Le Relais des Florent: Charlevoix Hospitality Finds Its Table

They come from New York, from Montreal, from Au Pied de Cochon, from Cuisine Libre, from Long Island City, from Baie-Saint-Paul. Different backgrounds, different kitchens, different paths. What brought them together in Baie-Saint-Paul is something simple: a sincere desire to host, to give pleasure, to sit people down and take care of them. Le Relais des Florent, which opened on June 4, 2026, is a remarkable restaurant of Quebec hospitality.

The Mountain That Fed the Farm

The name comes from the Florents mountain, the one rising just behind the restaurant. But a few days ago, in the parking lot under the June sun, the family ran into mononcle Marc, the eldest, who told them the story of Florent Côté. Long before indoor plumbing was common, this local farmer had irrigated his land from that mountain all the way down to his farm, through cedar pipes joined end to end and buried underground. One of the first farms in the region to have running water: the mountain watered the farm. Now the restaurant takes up the relay.

And the word “relais” carries far more than a geographic reference. It is a stopping point on the land, a place where roads cross, where the passing visitor is welcomed as warmly as the neighbour down the way. It is a handoff between the M.Wells chapter in New York and this one, between Cuisine Libre and this kitchen, between the generations of the Migneron family who have been making cheese on this territory since 1994. It is a showcase for the producers of Charlevoix, for Quebec wine, for the region’s cheeses. “In the word relais, there’s the entrepreneurial relay, the relay between generations,” says Madeleine. They had found the word before they understood everything it would come to mean for this project.

Almost the Same as New York

Because, as Hugue Dufour puts it with a laugh, “between New York and Baie-Saint-Paul, it’s almost the same.” It surprises you, and then it makes sense. The Migneron family of Charlevoix has been here since 1994, 32 years making exceptional cheese on this land. Hugue was won over by their frankness, their generosity, their joie de vivre, and he finally came a little bit home in August 2025. Clément Boivin set down his things in April 2026. The meeting between the Dufours and the Migneron family goes back to the Festival Amour, Cuisine, Cinéma et Confidences. “We’d given ourselves a kick in the behind. Life gave us one,” says Hugue. Everyone needed everyone, and they ended up finding each other.

A Two-Headed Dragon in the Kitchen

Le Relais des Florent is a family project, in the broadest sense. The Migneron family of Charlevoix, led by Madeleine Dufour and Alexandre Dufour, holds the territorial anchor. In the kitchen, what the team itself calls a “two-headed dragon”: Hugue Dufour and Clément Boivin. Hugue is the first Quebec chef to earn a Michelin star in New York, with M.Wells, a restaurant that became an international dining destination. Clément came up through Cuisine Libre and several seasons at La Cabane d’À Côté. Two worlds, one direction. Sasha Royle rounds out the brigade as sous-chef.

In the dining room, Sarah Obraitis and Madeleine Dufour carry the hospitality of the place with a generosity you feel the moment you walk through the door. Dennis is on wine, Anaïs Lebrun is on the floor, with guidance from Steve Beauséjour and Catherine Fabi. The service and kitchen team, made up of Malik Côté, Corinne Tremblay, Odrey-Ann Lacasse and André Sansregret, completes what Madeleine calls “a house with open arms.”

The Truite au Bleu That Stayed With Him

The menu at Le Relais des Florent is a menu of generosity. It is a happy blend of Quebec joie de vivre that has travelled and now works the local, of comfort food rooted in the Charlevoix terroir, carried by two chefs who have cooked everywhere and brought it all back here.

The truite au bleu makes its case: “It’s a dish that always moved me, that always stayed with me,” says Hugue. Around this technical classic, a whole logistics of holding tanks is taking shape. Ferme Basque duck is on the menu. Charlevoix lamb orbits it, depending on the season’s slaughters. And when the capelin run, the menu shifts: the team bought a good quantity during the last run, a nod to the ancestral fascine fishing. “Having time markers like that is what gives a wink of nostalgia to the Charlevoix roots,” Madeleine explains.

One glance at the menu is enough to know where you are: mushroom and ham salad, watercress soup with frog legs, Sept-Îles lobster to start. For mains, a stack of grilled chops in anchovy butter, North Shore halibut, a quail schnitzel in herbed mustard cream. For dessert, the Secret de Maurice, grilled beef tongue and pineapple salsa, or the pecan pie with Ciel de Charlevoix to share. A menu that is simple, flavourful and well executed.

Migneron cheeses sprinkle a little love over every meal. The menu evolves, always a little, without ever breaking from its local anchor. “A little, always,” says Madeleine, smiling. On the drinks side, the philosophy is stated plainly: a curation of Quebec and international spirits for now, with the ambition to champion Quebec wines in pots lyonnais, fillettes, everyday formats.

Pieces of M.Wells, Reassembled in Charlevoix

Simple at first glance, but complex and artful when you look closely. Marie-Claude Tessier, of Derrière le Crayon, designed the interior. Jean-François Lettre built the main bar in solid Quebec red oak, the centrepiece of the room. American artist Michelle Marchesseault installed a pool table that is also a work of art. Throughout the room, objects and furniture salvaged from M.Wells in New York. “People who went to M.Wells and who come here understand. They see the little link,” says Madeleine. Others will simply sense that this place has a history, without knowing exactly which one. The visual identity was entrusted to Corinne Danzé Pagé. A warm cabinet of curiosities, unpretentious, coherent. The 42-seat space is a small cocoon. Le Relais des Florent feels like it has been here a long time.

Walls Too Small for All That Love

“Every week, there are things that can move us,” says Hugue. He speaks of a team like he hadn’t seen in a long time, people who challenge one another, who take an interest, who push their own bosses. The Baie-Saint-Paul community is opening its arms, the suppliers are getting on board, visitors arrive with expectations and leave with something they weren’t expecting. Madeleine puts it simply: “It feels like the walls are too small for all the love this is going to hold.”

The place looks like it has always been there. That is exactly the Dufours’ hospitality with Hugue and Clément’s cooking. Madeleine said it better than anyone: “Everything is in everything.” Sitting at the table at Le Relais des Florent, you understand.

Written by Jean-Philippe Tastet
Photography by Couverture : Eva Maude TC

Updated on June 10, 2026

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