Le Fantôme Scares Up Market Cuisine in Griffintown

Is there another enclave of Montreal more in flux than Griffintown? The neighbourhood has welcomed a bumper crop of new restaurants lately, with a lot of activity in the condo boom quarter close to des Seigneurs bridge. Le Fantôme, a new restaurant from Kabir Kapoor and chef Jason Morris, is the latest player on the scene. The market cuisine spot (see sample menu below) quietly opened this week and, with the likes of Lord William Pub, Junior, and Le Richmond Marché Italien, is part of a new wave of restaurants to hit the area.

Kapoor, whose family owns downtown mainstay Le Taj, describes the menu at the 30-seater inside the Montreal Art Centre as curated and affordable. "It's a small, market-driven menu that uses quality ingredients. We wanted a restaurant where the average per head was $40 to $50 so people could come and eat more often." Morris is a talent of note. The chef was formerly at Grumman and Milos, among others, and has stints at Geist in Copenhagen and Corton in New York on his résumé. Le Fantôme's wine list is similarly tailored—nine whites, nine reds, a bubbly, and a rosé—thanks to the likes of Oenopole and Rézin. As for the name, Kapoor calls Le Fantôme both a bid to engender some mystery, and a nod to historical neighbourhood figure Mary Gallagher, who, as legend has it, still haunts the streets of Griffintown in search of the head she lost in 1879.

Status: Le Fantôme, 1832 William, (514) 846-1832, now open Tuesday to Saturday from 6 p.m. to 11:30 p.m..

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• Le Fantôme co-owners Kabir Kapoor and Jason Morris