Montréal en Lumière 2013: a tango for the palate
Festival opens with La Pista Tango at Théâtre Maisonneuve
From Feb. 21 to March 3, Montrealers will have the opportunity to brighten up their palates with a true tango of the tongues thanks to an influx of 18 chefs visiting from Argentina for the Montréal en Lumière festival. This year’s honorary president, Francis Mallmann, is the acclaimed TV star and author of Seven Fires: Grilling the Argentine Way cookbook (Artisan, 2009) and is easily the most famous chef in South America.
He is a chef who gave up making fancy French food in favour of rustic grilling and barbecuing (his nickname is the “maestro of fire”). It is ironic, then, that he will be cooking at the fancy French restaurant Europea (Feb. 22 and 23, $250, wine and tip included), but this meal will surely be one to remember.
Flipping through the rest of the lineup for the festival, however, it becomes a bit tougher to guess which visiting chefs will offer the surefire (no pun intended) experiences, though they all have some pretty impressive credentials. They are certainly well-travelled, with many having trained under top European masters.
Buenos Aires is not considered a culinary hot spot, yet there’s no denying South America, from Peru to Brazil to Chile, is seen as an up-andcoming culinary destination.
After some 12 years of eating my way through many of this festival’s lineups, I’ve come to the conclusion that the best way to choose where to eat is not necessarily by the name of the visiting chefs, but by the restaurant that is hosting them. I have seen terrific chefs perish at the hands of weak Montreal restaurants and poor chefs boosted by a sharp local team. So, in the end, don’t look so much at who will be doing the cooking, but who will be their host restaurant.
Otherwise, as this is not what one would necessarily call a star-chef-filled lineup, it’s also worth checking out the other themes in this year’s festival. The featured U.S. city for 2013 is Philadelphia, and seven chefs from that great food city will be on hand as well, including chefs Marc Vetri and Brad Spence of the superb Italian restaurant Vetri, who will be cooking at Globe (Feb. 20-21, $125, or $175 with wine); Chip Roman of Mica (ranked by GQ as one of the 10 best new restaurants in the U.S. in 2012), who will be cooking at Les 400 Coups (Feb. 26-27 $90, or $140 with wine); and for the gourmet vegetarian crowd, Richard Landau and Kate Jacoby of Vedge, who will be cooking at Laloux (Feb. 26-27, $65, or $115 with wine).
Four chefs from the Saguenay–Lac-St-Jean region will also be guesting in Montreal restaurants, and on top of all the outside talent, many local chefs will be featuring special menus devoted to the festival. A few highlights include an Argentine-accented brunch at Toqué! on March 2 ($65); Argentine happy hour featuring the best of that country’s wines at the superb wine bar Pullman from Feb. 21-23 ($35); an Argentine-style party (from 11 p.m. to 3 a.m.) with a DJ and a mountain of finger food at Pastaga, Feb. 23 and March 2 ($30 or $70 with wines); Argentinestyle lunches at Le Quartier Général ($25 for three courses, BYOB); a Buenos Aires-inspired menu at La Chronique Feb. 21-23 and Feb. 28 to March 3 ($80 or $130 with wines) and so much more.
And, for something completely different, who can resist the Paul Bocuse homage dinner at Chez Lévêque Feb. 25-27 ($75 or $125 with wines); the “Night in Chocolate Heaven” tasting at Auberge le Saint-Gabriel March 2 ($35, or $60 with wines); or how about Lustucru’s five-course tasting menu inspired by Saguenay– Lac-St-Jean, Feb. 28- March 2 ($60 or $115 with wine), chock fullof products from that great region of Quebec? Sounds like a plan! As does this entire annual gourmet festival. Do not hesitate to book, as events sell out quickly. For more information, go to montrealenlumiere.com. You can also pick up a program of events at any of the participating restaurants.
Bénabar will make a swift return to Montreal when he performs at Métropolis March 1, as part of the 14th annual Montréal en lumière festival. The French chansonnier is following up on a well-received turn at the FrancoFolies de Montréal festival this year.
Buenos Aires is the Montréal en Lumière theme city this year, which explains why Daniel Piazzolla is one of the festival’s honorary presidents. The drummer, grandson of tango great Astor Piazzolla, brings his jazz-tango sextet Escalandrum to L’Astral March 2, in the show Piazzolla Plays Piazzolla.
Soprano Marie-Josée Lord will première her show Yo soy Maria, which pays tribute to Spanish, Latin and Portuguese music, at Théâtre Maisonneuve of Place des Arts Feb. 25.
Standout performers from the Buenos Aires International Tango Festival bring their steps to Théâtre Maisonneuve to officially open the festival with La Pista Tango Feb. 21. Tango combines with a circus element for La Pista Cabaret at Métropolis Feb. 24 to 26.
Classical pianist Alain Lefèvre, also an honorary president for the festival, will perform in a concert specially conceived for the event, featuring his own compositions (Maison symphonique, Feb. 23).
Pierre Lapointe will also offer a one-off show featuring unreleased material, hits and a complete performance of his disc Punkt, due next year (Théâtre Maisonneuve, Feb. 26).
The hot ticket for those whose tastes run more toward blues and world music is a stellar double bill featuring Eric Bibb and Habib Koité (L’Astral, March 1). Local ska evangelists the Planet Smashers will play at Club Soda Feb. 22.
Singer Fanny Bloom will be at the Virgin Mobile Corona Theatre Feb. 28. She will showcase her disc Apprentie guerrière, which won the award for alternative album at this year’s ADIS Q gala.
Thus:Owls, a duo featuring singer Erika Angell and her husband, Simon Angell (of Patrick Watson’s band), will perform at the PHI Centre Feb. 23. Growing buzz continues to surround former Taima singer Elisapie, who will be at Cabaret Mile End Feb. 27.
Vocal ensemble Voca People will be at Théâtre Maisonneuve Feb. 22 and 23.
Also on the Montréal en Lumière schedule are Colin Moore (Feb. 21), Badbadnotgood (Feb. 22), Karim Ouellet (Feb. 23), Moran (Feb. 25), Catherine Durand (Feb. 27) and Dany Placard (Feb. 28), all at L’Astral. Club Soda will host shows by Anik Jean (Feb. 26), Gros Mené (Feb. 27), Gaële (Feb. 28) and Orelsan and Koriass (March 1).
Other genres and settings appear to be plentiful, with the Orchestre Métropolitain performing Vivaldi (Les Quatre saisons de Catherine, Maison symphonique, March 3), jazzier fare from Emilie-Claire Barlow (Gesù, Feb. 22), the Jireh Gospel Choir (Gesù, Feb. 24), a percussionand-vocal makeover of West Side Story (Salle Pierre Mercure of Centre Pierre Péladeau, Feb. 23), and a variety of theatre, dance, circus and supper-club performances.
Festival appearances by Diana Krall (Salle Wilfrid Pelletier of Place des Arts, Feb. 26), the Zombies (Métropolis, Feb. 28), Luc De Larochellière and Andrea Lindsay (Club Soda, Feb. 21), Bernard Adamus (Métropolis, Feb. 23) and Daniel Lavoie (Club Soda, Feb. 23) were previously announced.
The 14th annual Montréal en Lu
mière festival runs from Feb. 21 to March 3. Tickets for the newly announced shows go on sale Thursday at noon. Subscribers to the free Spectra newsletter can buy tickets in advance, until Thursday at 10 a.m. To subscribe, find out ticket prices, see the full lineup or get further information, visit montrealenlumiere.com or phone 514-288-9955. The official program is available free of charge at Renaud-Bray and SAQ outlets, as well as at participating concert venues, music retailers and cultural locations.