As we eagerly anticipate the release of the MICHELIN Guide for Quebec in 2025, here are our predictions for which Montreal restaurants might earn this coveted recognition.

Controversial as it may be, a Michelin Star remains one of the most prestigious accolades in the culinary world, awarded to restaurants that showcase outstanding cooking based on five universal criteria: ingredient quality, harmony of flavours, mastery of techniques, the personality of the chef as expressed through their cuisine and consistency across the menu over time.

While we don’t expect any Montreal restaurants to earn 3 or even 2 stars, the following restaurants include potential 1-star locks and standout Bib Gourmand options:

1 STAR

Mon Lapin

As Canada’s reigning best restaurant (according to Canada’s 100 Best), Marc-Olivier Frappier and Vanya Filipovic’s Little Italy spot is a likely 1-star lock. Frappier and co-executive chef Jessica Noël’s menu has a clear identity and consistently delivers thought-provoking, exceptionally rendered food.

Toqué

While Toqué has fallen further down best restaurant lists in recent years, Normand Laprise’s fine-dining institution has been one of the city’s most respected tables since 2005. An easy lock for quality, consistency and personality.

Mastard

Chef Simon Mathys’s ode to seasonal Boreal cuisine has made Mastard an industry darling. Meticulously sourced ingredients, refined execution and a concept with Michelin written all over it.

Beba

While potentially too casual or understated for a 1-star distinction, Ari and Pablo Schor’s Verdun restaurant is both a deeply personal reflection of their cultural heritage and a masterclass in ingredient sourcing and intentional cooking. If merit truly comes from what’s on the plate, Beba is an easy lock.

Le Mousso

Let’s be honest — Michelin has a type, and that type is le Mousso. Run by the iconoclastic, self-taught chef Antonin Mousseau-Rivard, le Mousso is a product of the Golden Era of Nordic cooking, rendered with the very best local ingredients. From artful plating (and the hand-thrown ceramic plates themselves) to the overall refinement of the dishes, le Mousso is another easy prediction.

Île Flottante

Chef Sean Murray Smith’s Expo 67-influenced restaurant on St-Viateur has been charming locals and visiting gastronomes since opening in 2017. If there’s such a thing as “Oscar bait” in dining, then Île Flottante is Michelin bait. Smith is best known for awe-inspiringly beautiful presentations of delicious (if a bit eccentric) dishes and a tasting menu with the best value for money in town.

Lawrence

Sourcing the best quality local ingredients has been part of Lawrence’s DNA since it opened in 2010. Historically, Chef Marc Cohen focused on serving hearty dishes made of quality Quebec meat and vegetables with a noted British inflection. Since moving operations to a smaller storefront, running the kitchen solo and broadening his influences, Lawrence has become one of Montreal’s most thoughtful, refined and best-executed restaurants. Certainly deserving of a star.

Candide

“Love and precision, warmth and refinement, but in the end, Candide is an excuse to make people smile.” John Winter Russell’s celebrated restaurant is always carefully considered and thoughtfully executed. It’s got all the makings of a Michelin-star restaurant.

Bouillon Bilk

Bouillon Bilk is all about nuance, precision and finesse. Having recently moved to a new location, they’ve only dialled things up. This is a highly skilled, highly technical team putting out beautifully intricate dishes. Seems ripe for a star.

Marcus

Chef Jason Morris is an ingredient obsessive, overseeing a kitchen that regularly works with the highest quality seafood available in Canada. While Marcus’s supper-club reputation might preclude it from a star, the seriousness of the food makes a legitimate argument for recognition.

Joe Beef

If identity, consistency and legacy (not to mention good eats) have any bearing on who merits a star, then Joe Beef is an absolute lock. Since 2005, Joe Beef has been a taste-making restaurant that has not only redefined Montreal’s dining culture but has influenced chefs and restaurants around the world.

