A Meal Fit For a Queen

On our last night in Quebec, we were treated to a spectacular dinner at the Chateau Frontenac’s fine dining restaurant, Le Champlain. This historic hotel has, in fact, hosted the Queen, as well as many other world leaders including FDR and Churchill during the Quebec Conference of WWII, and film royalty like Leonardo DiCaprio when he was in town filming “Catch Me if You Can”.

The hotel’s PR Director, Genevieve Parent, welcomed us with the special cocktail invented for the city’s 400th Anniversary, a Champlain Kir, and she brought along the hotel’s canine ambassador, Santol, who greeted everyone with a wagging tail and doggie kisses.

The Chateau’s Executive Chef, Jean Soulard was the first Canadian chef to win the coveted “Maitre cuisinier de France”. Born in a small French country village, he worked in France, Switzerland, and England before taking the reins at the Frontenac in 1993.

His country upbringing inspires and informs his authentic yet simple and elegant cuisine, and he even grows his own herbs on the rooftop of the Chateau. He prepared just such a menu for our dinner. The starter was a layered triumph with smoked duck , sautéed leeks, and goat cheese with a meat glaze and fried spinach. A leek and green pea soup was loaded with morel mushrooms and succulent chunks of lobster, and my filet with pepper sauce was perfectly cooked.

Add a fine red wine from Chile and the good company of my fellow travel writers in the elegant and historic setting of the Chateau, and it was truly a memorable evening. One of my colleagues even came up with a new idea for a political party in the U.S. called The Food Party, whose platform would support better artisanal bread and cheese in American cuisine.

Today, GoNomad editor Max Hartshorne is on his way to Winter Carnival, so be sure to check his blog and feature on this vibrant and welcoming city. (www.fairmont.com/Frontenac)