Local Escapes: Exploring Montréal and Montérégie’s Delicious Destinations

Québec is a province full of flavour, history and wonder. Whether you’re driving or flying into Montréal, you’ll have a multitude of experiences. From the diverse metropolis of the city to the vast outdoor beauty of Montérégie, there’s a lot to explore.

Montréal is home to more than four million people with 120 different nationalities. It’s this diversity that really shines in its attractions and culinary scene.

You can plan a packed itinerary or just spontaneously explore the city, but if you want a bit of both, try Passeport MTL. It’s a pass that lets you choose three or five attractions with an average savings of 35 per cent on regular pricing. There’s an extensive list of options, including museums, tasting workshops, dining deals, and indoor/outdoor activities.

For a recent trip, I decided to use my Passeport MTL to do things that I hadn’t done before.

Sip and Savour

Le Petit Dep

If you need a quick caffeine kick, head to any Montréal Le Petit Dep location where you can get a locally made Twix pastry and a cappuccino. The local gem has the usual offerings like coffee, tea, pastries and sandwiches with an immaculate vibe. But also, you can find quirky and curated souvenirs from local vendors.

The name, Le Petit Dep, is a play on the depanneur, which is the French-Canadian equivalent of New York’s bodega or a community corner store.

Kwizinn

If you didn’t already know, Montréal’s food scene is more than just poutine. It celebrates the city’s cross-pollination of culture without any pretension. In Old Montréal, for example, you’ll find a taste of the Caribbean at restaurant Kwizinn. Co-owned by Chef Michael Lafaille and his wife Claudia Fiorelli, its menu is both nostalgic yet new. From lobster poutine to goat to braised beef short rib baos, the menu will take you around the world with flavour.

“The idea was to bring something different to Montréal and mix in flavours and diversity,” says chef Mike Lafaille.

“My tastebuds are more amplified and the idea was to experience a few dishes and put spices together that aren’t seen together on the table,” says Lafaille, who is visually-impaired and started his restaurant career in 2013 as a waiter at O’Noir.

“By coming to Kwizinn, you get to try something different besides the [classic] smoked meat and poutine. We use a lot of local Québec products like goat, cheese…and spirits,” adds Lafaille.

There’s an immediate joy and warmth when you sit down with Chef Lafaille. When I asked why he decided to put his roots down in Montréal, he answered without hesitation.

“There’s always something going on, a new activity, a new festival, a new restaurant, a new bar…it’s not a boring city, there is always something going on,” says Lafaille.

Maple Season in Montérégie

The excitement doesn’t taper off when you leave Montréal. Montérégie is a region located just outside of Montréal. It’s 11,000 square kilometres of beauty and bounty. The gorgeous landscape is not just a playground, it’s a garden that has created a unique culinary scene like no other.

“We are an agritourism region that has a lot of heritage, activities, and all of the history is there,” says Frédéric Pichette, from Tourisme Montérégie.

Agritourism is growing in popularity. It’s the kind of travel that seeks to not just entertain but to educate visitors who are visiting a farm, ranch or place of natural beauty.

“We are very close to the land,” Pichette adds.

Driving through Montérégie, you’ll notice immediately the maple forest and that’s because the region produces some of the best Canadian maple syrup out there.

Sucrerie de la Montagne

On top of Mont Rigaud, a 120-acre maple forest is home to Sucrerie de la Montagne. The heritage site is owned by Pierre Faucher and his son Stefan. Together, they are preserving a centuries-old tradition of sugar shacks and sharing it with everyone year-round.

“When I started the sugar shack, what attracted me at first was the dimension of the forest and the energy that rules in here. Then I thought to myself, could I create a beautiful place to refer to traditions of my country,” says Pierre Faucher.

Tradition is what makes their sugar shack special. Four cabins line the property for people to stay in throughout the year while their on-site boulangerie regularly wafts out a smell of fresh bread.

The main building is home to a bar, restaurant and several halls lined with wood, copper details, and memorabilia from Pierre’s adventures around the world. The family business is going strong. Pierre’s son Stefan grew up in the business and continues to keep the sugar shack tradition alive.

“It’s quite a privilege to come here every day to the maple forest,” says Stefan.

The sugar shack has come a long way from its humble beginnings in 1978, and Pierre Faucher humbly notes that he can’t take all the credit.

“It’s not really me. It’s the people who believed in the product that came along with me,” says Pierre Faucher.

The idea of extracting sap and creating maple syrup pre-dates colonialism. The reverence for the maple forest is something that the Indigenous community has always valued.

“Maple syrup is our sugar. From time immemorial, we were tapping trees. From a story we have in our traditions, it came from watching a squirrel go into the forest and drinking from a tree,” says Bronwyn Johns from Tourism Kahnawà:ke, an Indigenous community located just 18 minutes from downtown Montréal.