Jun-I

Among Montreal’s premier sushi restaurants, it’s one of the few local Japanese spots operating at a 1-star level. Chef Junichi Ikematsu’s style combines Japanese and French techniques to create a cuisine that is entirely his own.

Hoogan & Beaufort

Having recently cooked for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and French President Emmanuel Macron, Marc-André Jetté’s pedigree is only growing. Refined wood-fire cooking, artful plating and a focused Quebec-forward identity.

Okeya Kyujiro

Montreal’s first reservation-only Omakase restaurant specializing in Edomae sushi. Using exceptional quality fish imported from Japan and sourced locally, the restaurant would follow in the footsteps of many high-end sushiyas, including Okeya Kyujiro’s Vancouver location, which earned 1 star earlier this year.

Hélicoptère

Easily Hochelaga’s top fine-dining destination, Hélicoptère operates at a 1-star level with its innovative seasonal menus. Chefs David Ollu, Natacha Lehmann and Youri Bussières-Fournel bring a unique style that blends local ingredients with creative, vegetable-forward dishes, offering an elevated and thoughtful dining experience.

Montréal Plaza

Founded by Charles-Antoine Crête and Cheryl Johnson, Montréal Plaza is a confluence of their culinary prowess and Crête’s unmistakably playful personality. Known for its eclectic menu, the chefs combine classic French techniques with global influences. A likely 1-star based on the chefs’ pedigrees, the clear identity and the quality of the food.

Cabaret l’Enfer

Led by Massimo Piedimonte, Cabaret l’Enfer delivers an innovative, often unorthodox and always playful dining experience rooted in traditional Italian cooking. Piedimonte, who cut his teeth at Maison Boulud, le Mousso and Noma, comes with a Michelin-level pedigree. There’s personality in spades here and tons of technique to back it up — an easy pick for a star.

Maison Boulud

Daniel Boulud’s Ritz-Carlton restaurant is about as sophisticated and refined as they come. Boulud himself is no stranger to Michelin (2 for his eponymous Manhattan restaurant Daniel, and 1 each for le Pavillon and Joji) so he certainly has an understanding of what it takes to get a star — though his Toronto outpost, Café Boulud, was noticeably omitted from the Toronto guide. 

BIB GOURMAND

The Bib Gourmand category recognizes “restaurants that offer high-quality food at a reasonable price.” This somewhat nebulous description is usually awarded to high-calibre restaurants providing a more casual experience.

Bar St. Denis

BSD is easily one of the city’s best tables, thanks to the consistently inventive and brilliantly executed food by chef and co-owner David Gauthier. The bar backdrop, however, hurts its star potential.

Pichai

Jesse Grasso’s considered take on regional Thai fare is as focused and quality-driven as any on this list, though the casual nature of the restaurant likely precludes it from earning a star.

Le Vin Papillon

While at least one of the Joe Beef group restaurants is likely to get a star (my money is on the flagship), the more casual Vin Papillon is an obvious Bib Gourmand lock.

Casavant

Bustling energy, beautiful food and a stunning dining room — Casavant has plenty going for it. After a year or so of praise and nods, the Villeray bistro deserves a Bib Gourmand mention.

Alma

Since shifting their focus from Italy and Catalonia to chef and co-owner Juan Lopez-Luna’s native Mexico, the level of precision, intention and personality has skyrocketed. Alma is Bib Gourmand at a minimum and a good candidate for a star.

HONOURABLE MENTIONS

Key to the star rating system is “consistency over time.” Restaurants are usually visited multiple times before they are eligible to earn a star. Below is a selection of restaurants that might not make the list this year but likely will in the next edition of the guide.

• Le Violon
• Hiatus  
• Dorsia  
• Panacée

For more on the MICHELIN Guide, please visit their website. This article was originally published in the Dec. 2024 issue of Cult MTL.

For more on the food and drink scene in Montreal, please visit the Food & Drink section.

