Have you heard of the SAISONS dinners and did you know that I am their founder? SAISONS is a collection of curated gatherings staged in unique surroundings and headlining Montreal-based chefs working with seasonal and regional ingredients with the express mission of promoting our distinctive Quebec cuisine. These SAISONS DINNERS take place once every season and are organized by Janice and I.

The past fall event took place on October 9th, 2018 with chef Stelio Perombelon. Stelio was at the helm of Les Caprices de Nicolas, Leméac, Les chèvres, Les Cons Servent and until recently, the M.Mme wine bar. A few weeks before the SAISONS dinner, Stelio had decided to leave the restaurant world in order to devote himself to sharing his passion. Needless to say that we were very excited to have him onboard and to feature his unique cuisine.

The fall dinner took place at Holly Friesen’s art studio in Saint Henri. I have been wanting to do a SAISONS dinner surrounded by art for a while now and I couldn’t have dreamt of a more perfect setting. Holly’s vibrant and colourful nature-inspired paintings surrounded the SAISONS table and the temporary kitchen and lent a most beautiful visual layer to the entire evening.  The long tables were lit up with dozens of candles and decorated with fall foliage and stems from our partners Origine Fleurs.

Chef Perombelon created a 6-course dinner that took SAISONS attendees on a celebration of Quebec’s seasonal and bountiful harvest ingredients. Here’s the menu the guests enjoyed:

SAISONS Harvest Dinner Menu by chef Stelio Perombelon

Amuse-bouche
Buckwheat Gougères, Parmed’or cheese, goria pepper.

1st course
Romanesco, cucumbers, dill pickles, whipped ricotta, roasted shallot.

2nd course
Celery root royale, Candy Cap mushroom coulis, wild rice, burnt onions and thyme.

3rd course
Warm salad with veal tongue, Brussels sprouts, green tomato ketchup, chives and radish sprouts.

4th course
Gaspésie char, kohlrabi, candied cranberries, roasted roots and sorrel from my garden.

Dessert
A pumpkin pie trapped in a donut; pumpkin squash, spelt flour, sumac sugar.

Just in case you are not familiar with the SAISONS DINNER 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 DINNER will take place in February. 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 12
October  9th, 2018
Chef: Stelio Perombelon
Venue and partner: Holly Friesen Art Studio
Partners: Origine Fleurs and Miels d’Anicet

There are more outstanding photos of this event by the talented Alison Slattery on the SAISONS Facebook page.