It's easy to hit the jackpot in the signature restaurants of the casinos in Gatineau and Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The odds of encountering superb cuisine are stacked in your favor.
Le Baccara, Casino du Lac-Leamy
Le Baccara exceeded our expectations. CAA/AAA has awarded the 70-seat restaurant the highly coveted Five-Diamond rating every year since 2001. Wine Spectator has also recognized Le Baccara with its Best of Award of Excellence, annually since 2004.
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| Casino du Lac-Leamy. Gatineau, Quebec. |
| Photo © Barb & Ron Kroll |
Located on the third floor, overlooking Leamy Lake (an extension of the Ottawa River), Le Baccara boasts a superb view of the Ottawa skyline and green-roofed parliament buildings. Beside the river, there's a garden where chefs pluck fresh herbs for the restaurant.
Couples dine below wall-sized murals of a countryside feast. Patrons watch chefs create their meals in an open kitchen decorated with shiny copper pans and a frieze of fruit and vegetables.
Le Baccara menu
The maitre d' offers color-coordinated sweaters to women who find the air conditioning a touch too chilly and opens an elegant wooden case of Giorgio Armani spectacles for patrons requiring reading glasses for menus.
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| Waiter serves meal to couple in Le Baccara restaurant. Casino du Lac-Leamy. Gatineau, Quebec. |
| Photo © Barb & Ron Kroll |
Le Baccara restaurant à la carte menu designates signature dishes. Two delicious examples: Pan-fried duck foie gras escalope, served in a Jerusalem artichoke and truffle velouté sauce, with grilled brioche of smoked duck, and spit-roasted lobster, homemade macaroni au gratin and seared scallops, cep mushrooms, salsify and pancetta fricassee with tarragon meat jus.
Wine cellar
The Gastronomic Menu, Gourmet Menu and Chef's Tasting Menu at Le Baccara can be matched with wines by the glass for a flat fee. Otherwise, the sommelier helps diners select the perfect wine from a cellar with 13,000 bottles of 500 different varieties.
If diners especially enjoy a particular vintage, she'll present them with the label pressed in a souvenir card depicting the wine cellar.
Little touches make the difference
Tiny blueberry flowers garnish an appetizer. A complimentary amuse-gueule is presented on a curved silver spoon before dinner and a silver tray of tiny fruit tartlets, chocolates and maple sugar candies afterward. The superb selection of cheeses surrounds a sugar sculpture created by the pastry chef.
Nuances, Casino de Montreal
Nuances has won the Five-Diamond rating from the CAA/AAA Guide every year since 2000, as well as many other dining awards. Soft textures and vivid colors add modern elegance to the fifth-floor 72-seat restaurant. Tall windows frame views of downtown Montreal and the St. Lawrence River.
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| Casino de Montreal at night. Quebec. |
| Photo © Barb & Ron Kroll |
Working under Jean-Pierre Curtat, Executive Chef at the Casino de Montréal, Nuances Chef Olivier Rault creates modern French dishes with seasonal ingredients. A la carte dinner at Nuances features entrées like lobster poached in butter, lobster ravioli and verjus sauce with licorice froth and roasted breast of duck, aged mandarin peel sauce and sweet potato fritters.
Nuances menus
In addition to an à la carte menu, Nuances offers a fixed price three-course Pleasure Menu and a fixed price five-course Discovery Menu with matching wines. A fixed price Awakening of the Senses Menu features five courses, spontaneously created by the chef. A wine pairing selection is also available.
Desserts are mouth watering, especially the maple syrup crème brûlée served with madeleines and the warm chocolate cake, with creamy vanilla centre and maple ice cream. A cheese plate is also on the menu.
No matter how your dice land, Le Baccara and Nuances casino restaurants are a sure bet for fine dining in Quebec.
TRAVEL INFORMATION
Nuances and Le Baccara: www.casinos-quebec.com
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Sugar Shacks, Chocolate Shops and Tea Rooms in Montreal
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