As is tradition at Eater, we wind up the year with a survey of Montreal food writers. We've already covered Best Standbys, Top Newcomers, 2013 in One Word, Best 'Hoods, Biggest Surprises, Single Best Meals and Restaurant Divorces of 2013 . Now it's time to look at Headline Predictions for 2014.
[Photo: Randall Brodeur]
Q: What are your headline predictions for 2014?
Lesley Chesterman, Gazette critic: I really dread to say it but…"Toronto beats out Montreal for best restaurant city in Canada!" There are still great things happening on the Montreal restaurant scene, but look around and ask around, and there's no denying we're hurting.
Jean-Philippe Tastet, Le Devoir critic: Highly anticipated opening of Le Serpent. Many surprising newcomers (Charles-Antoine Crête and co.) Too many supper clubs pretending to be restaurants.
Marie-Claude Lortie, La Presse critic: I think that the non vegetarian vegetable menu at Vin Papillon will inspire other chefs to do similar cooking. And that's fine, as long as they do it seriously, with care, and their own creativity.
Andrée Harvey, Voir critic: Plus de plats de légumes travaillés.
Gildas Meneu, Voir critic: Plus de légumes travaillés et moins de sel ajoutés dans les plats. C'est plus un souhait qu'une prédiction!
Gemma Horowitz, CultMTL critic: In my fantasy 2014: Montreal Pizza Makers Realize What They've Been Doing Wrong/Café Owners Learn That Nobody Wants A Panini.
Bill Zacharkiw, Gazette wine writer: Even funkier wine lists will make it into the mainstream. Quebec is a breeding ground for sommeliers and as all these young folks start buying more and more "off-beat" stuff, we'll see even more people exposed to less commodity oriented wines.
Joanna Fox, co-author of Chuck's Day Off and former critic/writer for Montreal Mirror and CultMTL: Let's call it mingling. I think we might give the idea of fusion another go, but with more finesse, delicacy and a better understanding of some fundamentals: Mingling in other cuisines. We've learned from our past mistakes, right?
Ian Harrison, Eater editor: New projects from Hubert Marsolais (Le Club Chasse et Pêche, Le Filet), Dave Schmidt (Café Sardine, Maïs, Datcha), Stephen Leslie (Tavern) and Joe Mercuri will make waves. But, above all, the new La Queue de Cheval will be the shitshow of 2014. (And your early headline frontrunner for 2015: Jérémie Bastien's Le Monarque in the Penny Lane development.)
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