Food With A Point

I like going out for lunch. There is something about breaking up the day with a meal that someone else makes for you. It also always seems to be a bit lighter in spirit, on the plate and on the wallet. Conversely, there is a certain formality that comes with lunching and probably why ladies, like myself, like to do it so much. Recently, I did just this with my friend Laura. She’s a kindred spirit who loves to cook and has the background to back up her opinion – cooking in NYC kitchens will do that to you. Having heard so much about Graziella, we decided to make this place our lunch spot.

There has been much talk about this location since it opened in November. At the helm of the kitchen is Graziella Battista (formerly of Il Sole on St-Laurent street) and the front of the house belongs to her husband and partner Pierre Jullien. The space, located on McGill street in Old Montreal is beautifully stark, almost modern, but nestled in an historic building with massive doors.

We arrive at 12:30pm and are seated. The lunch formula is $25 for an appetizer and a main dish and we begin to survey the menu. It’s always a good sign when the most difficult part of the meal is deciding what to eat. My approach? I choose what I wouldn’t or couldn’t make at home. For openers, red wine braised octopus with sautéed yellow and red chard with a drizzle of olive oil it is. Ditto for Laura. The portion is seemingly small in size but not in taste and texture. There is something about octopus that gets me every time it’s made well and this one was worthy of a lengthy contemplative pause. Almost sweet, it was a nice contrast to the earthiness of the greens and the luscious acidity of the olive oil. I would have more… much more… Laura concurs.

The main dish for Laura was a tagiatelle with duck ragout and mine was the fresh sausage with herbs and roasted vegetables. Once they arrived at the table, we asked for two extra plates in order to share and were graciously obliged – a rarity today when restaurants would try to charge for reading a menu too long…

The pasta was quite al dente and the sauce that it carried had the richness of the duck that was attenuated by a carrot flecked tomato sauce and a touch of what we thought was rosemary with orange zest (?). Regardless, I loved it. It was deceptively light on the blend of seasoning but powerful in how well the aromas were married. The sausage was a hybrid meatball/sausage. The filling was looser than a typical link but denser than a properly made meatball (the kind you only need a fork in order to cut into it). Seasoned with fennel seeds and not overwhelmed by garlic, it rested perfectly on a bed of roasted baby carrots, pearl onions, sliced beets and potato wedges. There was this thin red wine based sauce that brought everything together and moistened every bite. It kind of made me wish I had a Nonna who could make this for me on Sundays…

We indulged with another shared plate, a flourless chocolate cake of sorts with orange compote and a dollop of Chantilly cream ($8). Paired with a couple allongés, it was a wonderfully decadent way to finish our lunch. Both Laura and I pretend-protested to the idea of dessert but were both happy we acquiesced to our desires.

After, as Laura drove me to my stats class, we discussed the experience and we realized that the wonderful thing about Graziella is the subtle duality it has mastered so well. The dishes are rustic but perfectly executed. The space is bright and white in an old gray building. The service is classically formal but the lunch formula quite modern. Personally, there was nothing I didn’t like and I was more than satisfied in terms of experience and hunger when I left. And lunch should be about that – something different but not necessarily overwhelming so that one can pursue their afternoon schedule but with a smile on their face. Considering I had one throughout my subsequent three hours of Multilevel and Hierarchical Modeling class, I’d say Graziella deserves more than a bravo!

Restaurant Graziella

116, rue McGill (514.876.0116)