Restaurant Review: Sabayon

Patrice and Marie-Josée go the restaurant route

The decision to dine out these days is one to be made wisely. Menu and wine prices are higher than ever, as is the risk of hitting a mediocre meal. Already groceries are expensive. Yet a night at a good restaurant for two can cost as much as two grocery runs for a family of four. As someone whose ratio of dining in to out used to be 60-40, I’d say my rate today is 95-5. I’m now a definite eater-at-homer. And yet I still love a night out at a good restaurant. What I mean by a “good” restaurant is an establishment with friendly service, a comfortable setting, and food that’s several notches above what you can make at home. And if you’re fortunate enough to be in a great restaurant, you’ll enjoy food that inspires, offers wild and wonderful flavours, precision in execution, and a level of artistry that makes you ooh and aah.

I’ve had many great meals in the past, but that seems to be a tall order of late. I recently dined at a former favourite restaurant only to find their food now lacked the excitement I remembered from their early years. Some dishes were too rich, others dated, and still others just ok. And there have been others too where I left questioning whether the level of cooking in the city was slipping, or whether I had had my fill of high-end cuisine.

No doubt, due to the high cost of ingredients as well as skilled kitchen staff, restaurant food and service have become increasingly, if this is a word, ungastronomic. The pandemic caused restaurateurs to push the rest button, meaning they would either head in a new (generally more casual) direction of forge on with the ways of old. Yes there are still great restaurants in Montreal, but lately fine-dining options are disappearing as fast as land lines.

So where does that leave the chefs who have mastered the techniques required for haute cuisine? Some, like chef Danny St-Pierre, have decided to focus on producing delicious casual fare. Others, like Normand Laprise and Antonin Mousseau-Rivard, focus solely on fancy tasting menus — with high prices to match.

Another star chef, Patrice Demers, left his flourishing business and came pretty close to throwing in the towel. He and his wife, Marie-Josée Beaudoin, are seasoned veterans of the Montreal food scene, having made their names in many of the city’s top restaurants including Leméac, Les Chèvres, Newtown, Les 400 Coups, and Laloux.

Demers and Beaudoin at the entrance of their new restaurant.