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Halton Region is paving the way for accessible sexual health services in Ontario with a mobile sexual health clinic that will serve community members where they are. With 2.3 million Ontarians lacking a primary care doctor, Halton Region’s mobile sexual health clinic is a vital service that ensures accessible healthcare for those who face barriers to traditional services. 

The aim of the service, which was launched in 2024, is to bring sexual health services directly to the community, ensuring accessibility for individuals in areas with limited access to traditional health clinics

The mobile clinic will support underserved populations, including those without healthcare providers or health cards, as well as vulnerable groups:

• Individuals without a health care provider or health card

• Those with symptoms of a sexually transmitted infection (STI)

• Individuals who have had sex with someone with an STI

• Those seeking anonymous HIV testing

• People aged 29 and younger

• 2SLGBTQIA+ individuals and men who have sex with men

• Sex workers

• Individuals who use or have used drugs by injection, inhalation, or smoking

• Indigenous individuals

 Comprehensive Services offered:

o STI testing and treatment

o Birth control consultations

o Emergency contraception

o Free condoms

o Pregnancy testing and support

o HPV and hepatitis vaccines

o Limited harm reduction supplies (needle exchange kits, naloxone overdose

prevention kits)

Booking and Information:

• Website: Halton – Sexual Health Clinics

• Booking: Appointments can be easily scheduled online or by calling 311.

The mobile clinic removes barriers to healthcare by providing services directly in the community, especially for those who may feel uncomfortable or stigmatized in traditional healthcare settings. It serves individuals from marginalized communities, those without healthcare coverage, and others who face challenges accessing traditional clinics.

Dr. Patrick Galange, Associate Medical Officer of Health, Halton Region Public Health said, “This innovative service is a crucial step towards ensuring that all members of our community have access to essential sexual health services, regardless of their circumstances. By bringing these services directly to the community, we are breaking down barriers and providing a safe, confidential, and inclusive environment for everyone. Our mission is to promote the health and well-being for all residents, and the mobile clinic is an important part of that.”

 For more information or to book an appointment, visit halton.ca or call 311.

This beautiful blue planet, spinning around the sun in a vast cosmos, offers everything we need to survive and thrive. There’s no reason for hunger or the pain and misery we inflict on each other in our senseless rush for… what, exactly?

We have much to learn about ourselves and our place in existence, but we have the knowledge, science, technology and solutions to take care of each other and resolve many global crises.

Unfortunately, some people value their skyrocketing wealth and power over others’ wellbeing and survival. Under a global economic system that facilitates it, anti-democratic billionaires and oligarchs are scuttling some of the limited but important progress we’ve seen over the past few decades, hell-bent on pursuing their deluded interests at everyone else’s expense.

Take Elon Musk. The South African immigrant — who worked illegally during his early years in the United States but is an immigration hardliner — was able to essentially gain control of much of the U.S. government (likely with help from his pal, Russian dictator Vladimir Putin) for what to him amounts to pocket change. He now has direct influence over lucrative government contracts, competitors’ opportunities, hiring and firing and more.

While the pace of disastrous change in the U.S. is dizzying, we should have seen it coming. Billionaires and anti-democratic libertarians have been building up to this for decades. Much of it stems from the most profitable enterprise in history: fossil fuels.

In a chapter on taxes in her book At a Loss for Words, former CBC journalist Carol Off details efforts going back to the 1960s by “dark money” forces led by fossil fuel industrialists to overturn regulations, especially environmental, and remove barriers to companies by having the U.S. Supreme Court rule that corporations have the same rights as people, among other measures. This has substantially widened the gap between rich and poor that had been shrinking since President Franklin Roosevelt’s 1930s New Deal. The richest one per cent now have more wealth than 95 per cent of the world’s population.

Referencing research by Democracy in Chains author Nancy MacLean, Off writes of “a small band of brothers” who in the 1970s created a “complete blueprint for a post-democracy world” that people in high places would put into play. The movement was sparked by political economist James Buchanan, a pro-segregationist who believed democracy and equality were incompatible with capitalism.

