Mile End’s Thazard Switches Owners, Chefs, and Style — And Other News

MILE END — Big changes at St-Laurent izakaya Thazard — first of all, it’s no longer an izakaya — it’s now billed as an “Asian tavern” instead of a strictly Japanese restaurant, with a whole new menu (ramen is still available, everything else has changed). The owners have shuffled too: all former partners, including Kabinet owner David Schmidt have left, except for Edward Zaki (Mimi La Nuit). Chez Victoire’s Karl Leblanc and Alexandre Gosselin have joined Thazard, as have Mila Aguiar (ex-Mimi La Nuit), and Nada Saadi. Gosselin is serving as executive chef, with another Chez Victoire alumnus, Maxime Tessier, as chef de cuisine. The space has had minor renovations: it’s now more of an open-plan dining room. Brunch is off the menu, with Thazard now doing lunch Monday to Friday and dinner Tuesday to Saturday. Peep the menu below, complete with chirashi bowls, tataki, dumplings, buns, tartare, and more.

TETRAULTVILLE — There’s a new and extremely budget-friendly food festival in town: for all of September, Tétro Gourmet will take place at the far eastern end of the Mercier-Hochelaga-Maisonneuve borough. 13 neighbourhood restaurants will have special $8 menus for the entire month. Yes, one of the options is the not-so-promising Basha, but there are a few opportunities to discover new spots in a less restaurant-heavy part of town, like Malaysian restaurant Malay Thai or Antillean eats at Au Goût Tropical. More details are on Tétro Gourmet’s Facebook.

ROSEMONT — Add another pin to the Montreal firebombing map: early Monday morning, a man threw a molotov cocktail through the window of Chez Yvan, on Rosemont and des Erables, causing major damage to the restaurant (which is now closed) and apartments above.

ALL OVER — Burger Week kicks off its sixth edition this Friday (September 1), running through to September 7. The celebration of all things patties and buns is now in ten Canadian cities (it was founded in Montreal), with over 40 restaurants here participating. A special mention goes to two of the most extravagant (or excessive) creations — first is La Belle et La Boeuf’s possibly heartburn inducing burger with deep fried mac and cheese buns, smoked bacon, cheddar, mac and cheese, caramelized and red onions, mayo, and spicy sauce. Second is a sweet creation from Renoir at the Sofitel (specifically pastry chef Roland Del Monte) — it has a sesame brioche, orange and mango jelly melted on top of a home-made chocolate ice cream patty., served with “french fry churros” on the side, red berry “ketchup” and a pickle-style marshmallow. Ouf.

DOWNTOWN — What’s behind the revival of Jewish food, now that restaurants like Arthurs are one of the hot tables in town? Arthurs owner Raegan Steinberg, Fletchers owner Kat Romanov, and owner of Montreal-inspired New York restaurant Mile End Joel Teitolman will talk about it at conference-festival Exponential next week, from 1:45 to 2:30 p.m. Thursday (September 7) — details here.

ALL OVER — Say what you will about Europea’s Jérôme Ferrer, he keeps busy: he now has a high-end meal delivery service, La Boîte du Chef, offering weekly deliveries of five two-person meals for $100 all up, available around Quebec.

OLD MONTREAL — Splashy celebration of shellfish Oysterfest takes place again this year — it’ll be at train station-turned-event space Gare Viger on September 10 with tickets ranging from $25 (entry, nothing included) to $1,000 (an eight-person package with a private tent, bottle of gin or vodka, and more).

VILLAGE — Concordia University’s Montreal Signs Project saves the day again — the project, which collects and preserves iconic signs from the city, has stepped in to claim the sign for now-defunct 24-hour Village diner Le Club Sandwich. It’ll be housed at Concordia’s Loyola campus, along with the rest of the collection.

• Molotov cocktail hurled at Rosemont restaurant [CBC]
• All Thazard coverage [EMTL]
• Le Festival Tétro Gourmand se prépare [Pamplemousse Mercier-Est]