We flew into Montreal for a hit & run to see Champion et ses G-Strings revisit their eponymous album, “Chill ‘Em All” (check out the glorious “No Heaven” for their best bite), so we didn’t research location, food, and sites before the trip. After we landed, checked into the hotel, and took a nap (had to get up at 2:30 am to catch the flight out of Austin and the show was later that same night [had to teach an evening class the night before!]), I found a French restaurant a short stroll from the hotel just down the hill toward the St. Lawrence River.
Modavie, which stands for “mode de vie” or “lifestyle,” turned out to not only be delicious but also one the best places to eat in Montreal (and Canada). Located in the oldest part of town on quaint Saint-Paul Street, the original thoroughfare through Old Montreal (and last cobbled in 1672). The building that has hosted Modavie since 1997 dates to the 1890s when it started life as an inn, mostly for the sailors arriving at the nearby docks.
We were there at an odd time, about 3:45 pm, and were presented the evening menu (despite hoping for the lunch menu advertised as extant until 4 pm). We picked up our palates with a couple glasses of bubbly and then ordered the daily pottage, the mushroom risotto, and duck confit.
The “daily pottage” was a simply astounding bowl of carrot soup ($13C). It was everything you could hope for in a French-prepared dish: fresh, rich, fussy, and wide awake, like Studio 54 cranking “Groove Thang” at the height of the cocaine craze. The Mushroom Risotto (seasonal mushrooms, truffle, and pine nuts; $35C) is a house favorite and for good reason: lots of earthy mushrooms and al dente risotto dressed for an evening at the opera. I tried the Duck Confit (coffee and amaretto duck demi-glace, roasted almonds, sarladaise potatoes, and sautéed spinach; $42C) because I adore duck confit (and that demi-glaze juiced the taste buds), but, having had some of the best in the homeland, this duck was a bit dry and less rich, a Jeff Bezos rather than a president-elect Elon Musk.
The service was attentive and the environs quaint, one foot in fancy but another in shabby chic. In other words, two shivering slobs from Texas fixin’ to go to a blues electro show felt at home. We were too early for it, but Modavie is also known for its live music, a jazz band on each of its two floors. Once impressed, and digging deeper for this review, I found that Modavie is famous for its ratatouille, and the Normandy sweetbread is another house fave.
Modavie; 1 Saint-Paul St W, Montreal, Quebec H2Y 1Y6; 514 287-9582
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