Somehow, despite years of innovative restaurants opened by up-and-coming chefs, Montreal is still quietly—emphasis on quietly—home to one of the most flourishing food scenes in North America. So while your friends wait in line at a hyped new restaurant in New York City's East Village, you can hop on a one-hour flight to Canada, on your way to a restaurant that’s actually worth the hype—without the wait. “Our restaurant scene isn’t dominated by food groups. It’s dominated by chef-run places," Jeffrey Finkelstein, owner of one of the city’s top bakeries, Hof Kelsten, tells Condé Nast Traveler. "I think what pulls it all together is the highly educated staff, [and their] understanding [of] food and wine. I could name 20 places off the top of my head where you can sit at the bar and be treated like royalty. Typically, the owner will take the order, which is a really special experience."
The best of the city can be sampled in one day, on a grown-up version of a pub crawl: the food crawl.
Breakfast at Hof Kelsten
Start your day in one of the city’s coolest neighborhoods, Mile End, in pursuit of the perfect croissant. Here you’ll find Hof Kelsten, a boulangerie opened by Finkelstein, formerly of Per Se, French Laundry, and El Bulli. Inside, the menu is pasted above the cashier on a paint-stripped chipboard—validation that it’s also a wholesale bakery, providing the majority of Montreal’s high-end restaurants with bread. “For two-and-a-half years I was just baking in the back of a pastry shop–with an oven from 1970," says Finkelstein. "I was able to make three Michelin star bread, but sell it for four or five dollars." Eat your croissant (or two) at the shared table and leave with at least one sandwich and a loaf bread for later.
Coffee at Noble Café
If you’re able to hold out for a coffee, make your way to Noble Café, a 15-minute walk away. “We treat coffee as wine or craft beers,” says co-owner Marc-Antoine Paquin, of the Le Plateau neighborhood spot. It’s essentially a takeout joint and a favorite among Montrealers, but if it’s a nice day outside, grab a seat at one of the outdoor tables and watch the locals go about their morning with cold brew in hand.
Lunch at Café Parvis
Walk off (a small portion) of your croissant by heading east to Downtown Montreal, where you’ll have lunch at Café Parvis. Plants and fresh herbs envelop the exterior of the cafe, your first clue that the restaurant is all about fresh produce. Inside, philodendrons hang from the ceiling and seasonal produce fills wooden crates that line the shelves. Beyond the plants, the interior has a rustic '70s appeal, with diner-style stools at the bar. The all-day menu is simple (albeit in French) with a selection of permanent and seasonal items. Vegetable-packed pizzas and an assortment of salads are menu staples, but pizza toppings and salad ingredients vary according to the season. When we visited, the shrimp, chorizo, mascarpone and pea pizza and the stuffed whole tomato—with crumbled almonds, parmesan, and a basil and arugula pesto—were table favorites.
Happy Hour at Bar Henrietta
By now, you may have noticed that Montreal's restaurants care about how they look as much as how their food tastes. Look no further than Bar Henrietta’s Art Deco–inspired interior for proof of the design-driven scene. Influenced by Portuguese taverns of the ’60s, the bar features slick wood, grey-speckled tables, and globe lights that emit a warm hue. Order a Belle Juane—gin, citron, thyme syrup and cucumber—and a few small plates: fresh clams in olive oil, Portuguese piri piri sandwiches, braised squid with chorizo and tomato, and Portuguese custard tarts. In the later hours, the music goes up a few notches and Bar Henrietta fills up with a rowdy crowd, so if you’re in the mood to party, you know where to stay.
Dinner at Foxy
You’re not too full yet, right? You can’t be. You’ll miss out on dinner at Foxy, one of Montreal’s hottest restaurants and the food child of Dyan Solomon and Eric Girard, owners of Montreal favorite Olive et Gourmando. Olive opened its doors 18 years ago, as one of the first gourmet restaurants in the city. Now, at the duo’s second restaurant, the focus is all on fire and smoke. Dishes like smoky pork ribs and whole charcoal grilled sea bass are cooked on the grill or in a wood-fired oven at Foxy—ask chef Leigh Roper, and she’ll tell you that you won’t find any gas in her kitchen. You can’t go wrong ordering off Foxy’s menu: We couldn't get enough of the wood oven-baked flatbread with feta, peaches, and honey, and a trottoir with pistachio, almond, and raspberry for dessert.
Once you’ve eaten enough food to feed a small village, order another bottle of rosé. Linger long enough and you might witness some of the staff trickle out onto the sidewalk and enjoy a post-work glass of wine as the evening draws to a close. Hell, why not join them? After all, it's these knowledgeable, easygoing staff members that make Montreal's meals all the more memorable.
