A BOOST FOR BRUNCH
New eateries offer a fresh take
Let’s do breakfast/brunch/ lunch!
This column tends to focus on dinner for one main reason: most of the city’s high-end restaurants are closed at lunch. Compared to the business lunches of old, lunch in Montreal has turned into a casual affair. While the scene has not necessarily gone more upscale, it has become more gourmet. Several interesting restaurants have come into the picture offering a breakfast/ brunch/lunch service over the more profitable dinner. Considering the increasing popularity of brunch, the crowds appear to be clamouring for eggs and avocado toast over steak/frites. With their excellent food, a fresh take on diner style and a less walletcrunching bill, these two new restaurants show us why.
LE BUTTERBLUME
★ ★ 1/2 $-$$
5836 St-Laurent Blvd. (near Van Horne Ave.)
Phone: 514-903-9115
Website: lebutterblume.com
Open: Tues.-Fri. 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., Sat. and Sun. 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Wheelchair access: Yes
Reservations: Not taken
Vegetarian-friendly: Yes
Parking: On the street
Price range: Counter sweets $3-$4; main dishes $13-$16; sides $3-$6.
I liked Le Butterblume the second I walked in. This 40-seat café is pretty and airy, with hardwood floors, brick walls and a sort of Scandinavian vibe that has me craving smoked fish and openfaced sandwiches. Turns out I’m at the right place, because that’s just the sort of food you’ll find at Le Butterblume. The accent, though, is more German than Scandinavian. The chef, Jens Ruoff, is German; Butterblume is the German word for buttercup. The cuisine embraces the German esthetic — organic, simple and ingredient-centred — though Ruoff, an alumni of restaurants Bouillon Bilk and Van Horne, isn’t immune to stylish plate presentations.
Le Butterblume’s owners are Nadine Boudreau and Julie Romano. The move by two veterans of Montreal’s restaurant scene to this somewhat obscure stretch of the Main to open a restaurant that shuts down postapéro time seems a bit odd. But each time I visited Le Butterblume in this discreet corner of Mile End, every seat was taken. Besides the eating area in the back of the space (which expands in summer when a garage door opens up the back wall), there’s a small boutique up front and a counter for takeout cakes, cookies, scones and the like. Le Butterblume’s open-concept kitchen is behind a large bar where you’re sure to see smiling staff delivering plates and chatting to customers. Happiness seems to permeate every inch of this restaurant.
You can enjoy a coffee, bowl of granola or a tartine, or opt for something more substantial. I enjoyed two meals here and began each with soup, both of which were superb, my favourite being a luscious beet soup with smoked goat’s cheese, dill, horseradish and walnuts. Yum!
Instead of the usual avocado toast, I enjoyed a tartine topped with a lightly smoked avocado cream garnished with fromage blanc. You can even opt for a tartine made with a dark chocolate and hazelnut spread, which makes a great pairing with their excellent coffees. Those up for a less decadent breakfast are sure to be charmed by the granola bowl with yogurt, apples, oranges and dried apricots. Perfect.
You can eat more substantially as well. As the menu changes seasonally, so do the accompaniments, which can shift from quinoa to potatoes to pulses to kale. A dish I very much recommend when available is the lentil salad with salmon. With a timbale of lentils as its base, the dish includes thick rounds of pristine salmon, citrusy mayonnaise and a handful of red watercress overtop. That might not sound like much, but the lentils were beautifully seasoned and the salmon so fresh, with the spicy greens livening everything up. There’s a definite healthy bent to Le Butterblume’s menu, but this dish proves we’re far from austere spa food territory here.
Those keen on something richer should try the königsberger meatballs. Served with a celery root cream along with carrots, beets and mushrooms, the meatballs arrived with thin slices of crispy bread designed for scooping up the extra sauce. I found the meatballs delicious and light in texture, but after just one, I had had my fill. Too rich, perhaps?
Just the opposite problem marred a dish of ravioli. Stuffed with spinach and pork, the large pasta envelopes were served in chicken dashi, enhanced with onion confit and parsley oil. It all sounded promising, but the filling’s flavour was played too mild and the ravioli wrappers were thick and undercooked. I liked the ideas here, but the execution needs work.
All taken, I enjoyed my meals at Le Butterblume and would happily return for an inexpensive and adventurous pre-sundown feast. When you go, make sure you leave with something from the takeout counter, the ideal way to prolong those good vibes.
