MONTREAL – It is not often that the mayor chimes in on the opening of a new restaurant, but as celebrated French chef Joël Robuchon prepared to set up shop at the Montreal casino, Mayor Denis Coderre was moved to comment. The new eatery would cement Montreal’s “role as a culinary and cultural metropolis,” Coderre said last fall.
Popular Quebec singer Gregory Charles drooled over Robuchon’s “spectacular” cuisine in the casino’s promotional video for the restaurant, which opened in December.
But not everyone is cheering that Robuchon has chosen the provincially owned casino as the latest site for his growing constellation of restaurants. He now operates in 12 cities on three continents.
Quebec Finance Minister accustomed to defending government cutbacks and heavy taxes, last week found himself playing culinary critic in the National Assembly as the provincial lottery corporation’s decision to lure Robuchon came under fire.
Jacques Boissinot / The Canadian PressQuebec Finance Minister Carlos Leitao, pictured here in April 2015, responds to reporters' questions before entering a cabinet meeting at the provincial legislature in Quebec City.
“Concluding an agreement with an internationally renowned chef, one of the best in the world, Mr. Speaker, is a very effective way to market the Montreal Casino to attract travellers, whether from Europe or the United States,” Leitao said Thursday.
Some Quebec chefs and the opposition Parti Québécois say the reported $11-million spent to help Robuchon open in Montreal is an inexcusable extravagance and an insult to the province’s own gastronomic stars.
André Villeneuve, the PQ critic for agriculture, fisheries and food, said that instead of negotiating a deal in secret with Robuchon, the casino should have issued a call for tenders and invited Quebec chefs to submit proposals.
Villeneuve demanded that Leitao apologize to Quebec chefs for suggesting their cooking could not compare with that of Robuchon, who has accumulated 28 sought-after Michelin stars at his various restaurants.
Tyrel Featherstone/Postmedia Newseople place their bets at the tables in the Montreal Casino.
“Mr. Speaker, you heard as I did, it appears Québécois chefs are not appealing,” Villeneuve said. He later said he was “astonished” to see the government failing to give Quebec chefs their proper due. “We shine, Mr. Speaker, across the planet in several fields, in particular in gastronomy.”
Mr. Leitao did not deny the figure of $11-million put forward by Villeneuve as Loto-Québec’s investment, saying it was spent on renovations that will serve any future occupant.
Loto-Québec spokesman Patrice Lavoie said Sunday that the crown corporation would not disclose details of its agreement with Robuchon, but he said its investment in the restaurant is less than the $11-million reported. The web site Eater Montreal reported in December that L’Atelier Robuchon had spent $40,000 on Limoges Bernardaud china and another $40,000 on Christofle cutlery for the 56-seat restaurant.
Montreal Gazette restaurant reviewer Lesley Chesterman has long been a critic of Loto-Québec’s arrangement with Robuchon. “By pouring money into the luxury restaurant at the casino, the government is undermining our taxpaying restaurateurs,” she wrote in December. “At a time when our restaurants are scrambling to stay alive, why should our heavily taxed chefs have to compete with a foreign brand bankrolled by our government?”
On Thursday, Chesterman slammed Leitao for his comments in the legislature. “Quebec government doesn’t think our chefs can draw in international customers,” she wrote on Twitter. “Pathetic. Shameful. P’tit Quebec.”
David McMillan, the chef behind Montreal’s Joe Beef restaurant, joined the chorus of criticism, calling the government’s response pathetic and a scandal. “Resign,” he wrote in a tweet directed at Leitao. Normand Laprise, chef at Toqué restaurant, also took offence. “Accusing people of being closed when you are yourself,” he wrote to Leitao.
The Finance Minister had suggested the PQ’s opposition to Robuchon’s arrival was small-minded. Quebec chefs are free to set their sights beyond the province’s borders, just as Robuchon has done, Leitao said.
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“We are open to the global market,” he said. “And in the same way that Quebecers, Montrealers, chefs and people in other fields have access and want to work outside (the province), we are also open to those from abroad who come here.”
In reality, Robuchon will seldom be present at the Montreal restaurant. Eric Gonzalez, a chef who has worked at a number of well-regarded Montreal restaurants, oversees the kitchen. Lavoie noted that the restaurant staff members are Quebecers. “For Mr. Robuchon, it was essential to showcase Quebec know-how in the kitchen as much as Quebec products (cheese, venison, etc.) on the menu,” he said.
As people debated the politics of fine dining, La Presse restaurant critic Marie-Claude Lortie visited to sample the food and was won over. L’Atelier Robuchon brings a new element to Montreal’s restaurant scene, she concluded: “a new kind of technical perfectionism, in particular, which could raise standards for all.”
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