“Animals always lead the way of what we need to know. We always follow their lead. We followed that squirrel and saw that the sap coming out of the tree had a sweet taste so we started using it for our cooking,” Johns adds.

Today, maple syrup is being used for everything, including a seasonal maple beer at Kahnawà:ke Brewing Company, the first Indigenous brewery on a First Nations territory in Canada.

Auberge des Gallant

At Auberge des Gallant, you’ll find beautiful accommodations, a spa, sugar shack and a restaurant that is certified by Terroir et Saveurs du Québec.

“It’s a culinary association we have in Québec to support local products,” says Dominic Gallant, General Manager of Auberge des Gallant.

“I think 60 per cent and more of everything that grows in the soil in Québec is produced in Montérégie so we feed all of the province,” Gallant adds.

It’s not just food that the region offers up. There are plenty of vineyards and wineries as well. According to Frédéric Pichette, six out of the nine wine regions in Québec are located in Montérégie.

Pomone Vineyard

At Pomone Vineyard, you’ll be able to taste the exceptional terroir in their world-recognized wines. Across 16 hectares, 28 grape varietals contribute to a robust roster of wines.

We like to play with our grapes and varietals. Everything is dry here. There’s nothing that’s too sweet,” says winemaker Yannick Breton.

Sightseeing In The City

Le Grande Roue de Montréal

My first stop was La Grande Roue de Montréal. It’s a 60-metre-high Ferris wheel nestled right in the Old Port. It is equipped with 42 climate-controlled gondolas where you can see a 360-degree view of the city and it’s beautiful day and night.

Musée Imaginarium

If you go to Le Petit Dep in Griffintown, don’t forget to head into the basement, that’s where you’ll find Musée Imaginarium. It’s a photo-friendly experience with 16 fully lit vignettes created by local artists. Each backdrop is an unserious, but beautifully constructed tableau of Québecois culture.

You best believe that I couldn’t resist jumping into a giant bowl of poutine. But what’s so great is there are small Easter eggs in each backdrop that speak to the Montréaler experience.

Centre des mémoires montréalaises

If that conjures up some curiosity about the city’s history, head over to Centre des mémoires montréalaises, also referred to as the MEM.

“We’re all about sharing memories about Montréalers for Montréalers by Montréalers. It’s a great way to get a behind-the-scenes look at what we talk about and how we define ourselves,” says Tyler Wood, Team Leader for Visitor Experiences at the MEM.

“If you like to…go beyond the cliches of what our city is, this is a good place to start,” Wood adds.

The museum is not like a typical museum. It is an interactive and immersive walkthrough that utilizes found objects and multimedia visuals to capture the diverse stories of the people who made the city what it is today.

Montréal Biodôme

If you want to continue to look and learn, head to a historical site that is bringing all five ecosystems of the Americas under one roof: the Montréal Biodôme.

Whether it is the tropical rainforest, Laurentian maple forest, or Sub-Antarctic islands, each ecosystem will have its own specific temperature, vegetation, and wildlife including birds, lynx, and even sloths.

Stay In Luxury and Comfort

Humaniti Hotel

Are you looking for accommodations that are close to all the attractions? The Humaniti Hotel is located in the heart of the city with sustainable amenities, attractions that are within walking distance, and easy access to public transit. It is part of Marriott’s first Autograph Collection and features beautiful art, a lounge, and the H3 restaurant.

Sip, Savour and Stay at the Le Mangeoir

Le Mangeoir

Before you wrap up your local escape, you’ll need to pay a visit to Le Mangeoir. It’s an unassuming farm when you drive in, but inside their dining room, is a world-class dining experience that truly celebrates the farm-to-table experience.

“One of our missions is to teach people where the food is from and how it’s made. That’s why we grow our own vegetables and raise our meat also,” says Marie Daudelin, Co-founder and Head of Administration.

Daudelin’s partner Guillaume Asselin is the chef of Le Mangeoir and every dish he creates uses ingredients grown or raised on the farm. Their farm restaurant is Une Table Champêtre, a designation that means at least 51 per cent of the meals use ingredients from the farm.

The couple traded in their Montréal duplex for the farm in Saint-Anicet in 2020 and today, they have expanded their business with bed and breakfast accommodations.

“I used to have a restaurant in Montréal and I got bored of having trouble finding the right ingredients so I wanted to go back to the roots and grow my own vegetables and raise my own animals,” says Asselin.

Le Mangeoir is a gem in agritourism. From the countryside dining decor to the cozy accommodations to the beautifully curated menu, the beauty is in its simplicity. The appreciation for good food, tradition and culture runs deep in Québec and it’s this spirit that we all need more of in our daily lives.

“You eat, you sleep, and you enjoy life,” Daudelin says with a smile.