, and, no surprise, they were too busy to take us. So I vowed to return once the buzz had subsided, and now two years later, after three days at the Eastman Spa, we decided to make a detour to Austin on our way back to the city.