ARTHURS NOSH BAR
★ ★ 1/2 $-$$
4621 Notre-Dame St. W. (corner Delinelle St.)
Phone: 514-757-5190
Website: arthursmtl.com to launch in spring
Open: Wed.-Fri. 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.; Sat. & Sun. 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Wheelchair access: No
Reservations: Not taken
Vegetarian-friendly: Yes
Parking: On the street
Price range: Brunch dishes: $12$16.50.
The brunch scene at Arthurs Nosh Bar on the weekend is a sight to behold. By 10 a.m. on a Sunday, the restaurant is packed and there’s already a line at the door. By 11, the line’s snaking down the block. It’s a bit of an anglo scene, and certainly a young person’s scene, as brunch is such a “thing” with the twentyand thirtysomethings. Yet despite the crowds, this terrific new restaurant appears to be in control. Plates arrive without hesitation and presentations are sharp. And there’s room for a bit of fun, as demonstrated by the breakfast cocktail placed in front of me. It was a Bloody Caesar, a brunch drink as ubiquitous as hot chocolate at ski resorts. Yet this Caesar was garnished not with the usual celery stick, but a celery stick, a dill pickle, a couple of speared olives and a fully loaded bagel complete with jalapeno cream cheese and lox. And was it ever good. The Arthurs’ Caesar will set you back $14, but for that small fee you’re getting a whole meal — and a delicious one at that.
But don’t stop there. The brunch menu at Arthurs is full of enticing dishes, from the hipster appetizer of choice, sprouttopped avocado toast, to the bagel/lox/cream cheese classic. Owners Alex Cohen and his wife, Raegan Steinberg, have created a menu based on traditional Jewish and Middle Eastern foods given a 2017 makeover, and that juxtaposition of old and new makes for one exciting restaurant. The couple name New York’s famous deli, Russ & Daughters, as an influence. Add to that Cohen’s Sephardic heritage and Steinberg’s Eastern European heritage, as well as a dose of Joe Beef bombastic-ness, as the couple worked for that restaurant group before setting out on their own.
In the restaurant’s early days, a friend contacted me to ask whether I had tasted Arthurs’ chopped liver. “Not authentic!” he said. But the whole idea of authenticity is not what this restaurant is all about. I like certain parameters for a dish to maintain its standing, but what I like even more is delicious, and you’ll find plenty of delicious at Arthurs, which by the way is named for Steinberg’s father so there’s plenty of family pride behind this operation.
Arthurs is not a deli, per se, but more of a diner or luncheonette, and a very chic one at that. The space is incredibly appealing, with subway-tiled walls, sage green panelling, marble-topped counters and tan-coloured banquettes. The menu’s divided into breakfast, brunch and lunch sections, but the meal I enjoyed was their most popular: brunch. PostCaesar, I tackled the pancakes — or more specifically, syrniki, cottage cheese pancakes popular in Russian and Ukrainian cuisine given the Québécois treatment here with maple syrup over the more usual jam. I loved these somewhat gooey-centred flapjacks, which can also be enjoyed in the “Grand Slam” alongside bacon, eggs and kielbasa. Only the seriously famished need apply.
The latke smorgasbord sounded promising. Served in a copious portion, the dish consisted of a large latke with gravlax, scrambled eggs, sour cream, cucumber and caviar. Liked it; didn’t love it. The latke wasn’t all that crisp, and the eggs were sort of folded over instead of fluffy scrambled. The gravlax was excessively salty with an undertone of sweet, obliterating any fish flavour. Too bad — but our next dish, the Moroccan toast, was a big hit. Imagine a thick slice of challah topped with a poached egg, marinated eggplant, tomato and cucumber salad, spiced chickpeas and tahini. Wow! What a party of flavours and textures all heaped up on this tender toast. Hands down, it’s the most sensual brunch dish in the city.
The shakshouka, however, could take a few cues from that toast. This dish consists of poached eggs bathed in a lightly spiced tomato sauce topped with labneh, Bulgarian feta and avocado cream. As much as I enjoyed it, the sauce could have used a bit of zuzzing up with peppers and spice, because it tasted more like something you’d put on penne than a feisty shakshouka.
To end an Arthurs brunch (and forget about lingering with those crowds at the door) I’d recommend the fine cinnamon babka over the inferior chocolate, or their vanilla cookie, which is tender, crumbly and topped with enough sprinkles to bring out your inner 8-year-old.
I tore through quite a bit of Arthurs’ brunch menu, but there’s so much more on offer. I hear they make a wicked schnitzel at lunchtime. I’ll be back!