A Provençal Restaurant With Italian Touches Is Serving Seafood and More in Villeray

There’s a new taste of Nice in town, courtesy of just-opened restaurant Paloma, up in Villeray.

The restaurant comes from a father-daughter team, with dad Armand Forcherio bringing experience from long-closed downtown restaurant Nizza, which specialized in southern French cuisine. The duo have taken over the St-Laurent locale that used to house dumpling mavens Trilogie, just south of the 40.

According to La Presse, daughter Rosalie Forcherio also brings some solid experience, having worked as a sommelier at Le Filet and Montréal Plaza, and puts forward a small but tidy wine list.

As for the menu, it’s focused in on Niçoise cuisine (meaning Italian influences figure too), rather than broadly Provençal food — vegetables and seafood make strong showings, with options like squash mezzaluna (similar to ravioli) and linguine vongole (with clams). Among larger items are stuffed calamari, and Niçoise veal cheek with tagliatelle, plus a daily fish special — prices are mid-range, and mostly in the $20 to $30 range.

For desserts, expect a coffee semifreddo and “gateau de ouistiti”, which would appear to be a chocolate and jam-based concoction.

STATUS — Paloma is open at 8521 St-Laurent for lunch from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesday to Friday, and dinner 5 to 10 p.m. Thursday to Saturday.

• Paloma [Official]
• Paloma: Nice au sud de la 40 [La Presse]