Press Reviews

In fact, the food might even be better, and certainly less expensive, than at Laloux, its sister restaurant next door. Yet that was hardly the case on my last visit to Pop! in 2005, when I relished the wine, the wine service, and all-round wine-obsessed ambiance. I also liked the sleek and cool decor featuring that 1960s Danish teak furniture that you probably unloaded in that garage sale back in the '80s and now wish you hadn't. But the food was nothing more than OK. I knew it, I later found out management knew it, and the two in-house sommeliers selling the heck out of every drop of wine knew it, too. Fortunately, Laloux underwent a rebirth of sorts last summer with the introduction of two new chefs: Danny St-Pierre, and pastry chef Patrice Demers. St-Pierre left in the fall to open up a new restaurant in Sherbrooke called Auguste, and was replaced by the talented Marc-Andre Jetté, who with Demers, now runs the kitchen at both Laloux and Pop! Demers, though, is the one who is credited with Pop!'s renaissance, and one can sense the hand of a pastry chef in the menu, which is dominated by appetizer-sized plates as well as a selection of "tartes" (more on that later). There are two main-courses dishes, braised lamb and fish of the day, but one could easily make a meal of a couple of the appetizers for a quick pre- or post-theatre supper, or several for a food-and-wine-tasting feast. On a recent Saturday night I did just that. With two friends at my side, I ordered up close to a dozen dishes, and save for one slight disappointment, we greedily devoured every one.

But before delving in to all those food descriptions, a word about the wine list, which counts a half-dozen cocktails, apéritifs and dessert wines as well as a dozen whites and reds by the glass, and the entire heavy-on-the-private-imports wine list shared with Laloux next door. By-the-glass diners can also opt for half pours to make a few discoveries without risking a Breathalyzer test on the drive home. Our sommelier, David Vincent, couldn't have been more genial, offering wine recommendations aplenty without boring us with one wine-making detail too many - which can be the kiss of death at a wine bar. However, if you fancy a little wine speak, rest assured Vincent will willingly offer an opinion on everything from the appeal of Germanic riesling to the future of Carignan vines in Provence. Now onto the food.

With a honey-tinged glass of unfiltered Alsatian white wine, we savoured a Brussels sprout salad, a scallop carpaccio, a Parma ham and arugula salad, and a ramekin of guinea hen and foie gras rillettes. First, let's get the bad one - the scallops - out of the way. Served raw and topped with a scattering of radishes, lime, herbs and a quenelle of mustard ice cream, the dish failed for the simple reason that the scallops tasted "fishy," ruining this interesting mix of subtle flavours. Happily, though, everything else was just great. The salads here are no mere lettuce bombs but complex mixes of textures, flavours and colours. I adored the Brussels sprout salad, which featured the leaves of this much-maligned vegetable tossed with goat's cheese, dry sausage, green apples and fried onions. I also enjoyed the Parma ham plate's accompanying salad that counted arugula, frisée lettuce, mushrooms, pears and pecorino amongst its players. Dinner could have stopped there and I would have been satiated. But then I would have missed the rich and melting rillettes, which are served with a smear of that pricey purple mustard from Burgundy, Moutarde Violette, and a half dozen croutons alongside. Very nice. Switching from white to red wine, a rather light Irancy for two of us and a heady Chorey-les-Beaune for the third, we delved into the "tartes" section of the menu. The word "tartes" here refers to a thin-crust pizza "pie" adorned with ingredients like roasted peppers, shrimp, raw milk cheese, and caramelized onions. Montreal master baker James MacGuire helped the chefs perfect the toothsome dough on which to present all these lovely foodstuffs, taking the flatbread category into the realm of fine dining. Our first choice, a classic tarte flambée alsacienne (aka flammeküeche), offered a plate-sized pie topped with crème fraîche and a generous sprinkling of crisp lardons (thick bacon). Our second "tarte" was topped with sautéed mushrooms, watercress and Mimolette cheese. Chewy, crisp, scrumptious ... pick an adjective, any adjective, for all apply here. Both equally delicious, the two pies were polished off in record time.

There are two absolute musts at Pop!: The cheese course, or, more specifically, the classic pairing of aged Comté cheese and vin jaune, that mysterious love-it-or-hate-it nutty tasting and lightly oxidized wine from the Jura region of France. And then there's dessert, essential because Demers's are just so good. I've tasted all of his featured sweets and my faves include the trio of lemon tarts enhanced with mango, coconut and Thai basil, and a lychee granité served with a white-chocolate yogourt cream, grapefruit and Campari/hibiscus jelly. Chocolate lovers should pounce on the killer chocolate pot de crème layered with chocolate crunch and sea-salt-tinged caramel foam, a dish made famous during Demers's stint as pastry chef at Les Chèvres and Le Chou. Though I had a fantastic meal here, I do have some slight reservations about the place. When I stopped in a few months back for a post-concert snack, the service lagged and the crowd was lou- lou- loud (this restaurant attracts a lot of groups).

Again at my visit last week, noise levels were high. But noise levels, like the choice between Burgundy and Bordeaux, are a matter of taste. Those looking for a bit of a scene (the bar is a great place to nibble, sip and hang) should head here after 9 p.m., and those seeking a quiet glass of vino with an entrée or three, can book a table as early as 5 p.m. I'll choose the latter for my next outing at Pop!, which will be sooner rather than later. There's that shrimp and preserved lemon tart on the menu that I'm aching to try, on Tuesdays I'm told there's a jazz pianist on site, and those desserts...»