Parapluie

We sit at the end of the L-shaped bar bordering the open kitchen. Filteau Boucher is at the far cooktop, pivoting from burner to lowboy to butcher block. Sous-chef Ariane Brien Chicoine is just as busy. Still, both call hello. Around the intimate dining room, we find more traces of Filteau Boucher’s dream, realized with the help of co-owner and sommelier Karelle Voyer. Flouncy lampshades that look like umbrellas. A sliding-door bar cabinet that will live rent-free in my dreams. And then there’s the menu.

Our server leads us to a beef tartare enriched with bone marrow, presented under a haystack of matchstick-thin fried potatoes and a flurry of grated Louis d’Or. Next, Montreal-style trout. Imagine the ideal bagel and lox, then abandon any preconceived notions. This is better. Set in a horseradish cream sauce, the fish is brined and unilaterally seared. Atop, the crunch of everything-ish seasoning (pine nuts, sesame seeds and roasted garlic), then trout roe, dill oil and chives. The flavours rap across the palate like rain on a windowpane.

A plate of panna cotta slides between us. The cream is only just set, and our spoons find the resinous note of honey collecting around musky Quebec figs. I’m already dreaming about my next visit.