| By Sunil Mahtani Special to the record
December 21 is the first day of winter and there can be no better occasion to tell you about a restaurant where the warmth of the service melts the cold evenings away. Auberge Le Madrigal is a charming place a mere 400 metres from exit 78 off autoroute 10. The renovated home features a wrap-around verandah at the front and a large terrace set against a background of natural woodlands at the rear. The lady reponsible for the superlative service is Jeanne Massé, a waitress for 28 years who opened the restaurant with her husband Claude eight years ago. Massé clearly loves her job; her enthusiasm is infectious. Her effusive personality permeates the dining room as she strolls back and forth from the kitchen singing along with the easy listening music wafting through the air. By the way, the selection of music at Le Madrigal is among the best I've ever heard at any restaurant in the province! From the silky jazz sounds of Diana Krall to smooth French-language interpretations of classic Christmas songs, the sounds were soft and created just the right atmosphere for a leisurely meal. Our host also offers pearls of wisdom in between courses, like telling us, " The best way to live is to feel for everything you do ". Anytime we asked for anything, Massé always made sure to say, "With pleasure". If more people loved their jobs as much as Massé does, the world would indeed be a better place. Claude is a whiz with his hands in both his culinary craft as well as carpentry. While re-creating classic french cuisine (there's no nouvelle cuisine here), he was concurrently working on building cabinets, doors and floors for the auberge part of the business which opened just last june. Massé is proud to say he single-handedly built the 11 rooms they now have open for the public. Her own sense of classic style is evident in the decor of each room. |
Along with the opening of their auberge, the couple inaugurated a new dining room in the new wing they built onto their home. This is not as warm as the old part of the house, which has deep colours, wainscoting and lots of wood creating the atmosphere. This dining room has beige walls with no wainscoting and light pine floors and doors. Even the Christmas tree is filled with white lights. The effect is a little bland; the room would benefit greatly from the addition of some rich colour such as burgundy. Massé's personal warmth goes a long way in making up for this. Also, beautiful Townships artwork decorates all the walls at Le Madrigal. The word madrigal (a medieval lyrical poem) conjures up images of Camelot and King Arthur and the Knights of the R Round Table, a time of chivalry and honour. Massé's and Claude's idea for their restaurant was to create a gentle experience marked by courtesy and gallantry, a refreshing mandate in this day and age. Our welcoming host delivered some appetizers while we perused the menu. This was a plate of duck pâté with pistachio nuts, melba taost round and copuscous cooked in maple syrup. The pâté was good, featuring a hint of pistachio with the duck. The couscous was quite sweet yet worked pretty well with the pâté. The way the menu works at Le Madrigal is that any main-course item may be ordered as a table d'hôte or à la carte. If you want the table d'hôte option, you have a selection of appetizers and desserts to choose from. |
By being able to create your own evening special, the table d'hôte is the recommanded way to go. I started with the seafood soup while my companion began with the goat's cheese salad. The soup was disappointing. It suffered from a lack of seafood, was not warm enough and tasted a bit bland (the cream was too obvious). The goat's cheese salad was much better. It featured a small round of warm cheese and roasted almonds on top of mixed greens sprinkled with a balsamic vinaigrette. The balance of the goat's cheese with the nutty toasted flavor of the almonds proved to be a fine counterpoint. For the main course, we went with the Steak Diane ($31.50) and the chef's Fish Suggestion of the Day ($23.95), which was Mahi-Mahi. Other interesting choices were pork filet mignon with a fragrance of mint and port ($20.95), veal sweetbreads in a Madeira sauce ($26.95) and Brome Lake ostrich with a sherry and blueberry sauce ($29.95). The Steak Diane was done with great style.The slightly charcoaled steak was covered with strong mustard and then flambéed right in the dining room with shallots, mushrooms, cognac, red wine and a demi-glace sauce. The patron who orders this must go to the section of the restaurant where Massé is set up to flambé and watch the action. The steak was cooked to a perfect medium, the flavours blending brilliantly together. I twas totally satisfying dish. Unfortunately, the Mahi-Mahi was nothing special. The grilled fish was slightly overdone and thus not as succulent as it should have been. Both dishes were served with excellent accoutrements. Massé was proud to tell us we would receive five vegetables and six flavours along with potatoes. Each dish resembled an artist's palette. The tender-cooked vegetables were beautifully slivered zucchini, butterflied baked tomato, mild baby corn, the surprising addition of tasty okra and delicious mashed carrots with sweet potato (thus the five veggies with six flavours). Also served were Dauphine potatoes (mashed and broiled), which were just fine. A cheese p^late is offered before dessert but be warned, it's an additional $4.95 charge. The selections were tasty, including a blue cheese from the Saint-Benoit-du-Lac Abbey, a light, firm cheese from Kaiser in Noyan, and a french camembert made with raw milk. The plate features melba toast rounds and red grapes. Dessert featured a choice of " daily inspirations " or chocolate cake, fruit tart or ice-cream with either crème de menthe or espresso on top. Massé was pleased to bring us a bit of all three of Claude's inspirations. The floating island with a sweet, baked meringue on maple syrup cream. I twas fluffy, light and delicious end to any meal. The apple and pear clafouti was prepared Normandy-style with fresh apples and pears with calvados. This was fruity and moist. The crème caramel was very fresh, made the traditional way with the addition of a bit of Grand Marnier in the center of the flan. All were quite delicious. Very good, strong coffee followed, ending the meal on the right note. The dinner for two, not including wine or gratuity and with the addition of the cheese plates, was $75. Although our culinary adventure at Le Madrigal was mixed, nothing beats the warmth of the service. It's a restaurant that deserves to be experienced. ………. Auberge Le Madrigal, 46 Bromont Blvd, Bromont. Open daily for dinner. Reservations preferred. or 450-534-3588. Web site : www.lemadrigal.ca |