SETTING THE TABLE FOR 2017
Lesley Chesterman shares her hopes for the food scene
This is the time of year when food writers are all busy forecasting trends. Will there be more or less poké, ramen or avocado toast? Cauliflower is still hot, but now it had better be purple. Ceviche is the new tartare, burnt is where it’s at, and if you hate small-plate dining, bad news: It ain’t going anywhere.
But instead of peering into that crystal ball to see whether natural wines will outperform bitter cocktails or if guinea hen will finally make a breakthrough, I prefer to look at the industry as a whole, considering some issues that call for solutions in the year to come. Here’s hoping at least a few of them come to fruition.
1 Where are the women? Shortly after his election, Justin Trudeau explained the gender parity in his cabinet by saying: “Because it’s 2015.” But unlike the PM, the food world has a ways to go in recognizing women. Granted, it’s hard to simply say you’d like to see more female chefs handed the top jobs in restaurants, because kitchens are competitive. But when they do make such strides, it’s up to us to include them in the conversation.
As for women teaching in professional cooking schools, just take a look at what’s happening at Montreal’s Institut de tourisme et d’hôtellerie du Québec: Of the 26 teachers in the school’s kitchens, only two are women (one in cooking, one in pastry). Not many role models there. At the Omnivore festival in late summer, the 20 chefs invited to give demonstrations included only two women. Of the 14 presenters at the Foodcamp symposium held in Quebec City this past fall, not one was a woman. Ridiculous.
Cooking shows are equally dominated by men in Quebec, where Josée di Stasio remains the only woman to host a primetime cooking show solo on a major network.
Overseas, the situation is equally disturbing. You’d be hardpressed to find female chefs on juries of culinary competitions or featured in professional cooking magazines. Last year, the U.K. Michelin guide awarded a “best female chef ” title to Clare Smyth, but failed to give even one female chef’s restaurant a star in its new guide. And the World’s 50 Best Restaurants list continues to hand out a “best female chef” award annually while mostly keeping the ladies off the list itself.
Such omissions are becoming so blatant that even male chefs are turning to social media, using the hashtag #men4equality, in an effort to end the marginalization of women on the cooking scene.
2 Egregious markups. The debate rages on as to whether prices are too high in Montreal restaurants. Truth is, as the scene has become more casual, those prices haven’t gone up much in the past decade. And when you compare what we pay here to what you would pay to eat in a high-end restaurant in Europe, or in the U.S. considering the exchange rate, we’re laughing. But with wedge salads sold for $15, hummus going for $9 and $19 for a prosciutto plate, no doubt restaurateurs have adjustments to make.
Wine, of course, is the main focus in this discussion, with prices often coming close to three times retail value. Here’s hoping our talented sommeliers can emphasize the less expensive section of the wine list over the prestigious bottles, and keep the markups below the average of 2.4 times retail (as calculated by the Association des restaurateurs du Québec) — and that especially applies to wines by the glass.
3 Honesty is the only policy. Fraud is an ever-increasing problem in the food industry. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has cited U.S. data estimating that 10 per cent of food products sold globally have been subject to fraud. Take your pick: diluted honey from China, rampant mislabelling of seafood, additives in milk, juice and tea. There have been allegations of fraudulent Kobe beef on restaurant menus and “farm-sourced” produce that came straight from the supermarket. The famous Mast Brothers made headlines when it was reported that their bean-to-bar chocolate was allegedly enhanced with a commercial brand.
Closer to home, the Maison du Rôti butcher shop was caught selling hamburger patties that contained horse meat. And Le Journal de Montréal reported that more than half of 25 randomly chosen restaurants they tested were selling pork in place of the veal listed on the menu. Shady.
4 R-E-S-P-E-C-T. The topic of no-shows in restaurants was less prevalent in 2016. But truth is, the no-shows continue, with exasperated chefs and restaurateurs taking to social media to report on a staggering number of people who don’t honour their reservations.