Charles Koch and his late brother David, oil barons whose businesses include processing bitumen from Alberta oilsands, took up the cause with a fervour, funnelling massive amounts of money into political lobbying, campaign financing and fake grassroots, or “astroturf,” organizations — all to protect unfettered capitalism and the right to private property at the expense of regulations, institutions and social programs. Koch companies have a long history of environmental violations.

“They proposed to dismantle the Environmental Protection Agency, the FBI, the Food and Drug Administration, and all government health programs, including Medicare and Medicaid, and to put an end to compulsory education for children and laws limiting the use of child labour,” Off writes.

Sound familiar? Off notes these are similar to goals outlined in Project 2025, the current U.S. administration’s road map. Project 2025 was produced by the Kochs’ Heritage Foundation.

The movement toward undemocratic authoritarianism is spreading, creating greater inequality, misery and death worldwide. It has politicized and rejected the necessary environmental science and progress that common sense people across the political spectrum once widely accepted — science and progress that have led to cleaner air and water for people and greater accountability for corporations.

Power and wealth buy political influence; they also buy media influence, aimed at selling largely compliant audiences the absurd lie that the billionaires and oligarchs are on their side.

We’re fortunate in Canada to have a relatively stable political system in a country considered to be a good global citizen. We have a strong economy, an educated population and we value diversity. But the U.S. is showing how quickly things can change. We can’t let that happen here.

Let’s hope our neighbours to the south get back on track with everything from environmental protection to narrowing the gap between rich and poor. Meanwhile, we need to keep the True North strong and free! Elbows up!

David Suzuki is a scientist, broadcaster, author and co-founder of the David Suzuki Foundation. Written with David Suzuki Foundation Senior Writer and Editor Ian Hanington. Learn more at davidsuzuki.org.

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It's been 16 years since Cougar Flight 491 crashed in the Atlantic Ocean, killing 17 of the 18 crew members on board. On the anniversary of the fatal flight, John Breen says the families like to gather to remember their loved ones.

L’article Job posting est apparu en premier sur Sherbrooke Record.

Canada’s prime-minister-designate Mark Carney made a statement calling for humanitarian aid for Palestinians, the return of essentials to Gaza and adherence to international law after Israel cut off the region’s electricity.

Carney also called for the return of all hostages and for the completion of the ceasefire agreement.

“It has been more than two days that the supply of electricity to Gaza has been shut off. It must resume — essentials including food, electricity and medical supplies should never be used as political tools.

“Canada must work with our allies to stand up for international law to promote sustainable peace and security in the Middle East and to support full access to humanitarian aid for Palestinian families. As this work continues, both parties must work towards the return of all hostages and the completion of the ceasefire agreement.”

Mark Carney previously condemned Trump’s intent to occupy Gaza and expressed that he is in favour of a free Palestine.

For our latest in news, please visit the News section.

The post Mark Carney calls for humanitarian aid for Palestinians and adherence to international law appeared first on Cult MTL.

Since Donald Trump’s re-election as president of the United States a storm of economic and political turmoil has loomed over Canada and the world, driven by Trump’s determination to impose aggressive tariff policies on America’s friends and allies. The 25 per cent tariffs that went into effect on March 4 on imports from Canada, Mexico, and China — America’s largest trading partners — alongside threats of tariffs against the European Union and other nations, risks plunging the global economy into a deep recession, if not an outright economic depression. 

If we take lessons from history such economic upheaval could ignite political instability and possible military conflict, but with the US positioned as the antagonist this time against its long-standing friends and allies.

The historical parallels between Trump’s trade policies and the economic protectionism of the early 20th century are alarming and unmistakable. In the aftermath of World War I, the US enacted a series of tariffs aimed at protecting its economy. The Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act of 1930 raised duties on hundreds of imports, prompting retaliatory tariffs from other nations and severely constricted global trade. These measures contributed significantly to the onset of the Great Depression, which ultimately became a catalyst for protectionism, resulting in the rise of nationalism and fascism, which led to World War II. 

