Posted at 11:00 am
A short story
When chef Claude Pelletier and hospitality ace Hubert Marsolais opened Club Chasse et Pêche in 2005, success was almost immediate. The elegant grotto with enveloping leather armchairs and white tablecloths, decorated with works by artist Nicolas Baier, has climbed to the top of the charts for the best restaurants in Montreal, if not Canada.
Many renowned chefs, sommeliers, waiters and waitresses have gone through the hunting and fishing school over time, whether Marc-André Royal (Le St-Urbain and La Bête à Pain), Minh Phat (Mui mui and Anemone), Aaron Langille ( Le Diplomate), Theo Diamantis (Onopole wine agency), Laura Vidal (sommelier at Small Group, in Marseille) or Caroline Loiseleux (sommelier in Marseille).
Then the club was downsized: Le Filet, Avenue du Mont-Royal Ouest, opened in 2011, and Le Serpent, in the Darling foundry, which is now 10 years old. The small artisanal pasta chain Il Miglio was born in 2017. Positive echoes continue to come from Le Filet and Le Serpent, but the club has remained somewhat mysterious.
PHOTO CATHERINE LEFEBVRE, SPECIAL COLLABORATION
The main team at Club Chasse et Pêche consists of chef Olivier Larocque, sommelier Joris Gutierrez Garcia, co-owner Hubert Marsolais and butler Helen Karagiannakis.
Hubert Marsolais assures us that the group’s flagship is in great shape. The on-site team is exemplary, with Helen Karagiannakis as longtime maitre d’hotel, Joris Gutierrez Garcia, ‘best nose in Quebec’, new to the sommelier and Olivier Larocque in the kitchen. The latter had worked at Chasse et Pêche in 2009 and then participated in the first years of the Serpent. “People stay in the family for a long time,” he notes. So does pastry chef Massami Waki, who has accompanied Claude Pelletier and Hubert Marsolais since the days of Le Cube, formerly at the Hôtel St Paul.
the experience
I hadn’t set foot in the cavernous dining room on Rue Saint-Claude in ages, and my expectations were high. The place, unique to Montreal, doesn’t seem to have changed a bit and that’s a good thing. It’s well-kept, with the occasional new artwork on the walls, updated toilets, and freshly upholstered but untidy armchairs.
PHOTO CATHERINE LEFEBVRE, SPECIAL COLLABORATION
The dining room at Club Chasse et Pêche has changed little in 18 years.
PHOTO CATHERINE LEFEBVRE, SPECIAL COLLABORATION
The places are elegant and sober with leather armchairs and white tablecloths.
PHOTO CATHERINE LEFEBVRE, SPECIAL COLLABORATION
Rue Saint-Claude, the Club Chasse et Pêche has always had a sober facade that does not suggest the elegance of the interior.
1/3
We are assigned a nice table in the back, overlooking the entire main room. The smaller room next to the bar is empty tonight. “It’s a quieter evening than expected,” our waitress repeats, as if to apologise. I will later learn that it was indeed one of the quietest services of the past year, that the chef was training two new people in the kitchen, and that Joris, master of the wine list, had decided to spend the evening on administrative work. rather than inside, given the small number of customers. Even his assistant was free that night.
Real bad luck for me, who takes great delight in discussing wine in restaurants with a cellar of the caliber of “Chase,” as his regulars affectionately call him.
You can spend anywhere from $60 to over $1000 for a bottle here. There is something for every budget and palate, whether you prefer wineries that minimally interfere with the vineyard and cellar, or the more classic Bordeaux Grands Crus. To have the means I might treat myself to an old vintage as certain bottles have been aging in the cellar for 18 years.
PHOTO CATHERINE LEFEBVRE, SPECIAL COLLABORATION
Here is an overview of the large selection of wines from Club Chasse et Pêche
PHOTO CATHERINE LEFEBVRE, SPECIAL COLLABORATION
Julien Labet’s Cuvée Les Varrons 2020 accompanied our meal with great flexibility.
1/2
I found joy myself in the menu, the Cuvée Les Varrons 2020 by Julien Labet, a cult winemaker from the Jura. Mea culpa, I could have given some advice to our excellent waitress Amy when in doubt. Sensitively, she smelled a certain dissatisfaction and even dared to address the delicate subject over a digestif.
Club Chasse et Pêche’s menu is short. There are oysters, five starters and five main courses. Some of these dishes are unchanging, like braised piglet risotto with sliced foie gras and scallops with candied lemon. It is possible to request the tasting formula, a current option, for $150, which can be upgraded with a wine pairing.
The “hunting and fishing” changes regularly. Tonight, there’s the perfectly crusted Prince Edward Island filet mignon and Argentinean prawns. I tried a different version when the photos were taken the following week: American Wagyu tiger steak and Maine lobster. Both beef/shellfish dishes were excellent.
The duck dish, on the other hand, is particularly generous in meat, with interesting flavor contrasts, notably the celeriac and caraway seeds that flavor the sandwich bread filling.
PHOTO CATHERINE LEFEBVRE, SPECIAL COLLABORATION
The veal sweetbreads on its bed of gribiche, mustard and fresh herbs, with little diced tongue as a bonus, is a must.
PHOTO CATHERINE LEFEBVRE, SPECIAL COLLABORATION
The dish “Hunting and Fishing” changes a little depending on the availability of the ingredients. This one is made with American Wagyu beef and lobster.
PHOTO CATHERINE LEFEBVRE, SPECIAL COLLABORATION
Do you prefer fishing? Sea supplies are also seasonal and this cod was as fresh as can be.
1/3
The appetizers that preceded it, the risotto and the sweetbreads, combined depth and a sensual interplay of textures. The flavor marriage was impeccable, but someone in the kitchen had dropped the salt shaker. When I try the veal sweetbreads again while taking the picture, the seasoning is perfect.
The kitchen also prepared the appetizer from raw hamachi (fish), well enhanced by the distinctive flavor of yuzu and the crunchiness of toasted almonds.
Massami Waki always bakes for the whole group. His workshop is now outside Club Chasse et Pêche. I only try the chocolate dessert, which may not be the most representative of the magic the Sugar Alchemist can perform with less than expected ingredients.
Conclusion: My expectations were not met on the evening of my “incognito” passage. But after speaking to some discerning customers who had had some excellent evenings there recently, and the impeccable tasting while photographing, I would not hesitate to return.
423 St. Claude Street