Sushi by Scratch: Montréal – a memorable fine dining experience
This article was published on July 3, 2023.
The email came in with instructions: head to the Old Montréal address, turn east in the alley and look for the large metal sculptures. Find the notable entryway, go down to the basement and go through the door marked with an apple. Sushi by Scratch, Montréal’s latest fine dining establishment, had a knack for being mysterious... and fun!
The Scratch Restaurant Group is run by husband-and-wife chefs Phillip Frankland Lee and Margarita Kallas-Lee. They are the owners of several, award winning restaurant concepts throughout the United States and the Sushi by Scratch: Montréal establishment is their first foray into Canadian territory.
Once you find your way to the restaurant, you are welcomed by a hostess who accompanies you into a lounge area. There, a gracious Maître D welcomes you, seats you and brings you a warm towel to freshen up. That’s followed by a welcome cocktail, a refreshing concoction of yuzu, sake, ginger syrup and two types of Japanese whiskeys. The tone of the evening is set as you take a sip, sink into your seat, and start to relax. The first appetizer arrives, a PEI oyster with a whipped nigori sake sauce and crispy rice followed closely by the second one, a dainty roll of luscious bluefin tuna tail tartare encased in crispy nori, dotted with avocado mousse and house cured salmon roe, and delicately placed on a bed of river rocks.
The prelude to this special evening is soon over as the Maitre D’ asks you to follow him into a small dining room where you are greeted by a brigade of chefs standing in a line behind the bar. The 10-seat restaurant is essentially a bar around which the guests are seated. The head chef introduces the sous-chefs to his left and right and the sommelier, who proceeds to present the evening’s program.
The omakase-style restaurant essentially means that the menu is the chef’s choice with the evening’s selections written on a board above the backbar. Diners are guided through a progressive tasting menu of 17 nigiri featuring local fish and seafood shipped twice weekly from Tokyo's famous Toyosu fish market. The sushi bites are delicately placed on a small square of black slate in front of each diner while the chef describes each morsel out loud. Specialties such as hamachi painted with corn purée and topped with a thin layer of sourdough breadcrumbs, campachi brushed with olive oil, nigiri with grilled marrow seasoned with soy sauce, sea salt and freshly grated wasabi or the irresistible crispy Unagi fried in marrow and seasoned with poblano yuzu kosho, soy sauce, ponzu, lemon and sea salt. The beverage pairings are just as special as the sushi morsels and include premium sake, Japanese whisky, or a mix of beer, sakes and cocktails.
More than just a meal, Sushi by Scratch is also a show where the chefs are the main attraction and mesmerize diners with their cooking prowess. Knife skills and brush skills worth of a Renaissance painter intertwine with fire-breathing torches and the gentle handling of delicate fish to create masterpieces of flavour and texture in every bite.
Sushi by Scratch may not be for every budget, but if you’re looking for a memorable experience to mark a special occasion, this upscale dining experience is definitely worth it.
Mayssam Samaha
Mayssam Samaha is a food and travel writer and blogger and the founder behind the blog Will Travel for Food. She travels the world in search of the next culinary discovery. From Iceland to South Africa, she’s already visited over 36 countries and there’s nothing she enjoys more than wandering around a farmers’ market in a foreign city. She is also the founder of the SAISONS intimate dinner series highlighting Québec products and chefs.