La Récolte Espace Local is situated in the Little Italy/Villeray neighborhood, close to station Jean Talon. I’ve walked passed by it quite a few times when it’s closed, so never had an idea how the restaurant is like. Thankfully, my friends suggested this for MTL à Table. I’m already half way through the week of the event, and it’s my third restaurant (two more to go!). This is by far the most satisfying dinner.

La Récolte Espace Local focuses on local and organic products, and the food are prepared with a farm-to-table philosophy. The ambiance is very casual and laid back, where ones can easily chat away with friends without worrying that they’ll bother the tables next to them.

Instead of regular bread basket, we started off with bite-sized house made foccacia with sunflower oil. The bread was fluffy, and the amount of oil was just right that it had a nutty flavor instead of the greasiness from too much oil.

For the first course, I chose the warm goat cheese served with roasted beets, endives, diced apples with honey vinaigrette. It like a small salad. I love the pairing of beets and goat cheese. The goat cheese was very rich and thick, and the beets were quite sweet! It was a light and fresh start.

My recent partner-in-crime, Cher from the blog Un Voyage Gastronomique, chose the beef tartare, which was served with oyster mushrooms, daisy capers, and horseradish. She thinks the tartare is fresh, creamy, and pleasant to chew on. Crouton chips, which served as spoons to pile the tartare on, added some crunch to the dish. The house Sriracha is spicy, Asian-level mild spicy, and complements the tartare by giving it the extra kick. Pickled radish slices served as a palate cleanser for her, and she enjoyed nibbling on them.

If you feel like fancy up the dinner a bit, with additional $8, you can have foie gras “au torchon” (poached) in maple syrup, served on house made brioche with apples in 3 ways on the side. Foie gras, brioche, and apples are the perfect trio. The foie gras is prepared “au torchon”, which “torchon” means a cloth in French, such as a dish towel, and it’s used to describe a cooking technique in which the food is wrapped in for cooking. Foie gras was ultra smooth and creamy, and the brioche was pillowy and soft, while the apples added sense of tartness and sweetness to the overall sensation.

For the second course, Cher chose the Fall trilogy, which is different types of squash prepared in three ways: Roasted squash, mille feuille, smoked squash puree, with sour cream, and pumpkin seed crumble. The roasted squash itself was quite sweet. The “mille feuille” stood out the most to me. It’s made with spaghetti squash, and prepared like lasagna. It has a lot of cheese to hold the spaghetti squash together like a cake.

My other friend and I both chose the duck breast with seared gnocchi, and seasonal vegetables served with their special maple-soya glaze. This dish was amazing! The duck breast was juicy, tender yet not hard to chew on. It was perfect with the maple-soya glaze – sweet and savory – a perfect balance. The gnocchi were on the chewy side rather than fluffy, which is the texture that I prefer!

For dessert, a friend opted for the cheese cake donuts with plum coulis. It’s warm and gooey inside as the cheese cake filling has melted. It’s around two bites size, but I’m sure if you just have it in one bite, it’ll pop!

Last but not least, Cher and I chose the honey cake with sunflower seeds praline, topped with cherry, and white cheese mousse. Loved it! It wasn’t too sweet, and the cake is quite sticky and dense.

Overall, the food was delicious that we were already talking about going back for brunch! The servers were attentive and very friendly too. The only downside was the waiting time between each dish was too long. I really liked the restaurant, because the ambiance is casual, but the presentation of the dish is comparable to fine finings and current Montreal trend.

La Récolte Espace Local
764 Bélanger street, Montreal, Canada
Tel: +1 (514) 508-5450 (Reservation strongly recommended)

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