Tipping continues to be a hot topic. Though restaurateurs like Danny Meyer and chef Amanda Cohen have instated no-tipping/ added service charge policies in New York, I don’t know of any Montreal restaurant that has done the same. But abolishing tips in favour of a service charge might be a solution to salary inequality, as service salaries are now often higher in the dining room than the kitchen. Add to that a dwindling number of employees in the hospitality industry, and changes are imminent — chief among them, higher menu prices.
5 The detox delusion. Healthy eating continues as a trend, but is all this detox talk just that — talk? While celebrity cookbook authors, wellness gurus (hello, Gwyneth Paltrow) and one too many Facebook friends may be preaching the benefits of low-fat, vegan and gluten-free recipes, the idea of “clean eating” has no shortage of critics, including Montreal Gazette columnist Joe Schwarcz.
One to watch in 2017 is Olivier Bernard, a.k.a. Le Pharmachien. Author, blogger, TV host (his ICI Explora show is called Les aventures du Pharmachien, and his blog is at lepharmachien. com) and, yes, real pharmacist, Bernard is already famous in Quebec for his no-holds-barred approach to cutting through bogus headlines. His appearance on Tout le monde en parle in November caused quite the outcry, as he denounced everything from detox diets to superfoods and homeopathic medicine. Expect more from the likes of Le Pharmachien in 2017.
6 Diversity on the high end. A reader’s email last year bemoaned the fact that the vast majority of Montreal’s high-end restaurants are more or less the same. “Another week, another bistro,” it read. I can’t say I disagree.
The city’s only upscale Chinese restaurant remains the veteran L’Orchidée de Chine, and I still mourn the closing of the equally stylish and delicious Thai Grill. There are a few options for those who want fancier Indian food, including Le Taj, but how great would it be to have an innovative Indian restaurant like Vancouver’s Vij’s in our midst? It’s also time to end the illusion that so-called “ethnic food” must be cheap.
Montreal may have too many restaurants, but what’s missing is variety. In 2017, here’s to less steak/frites and more curry.
7 A pastry renaissance. Pastry is hitting new strides the world over — just check out the awe-inspiring Instagram accounts of pastry chefs like Dominique Ansel and Christophe Michalak. So here’s to more dynamic pâtisseries in Montreal, which has been in a pastry glut since the likes of Au Pain Doré and Première Moisson blanketed our city with massproduced cakes and croissants.
How great to finally see a new generation of artisanal pâtisseries on a scene that’s just starting to simmer thanks to shops like Patrice Pâtissier and Pâtisserie Rhubarbe, as well as bakeries like Rustique, Crémy, La Bête à pain, Hof Kelsten, Léché Desserts and Automne Boulangerie. Recent additions include the freshly opened Libertine Bakehouse (806 Atwater Ave.) by Patrice Pâtissier alumnus Nick Kemball, and keep your eyes peeled for a café/pâtisserie by Antonio Park and former Le 357C pastry chef Bertrand Bazin, slated to open this year.
8 Vegetarians R Us. The great divide between vegetarians and carnivores seems to finally be decreasing. And as highlighted by initiatives like Meatless Mondays, which encourages people to cut meat from their diets at least one day a week for the improvement of their health and the environment, seeking out more vegetable-based dishes is just plain smart.
According to the Association végétarienne de Montréal, in 2005 there were five vegetarian restaurants in the city and in 2016 there were 67. But you would hardly know the demand for vegetarian food is on the rise from perusing menus outside of that category. When noting whether restaurants are vegetarian-friendly in my reviews, I’m most often writing “not especially.”
Here’s hoping vegetables will finally get the star billing they deserve in 2017, instead of acting as supporting players.
9 Dear SAQ: about those private-import wines ... The SAQ has talked about listing private imports on its website for a while now, but nothing has emerged. Either way, why not take it a step further and allow the general public easier access to those bottles? How great it is to taste a special wine in a restaurant, but what a shame to have limited access after the last sip. Yes, you can find out who the agent is, and you can spring for a case (or at least six bottles), but how about making it easier — and less expensive — for the wine lover to buy an even greater number of wines beyond the SAQ listings? Here’s another idea: why not a SAQ store exclusively for those private-import bottles? As the great saying goes, dear SAQ executives, variety is the spice of life.