Aliments du Québec au Menu: 2021 restaurateur award
La Maison Boire: Winner of the Aliments du Québec au Menu 2021 Restaurateur Award!
This award was created to recognize the restaurateurs in the Aliments du Québec au Menu program who have distinguished themselves through their initiatives and their willingness to buy from local producers. The promotion of Quebec foods is therefore a very important aspect of this award. Among the 700 restaurants involved in this program, 15 of them have particularly shone this year. Among them is the grand winner: La Maison Boire. Located in Granby, this restaurant promises discovery and gourmet pleasures, all while preserving an admirable environmental conscience.
A remarkable commitment to make Quebec food shine
La Maison Boire is an eco-friendly gastronomic restaurant that has developed a culinary concept that blends tradition and innovation in order to offer a unique experience to its guests. With its wood-fired cuisine and fresh dishes, its menu is highly sought after and inviting; everything is prepared with love and rhymes with local. By collaborating with local producers, La Maison Boire places the environment at the heart of its activities. The result is an authentic, refined, and artisanal cuisine. The zero waste vision of this establishment also counts in the balance and its sustainable food approach makes this restaurant a concrete and inspiring actor of change.
Local, organic and unprocessed products
Not only do the environmental and ecological convictions of the team behind La Maison Boire encourage them to source only local and unprocessed products, but the majority of these products must also come directly from the producer’s land. Otherwise, the products used by the restaurant come from its rooftop gardens or are homemade. In fact, the restaurant grinds its own flour, and prepares its own vinegars and different spice mixes.
A charming experience
Beyond the meals served at the restaurant, customers can visit the rooftop gardens, where they can enjoy a drink while admiring the wide variety of cultivated vegetables, fine herbs and flowers. In winter, La Maison Boire offers its guests the opportunity to discover the herbalist’s shop in the upstairs lounge where you can create your own infusion with the herbs and plants of your choice. The conviviality of La Maison Boire allows a real exchange between the staff and the guests, which adds to the uniqueness of the experience. A visit to this restaurant is sure to arouse your curiosity and charm your senses with the discovery of local products presented with care and originality.
Two finalists and a special mention from the jury
The jury, composed of several personalities from the restaurant industry and the agri-food sector, also highlighted the work of three other restaurants.
La Belle Histoire in the Laurentians, and Labo Culinaire in Montreal, were the two finalists for the award. La Belle Histoire impressed the jury with its passion and love for local products. Everything on the menu—from the dishes to the selected wines—highlights the talent of local producers. As for the Labo Culinaire, the creativity of its menu and its emphasis on local products charmed the jury.
Au Pâturage – Espace Gourmet, in the Centre-du-Québec region, also stood out for its involvement in the community, notably with the use of products from the fish counter, L’espace marin. More than a restaurant, this establishment is an agent of change, with its greenhouse school and cooking camps.
Since its creation in 2018, the Aliments du Québec au Menu Restaurateur Award has allowed three restaurants—from different parts of the province—to truly shine. We invite you to discover them if you are visiting these regions.
Written by Sophie Monkman
Photography by Alison Slattery
