Restaurant review | Occasional happiness: daily pleasures

Rising stars in the restaurant industry, institutions that stand the test of time, hidden gems… Our critics dig in and help you make informed choices. This week, daytime trip to the neighborhood restaurant Bonheur d’occasion.

This week the list of the 10 best new Air Canada restaurants was revealed – and, oh joy, it was Sabayon, the extraordinary project of Patrice Demers and Marie-Josée Beaudoin, which rose to first position, a completely deserved honor, in my opinion.

I always await this list with curiosity – once again this year I was one of the fifty “experts” who sent their suggestions for restaurants that stood out to them. I am also a little, a lot, jealous of Tara O’Brady, gastronomic journalist and author of cookbooks, who this year visited 30 restaurants in 16 cities, from one end of the country to the other, to determine which would be part of the list.

Consult our article “Sabayon in the first row”

All this to say that last year, Bonheur d’occasion reached the best position in Quebec (6^e). I went there a few weeks later, with a group of friends. We had tasted just about everything on the menu, received excellent service and drank crazy bottles of wine. I remember some absolutely sublime dishes, some good ones and some others with more mixed results.

I promised myself I would return, because one visit is not always enough to get a good idea of ​​the quality of a place. And since November is often that time of year when we try not to go on a spending spree before the holidays, I tried the daytime experiment.

By opening Bonheur d’occasion in the Saint-Henri district in 2023, chef-owner Philippe Gauthier (Tiers Paysage, Bouillon Bilk, Moleskine) already had this hybrid formula in mind, to which he still holds: a gourmet evening table, coupled to a more affordable and casual daytime offering. In short, a neighborhood restaurant, a real one! Result, as I was able to observe one Saturday afternoon in the fall: the place is frequented by families from the neighborhood, and customers come regularly to get their dose of caffeine and a bite to eat.

The chef de cuisine Eric Carpanzano, with whom the chef worked at the Moleskine, and the chef’s very friendly and warm wife, Viviane Pedersen, are there during the day. We order directly at the small coffee counter at the entrance, then we sit wherever we want in the space bathed in light. The long bench at the entrance with its small tables is inviting, but we prefer, for three, a high table at the back of the dining room.

The short menu, displayed on the slate, may seem simple, even simple. It always has four or five dishes: croque-madame, mushroom omelette, salad of the moment, sando lunch, toast… We complete it with a matcha latte for darling, a homemade hibiscus lemonade for boy (a little “sourette”), judge my little critic) and, in my case, a glass of Austrian white wine Nibiru, a grüner vetliner offering a nice touch of acidity, ideal for this time of day.

When the plates are placed in front of us, there is no doubt: there is work involved in the flavors which makes the difference between an ordinary plate and a succulent dinner.

Let’s take the meal salad as an example. Arugula and watercress combine with various crunchy elements: green beans, cauliflower florets, radishes and toasted hazelnuts. On the soft-boiled egg, we sprinkled dukkah, but what makes all these elements shine together and elevates the dish to new skies is the delicious buttermilk sauce, very tangy (note to the chef: I want the recipe!).

The sando, a Japanese-inspired sandwich, is just as successful. Plump slices of roasted eggplant and heirloom tomatoes, pork belly, a tasty salsa verde and a healthy dose of mayonnaise coexist harmoniously. The bread is as soft as possible and the whole thing is “dripping” with happiness!

Son loves his mushroom omelette, more classic, but executed flawlessly, while greed pushes us to order another more “brunch” dish: fried egg, blood sausage, grilled shishito peppers. Very tasty and not too dry, the blood sausage is enhanced by the sauce mole that accompanies it. And the bread from Hof ​​Kelstein, which also supplies the croissants and pastries at the counter, picks up the last drops of sauce!