I can’t believe that my partner Janice and I have been organizing the SAISONS dinners for over a year now! It seems like not long ago, I was announcing this new project of mine on this very blog. Time flies when you’re having fun, and fun we are having! SAISONS has been met with such enthusiasm by everyone who has been part of it as a guest or a partner that it still takes my breath away.

The winter SAISONS took place on February 22nd, 2017 with chef Seth Gabrielse of Boulangerie Automne. Having honed his skills at some of Montreal’s best restaurants including Anise, Laloux, and FoodLab, Seth is the co-owner of Automne Boulangerie since this past fall. He took guests on a discovery of Quebec’s best winter ingredients for the first SAISONS edition of 2017.

We celebrated the winter SAISONS dinner at a Breather loft space in St-Henri. We transformed the space into an intimate restaurant for a night and decorated the long table with frosty looking arrangements of evergreen leaves and tons of candles creating an intimate and warm ambiance.

Chef Seth Gabrielse created a 6-course menu for the evening inspired by Quebec’s local and seasonal winter products and proved once again that you can eat seasonal in February in Montreal. Here’s the menu the guests enjoyed:

SAISONS Wintertime Magic Menu by chef Seth Gabrielse

Amuse
Charcuterie (veal tongue, rillettes, liver mousse), housemade cornichons, sweet and sour prunes, and more served in a large baguette

1st course
Smoked salmon, rye crisps, caviar, pickled onions, herb purée, crème fraîche

2nd course
Vol au vent of mushrooms à la crème, roasted Jerusalem artichokes and herbs

3rd course
Beef cheek, buttered cabbage, caramelized turnips, parsley and radish salad

4th course
Fromage blanc, espelette palmier, bitter greens

Dessert
Cheesecake with poached quince

Just in case you are not familiar with the SAISONS concept yet, here’s how it works:

Each season, a chef is invited to explore his favourite ingredients through his cooking. Each event’s multi-course menu will highlight what’s in season in and around Québec at that time of year and feature foraged ingredients, along with unique products from local producers and growers who share the SAISONS philosophy.

You bring the wine, and we’ll take care of the rest!

The concept is simple. You purchase your ticket in advance, which reserves your seat(s) at the SAISONS dinner table. A week or so before the event, we will email you a flavour profile for one of the dishes on the menu so that you can shop for a fabulous wine to pair with that dish. The day of the dinner, bring your bottle of wine to share with the other guests, and when your dish is being served, you will be asked to describe and present your wine to the other guests attending so that they can understand the pairing. We don’t expect you to be a professional sommelier so don’t worry too much about your wine presentation. You can ask an SAQ vendor for recommendations. This is supposed to be fun! Our aim is to surprise, teach and inspire our guests with great food and a few surprises.

Our next SAISONS event will take place in May to celebrate spring. Follow us on our social media channels and sign up to our newsletter to stay up to date and be the first to know about advanced ticket sales. 

SAISONS 06
February 22nd, 2017
Chef: Seth Gabrielse of Boulangerie Automne
Venue: Breather

There are more outstanding photos of this event by the very talented Jean-François Frenette on the SAISONS Facebook page.