The interconnectedness of national economies around the world demonstrated that the economic volatility generated by those tariffs had far-reaching and lethal consequences.

Economists and historians alike agree that historically there has been a clear connection between trade wars and military conflicts. French economist Frédéric Bastiat is often quoted for his insight that “when goods do not cross frontiers, armies will.” 

His words resonate today when we consider the possible repercussions of the trade war initiated by the Trump administration. When economic ties fray and nations retreat into isolationism, a vacuum is created, one that can be easily filled by inflamed nationalist sentiments. If we look at the reaction of many Americans on social media to Trump’s denigrating remarks about Canada and his repeated comments about annexing the country as the 51st state, we will find many instances of chauvinistic nationalism with militaristic narratives targeting Canada by Trump’s MAGA loyalists.

Economists have consistently warned that the consequences of Trump’s tariffs will not be confined to the countries directly affected. Increased costs on imports will destabilize local economies, raise consumer prices, and ultimately diminish the purchasing power of consumers both in the US, Canada and any other nations targeted by tariffs. Key industries will find demand for their products from export markets reduced significantly as countries which are their primary foreign markets retaliate with tariffs of their own.

The potential for an inflationary spiral also looms large as tariffs will increase the costs of goods in all sectors of the economy, which will be felt by consumers. Coupled with reduced spending power, this could easily push the American and Canadian economy into recession, and the downturn would ripple through global markets given that the US accounts for 26.1 per cent of the world’s GDP. American families, far from reaping the promised benefits of Trump’s tariff policy, will likely face higher unemployment and suffer a decline in living standards instead.

In addition, one cannot overlook the broader geopolitical implications of Trump upending decades of American foreign policy. While casting traditional friends and allies like Canada in an adversarial role, the Trump administration has extended an olive branch to Russia — a nation that historically embodies potential threats to US and European security and to democracy. This inversion of relationships has created a precarious diplomatic landscape, wherein mutual trust and cooperation have been eroded, and the alliance that preserved peace in Europe since World War II has been shaken to core.

With Trump appearing more inclined to treat Russia as a partner while labeling Canada and its European allies as economic adversaries, the global political order has reached an unsettling and critical inflection point with broad implications for the global political order. Just as tariffs have the potential to economically destabilize countries, the geopolitical tensions resulting from this seismic shift in US foreign policy could eventually ignite conflicts that run far deeper and wider than trade concerns.

This begs the question whether there is a path forward to restore economic stability and the international order that has maintained economic stability and an uneasy global peace since World War II. The answer is that there is and it is the US Congress, which would need to take decisive action to reign in a president who is shredding relationships that have been built over eight decades. Because while Trump may wield power through executive orders to impose tariffs, Congress possesses the authority to repeal the laws enabling such actions. But it will take a united stand by courageous members of Congress and Senators against a president pursuing policies that are contrary to the interests of the US and its allies. 

History serves as a stern reminder of the devastation wrought by trade wars. If Trump’s “America first” approach to international trade compels other nations to adopt more protectionist stances, economic systems around the world will destabilize, while political extremism rises, and the spectre of military aggression looms ever larger. The connection between trade and peace has been articulated by thinkers like Immanuel Kant, whose assertion still holds water today, that the spirit of trade is synonymous with prosperity, while the absence of commerce could facilitate war.

If Canada wishes to avert the potential catastrophic outcomes associated with trade wars — outcomes that our history has painfully illustrated — it is imperative for our leaders to recognize the urgency of the moment. As the world stands at an inflection point in history, Canada and its allies need to push back hard against American tariffs, and recommit to diplomacy and trade while opposing division and hostility. Just as the present is informed by the lessons of the past, it is up to our leaders to remember that history and ensure that we chart a course that will avoid a potential conflict which would have global ramifications.

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