____________________________
NO LONGER IN BUSINESS
Mirlycourtois (188 Princess Avenue, 204-942-7332)
April, 2006
Many consider Michelin-starred Chef Bernard Mirlycourtois one of the premier (if not the finest) chef in Manitoba. When Chef Mirlycourtois straddled out from his position as executive chef of The Manitoba Club to open a brasserie on Portage Avenue, we finally had the opportunity to sample his fare outside of the private club. Unfortunately, the eatery only served a limited lunch menu that severely limited Chef Mirlycourtois’s culinary capabilities. When leasing problems arose with the Portage Avenue location, the renown chef seized the opportunity to depart entirely from the private club and venture into fulltime restaurant operation. Thus was born the present location of Mirlycourtois on Princess Avenue.
The lunch menu remains simple and limited, although a number of specials crop up everyday. If you’re a fan of quiche, you will be in your glory to discover that they feature a number of delicious egg and cheese pies made the Alsatian way. The classic quiche Lorraine features a wonderfully smoky ham with beautiful gruyere cheese. The quiche escargot jumps out of the menu and grabs your attention but unfortunately, the poor little snails’ flavours get lost within the power pungency of the cheese. The smoked salmon quiche shines as the sharpness of the chevre provides a nice contrast to the intense smokiness of the salmon. Another gem on the menu is the ubiquitous French croque monsieur (ham sandwich). Mirlycourtois’s version comes with a delicious béchamel sauce. Although not on the menu, the chef will gladly make a croque madame for you (the same topped with a fried egg).
The stars of the lunch menu hide in the appetiser page. The smoked salmon features thick, tender, smoky filets of salmon, simply covered with olive oil and accompanied by capers. One of my favourite lunch meals includes savouring the wonderful salmon and finishing off with another appetiser: the escargot Bourgogne. These snails do not resemble your typical, canned snails that hide within butter-covered mushroom caps. Mirlycourtois imports these snails directly from France where they come still hidden in their shells. After fishing the snails out of their hideouts, the wonderfully herbed butter must be finished with the accompanying baguette. I guarantee that these delicious little escargots will be the best that you’ve ever tasted. They make the perfect companions to the simple but adequate house wines.
By my experience, if you advise the server that your house wine tastes corked, you should normally receive another glass, hopefully from a new bottle. The remaining tainted wine will usually end up in the glass someone with less of a wine palette. To my horror, I even witnessed a barperson pour the wine back into the bottle through a sieve! Not here. The server brought the corked glass back to the bar where he promptly opened a new bottle to provide me with a new glass. Meanwhile, Chef Mirlycourtois discards the corked glass, pours himself a glass from the tainted bottle, smells it, and proceeds to pour the entire bottle down the drain. You expect no less from a fine-dining establishment and you receive no less.
****½ /5
NO LONGER IN BUSINESS
Mirlycourtois (188 Princess Avenue, 204-942-7332)
April, 2006
Many consider Michelin-starred Chef Bernard Mirlycourtois one of the premier (if not the finest) chef in Manitoba. When Chef Mirlycourtois straddled out from his position as executive chef of The Manitoba Club to open a brasserie on Portage Avenue, we finally had the opportunity to sample his fare outside of the private club. Unfortunately, the eatery only served a limited lunch menu that severely limited Chef Mirlycourtois’s culinary capabilities. When leasing problems arose with the Portage Avenue location, the renown chef seized the opportunity to depart entirely from the private club and venture into fulltime restaurant operation. Thus was born the present location of Mirlycourtois on Princess Avenue.
The lunch menu remains simple and limited, although a number of specials crop up everyday. If you’re a fan of quiche, you will be in your glory to discover that they feature a number of delicious egg and cheese pies made the Alsatian way. The classic quiche Lorraine features a wonderfully smoky ham with beautiful gruyere cheese. The quiche escargot jumps out of the menu and grabs your attention but unfortunately, the poor little snails’ flavours get lost within the power pungency of the cheese. The smoked salmon quiche shines as the sharpness of the chevre provides a nice contrast to the intense smokiness of the salmon. Another gem on the menu is the ubiquitous French croque monsieur (ham sandwich). Mirlycourtois’s version comes with a delicious béchamel sauce. Although not on the menu, the chef will gladly make a croque madame for you (the same topped with a fried egg).
The stars of the lunch menu hide in the appetiser page. The smoked salmon features thick, tender, smoky filets of salmon, simply covered with olive oil and accompanied by capers. One of my favourite lunch meals includes savouring the wonderful salmon and finishing off with another appetiser: the escargot Bourgogne. These snails do not resemble your typical, canned snails that hide within butter-covered mushroom caps. Mirlycourtois imports these snails directly from France where they come still hidden in their shells. After fishing the snails out of their hideouts, the wonderfully herbed butter must be finished with the accompanying baguette. I guarantee that these delicious little escargots will be the best that you’ve ever tasted. They make the perfect companions to the simple but adequate house wines.
By my experience, if you advise the server that your house wine tastes corked, you should normally receive another glass, hopefully from a new bottle. The remaining tainted wine will usually end up in the glass someone with less of a wine palette. To my horror, I even witnessed a barperson pour the wine back into the bottle through a sieve! Not here. The server brought the corked glass back to the bar where he promptly opened a new bottle to provide me with a new glass. Meanwhile, Chef Mirlycourtois discards the corked glass, pours himself a glass from the tainted bottle, smells it, and proceeds to pour the entire bottle down the drain. You expect no less from a fine-dining establishment and you receive no less.
****½ /5
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