Local produce and market cuisine: our Montréal restaurant picks

Laure Juilliard

Laure Juilliard has been writing for over 10 years. She specializes in lifestyle, tourism, travel and food, she writes for the media as well as for different companies, agencies, freelancers or associations. Always in search of innovative concepts and top places to be at, she is also constantly preparing her next trip.

This article was updated on June 16, 2023.

Québec's new food scene with its multiple influences is firmly rooted in the farm-to-table movement and places a high value on fresh and original ingredients. For the top chefs and must-visit restaurants on your next trip to Montréal, we've compiled a list of the cuisine destinations you don’t want to miss.

As local as possible

551 Saint-Martin Street | Website

Working with local products is sometimes a challenge in Québec. This is especially true during winter. But one restaurant is doing a superb job with its unique and high-quality cuisine. Candide, run by chef John Winter Russell, is located in a former church building in the Little Burgundy neighbourhood. The restaurant offers a fixed-price four-course menu made “with love and precision, warmth and refinement” that changes according to seasons and market arrivals.

Experience with a Capital E

1023 Ontario Street East | Website

For more spectacular creations and culinary delights, head to Le Mousso on Ontario Street in the Gay Village. The unique fixed-price menu created by chef Antonin Mousseau-Rivard offers amazing dishes full of beauty and unexpected flavour. Pure joy!

Dinner like the locals do

6230 Saint-Hubert Street | Website

If you're venturing outside the city's more touristy areas, stop by for a meal at Montréal Plaza, a delicious venture by chef Charles-Antoine Crête (Toqué !, El Bulli, and others) that has done much to revitalize the commercial area of Plaza St-Hubert. With its half-country house, half-chic French brasserie décor and perfectly executed dishes, it's easy to see why this place is never empty.

A contemporary industrial atmosphere

4095 Molson Street | Website

If you're the adventurous type, make your way to the Technopôle Angus district in Rosemont for a meal at Hoogan & Beaufort, the sublime new restaurant by chef Marc-André Jetté. You'll be treating yourself to fresh and delicious cuisine served by friendly, stylish and professional staff amidst a majestic, brightly-lit décor set beneath an impressive high ceiling.

All the rage

45 Mozart Avenue West | Website

Heading back toward the Mile Ex, check out the latest creation by chef Mehdi Brunet-Benkritly (Toqué !, Réservoir, Pied de cochon, Fedora and Chez Sardine). With an ambiance that combines elegance, tradition and modernity, Marconi serves up sophisticated, rich and textured tapas-style dishes that you’ll savour to the last bite.

Le Pastaga is now Jaja

6389 Saint-Laurent Blvd. | Website

At the entrance to Little Italy, the restaurant known as Le Pastaga is now Jaja, a word taken from French slang meaning "table wine". The atmosphere - and table - is set. At the helm are Francis Duval (Pastaga, Cul-Sec, Butterblume and Hélicoptère) and Geneviève Beaudoin (Patrice Pâtissier, Petit Mousso and Mousso), who both worked at the heart of Martin Juneau's Pastaga. Together, they uphold the refined, seasonal experience for which the restaurant is renown, with a good dose of their own creativity. In a bright and welcoming setting, guests come to share small dishes celebrating local produce and natural wines. The menu changes according to the mood and the season, much to the delight of their patrons: a culinary ode to fresh, seasonal cuisine awaits!

An ode to the vegetable

2519 Notre-Dame Street West | Website

Local dishes paired with natural wine make for a delicious combination. Located in the neighbourhood of Little Burgundy, Le Vin Papillon specializes in original creations centred on vegetables and carefully selected natural wines. This restaurant, staffed by chef Marc-Olivier Frappier and sommelier Vanya Filipovic, honours the work of small-scale producers with finely-crafted tapas that reflect seasonal availability. The youngest sibling in a culinary family that includes legendary neighbourhood joints Joe Beef and Liverpool House, this intimate wine-and-dine spot features a retro look with antique-style mirrors, white-brick walls and shelves practically overflowing with wine bottles. It all makes for an explosive natural cocktail. Carnivores will not be left out, with meat, charcuterie and seafood also on the menu.

The rising star

150 Saint-Zotique Street | Website

In 2023, Vin Mon Lapin took top spot in Canada's 100 Best Restaurants Magazine. It was a well-deserved gold medal for this rising star of a neighborhood restaurant that opened its doors in Little Italy in 2018 and has been shining ever since. Starting out with Joe Beef alumni Marc-Olivier Frappier and sommelier Vanya Filipovic, both at the time at Vin Papillon, the team has expanded to include three new business partners: co-chef Jessica Noël, co-sommelier Alex Landry and floor manager Marc-Antoine Gélinas. With this accomplished team in place and an all-new design created during the pandemic by Zébulon Perron, Vin Mon Lapin has become a firm favourite with Montrealers. Wonderful seasonal small plates that change as the year rolls on, and carefully chosen natural wines obviously contribute to the popularity of this unpretentious establishment of choice. There’s not a minute to lose: make a reservation now!

Talented, humble, understated

1879 Bélanger Street | Website

Simon Mathys (Manitoba, Racines) has chosen the residential and family-oriented neighbourhood of La Petite-Patrie as the setting for his kitchen and his incredible talent. Le Mastard has everything going for it: its location, of course, far from the city's cool spots; its opening hours, weekdays only, for the well-being of the chef and his team; its simple, contemporary décor; and, above all, its minimalist menu that transforms into culinary poetry once the plate is served. This 5-course experience is a spectacular showcase of local and seasonal products, at very reasonable prices. A neighbourhood restaurant of regulars, with a menu worthy of a Michelin star, is truly exceptional!

Mile Ex’s new little flower

271 Saint-Zotique Street | Website

A worthy replacement for the late, great Manitoba, Anémone is the new Mile Ex hotspot for a vibrant cuisine inspired by seasonal local produce. Thanks to boreal design by La Firme designers, one step inside is like walking into the Québec forest. The kitchen opens onto a long, torrefied-wooden bar leading out onto the wonderful garden terrace, and the cedar-plank ceiling filters in the light. The menu, devised by chef Minh Phat (Mui Mui, Orange Rouge) and Mike Madokoro (co-owner of Bar Suzanne), two aces of Quebec gastronomy, brilliantly explores and revisits the best of Québec ingredients. To this, add a list of artisanal wines from all corners of the world, carefully selected by Elena Racevičiūtė, and you've got a completely eclectic address that's right up there with Montreal's wildly creative restaurants.