Dans les cuisines du Pastaga (avec Martin Juneau)

Pour ma chronique hebdomadaire pour le site Citeeze, je suis allé faire un tour dans les coulisses, pardon, les cuisines du dernier restaurant de Martin Juneau, Pastaga, sur Saint-Laurent. Voici un extrait de l’entrevue dont la version complète est à lire ici.

On entend la musique là, est-ce que c’est toujours le cas?
Oui, il y a toujours de la musique pendant la mise en place.

Qui la choisit et c’est quel genre de musique?
C’est chacun son tour, on vient avec nos mp3, nos iPhone donc ça va de la musique classique avec Beethoven à du rap comme A Tribe Called Quest.

C’est quoi le plus difficile de votre métier?
C’est le côté physique. On ne s’en rend pas forcément compte mais être en cuisine c’est du sport! Il faut sans cesse se baisser, soulever des choses, courir à droite à gauche à tel point que depuis quelques temps je fais des étirements avant le service, comme un sportif.

À quel âge êtes-vous tombé dans la marmite?
Un peu par hasard. À 19 ans, je me suis pris une job d’étudiant, j’étais au point mort dans mes études d’art plastique. J’ai fait la plonge et j’ai trouvé que l’ambiance était tellement bonne que ça m’a convaincu que c’était ça que je voulais faire.

Votre Junk Food favorite?
Saint-Hubert. C’est rapide, j’aime l’ambiance familiale qu’il y a là-bas. Du poulet rôti, des frites, c’est parfait.

Vos restaurants préférés?
Je vais en priorité dans des restaurants qui ont une belle carte des vins comme les Trois Petits Bouchons, DNA ou la Salle à manger.

Martin Juneau’s La Cabane is gooood

La Cabane is back! Wednesday was the media opening. Foodies, bloggers and journalist gathered to experience chef Martin Juneau’s maple recipes. Well, the diner was excellent, I really enjoyed it from A to Z. Of course it was not the lightest meal I Had this month but hey, La Cabane is about pleasure, not counting calories.

The chef from Pastaga restaurant imagined several items like smoked bison, pulled pork, duck soup, boudin with apple chutney (very subtle), pork with molasses baked beans. And of course some desserts, my favorite was the maple "whippet".

The atmosphere is cool, there is even a violin player, the waiters efficient and smiling. La Cabane is more than a restaurant, it’s an event.

La Cabane will be open from March 8 to April 15 on the Scena Quais in the Old Port.

Wed to Sat 12:00 Sun 7:00 p.m. ET
(Doors open one hour in advance)

Price per person: $ 59
Children (under 12): $ 20For further information, visit lacabane.ca. To reserve, email reservations@lacabane.ca or call 514-288-0914.

Lunch at Le Newtown: delicious from the starter to the smile of Vanessa

I love gargantuan meals that last forever with all those little portions, those minuscule things, you know, the pre-appetizer, appetizer, post-appetizer, pre-post-appetizer, post-pre-post-apetizer, apetizer “special du chef”, little soup-in-glass-cup-with-a-mix-of-fruity-and-salty-flavor-that-makes-you-say “Hmmmm… this is… special… never had that before” but you don’t really know if you liked, main dish, second-main-dish, pre-dessert, dessert, post-dessert…etc.

Well, this kind of meal is good sometimes, but not today, I wanted something lighter. So I tested the lunch at the Newtown Restaurant. Well, the result was beyond my expectations. This quick one-hour lunch was just perfect. I started with the “Beef tartars, homemade fries and spicy mayo”. The fries were a fine combination of spicy and crispy and crunchy and yummy, and as for the mayo sauce, well, I don’t know what it was made of, but I could easily eat that in the morning on my toast. The tartar was excellent too.

My friend had a "Eggplant and mascarpone lasagna, tomato coulis". I stole a piece of it from his plate while he was ordering a glass of sparkling water (I know, this meal was way too reasonable) and it tasted like silk you can eat.

Main dish we both had "Grilled hanger steak, Olive oil mashed potatoes, salsa verde". I quickly discovered the salsa verde was made of spinach. The mix between green beans, mashed potatoes and olives worked completely. Fireworks in the mouth. And the “bavette” was tender and juicy.

Thank you Martin Juneau for this nice 20$ culinary trip. This chef who was recently elected Canadian Culinary Champion (Gold medal 2011) was not there for the lunch but his spirit was definitely in the food and we ate it out!

And as for the dessert, we had the smile of our super-waitress Vanessa, who made this lunch delightful and sugar-free.

Le Newtown
1476 Crescent St
Montréal, QC H3G 2B2
(514) 284-6555
www.lenewtown.com

 

Pictures @ The incredible Stef’