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Editorial Review

Reviewed in July/Aug '03 Issue of WHERE

A dramatic new suspension bridge currently nearing completion will link The Forks with St. Boniface’s Provencher Boulevard. This bridging of the traditional French and English pioneer cultures symbolizes a revitalized spirit in the French Quarter. Its influence can be felt at one of the district’s francophone dining stalwarts. Since 1970, La Vieille Gare has offered the flourishes and finish that you would expect from a formal French restaurant. Located in a refurbished 1914 heritage train station, dark wooden beams and thickly stuccoed walls recall a French country inn. Recent changes have vividly updated the room’s look and feel, though. What was once a formal, classic restaurant has been reinvented as an exciting, contemporary dining establishment while still retaining its French accent.

Owner Linda Love assumed sole control of her family’s establishment last September and quickly brought in young and talented Chef Luc Jean to oversee the kitchen. The quietly intense Chef Luc is an alumnus of Chef Bernard Mirleycourtois’s team at the Manitoba Club. While there he obviously spent a lot of time making sauces. All of his reductions are sublime. Fruit demi-glazes are widely present on the new menu, each to great effect: mango influences the maple-brined pork tenderloin; cherry accents the duck breast; and apple ably complements the tender foie gras (one of the best anywhere). The cream sauces are surprisingly light, with pernod butter delicately bathing the baked giant prawns and grapefruit butter tartly teasing the pickerel.

French cooking is all about sensory experiences, and the visual presentation of the new head chef’s cooking is stunning. Rack of lamb with an orange demi-glaze is given a Mediterranean flair, stuffed with black olives and seasoned adroitly. The tender flesh picks up the flavours beautifully, while the brightly coloured vegetables offer a contrasting palette to the eye. A smaller version of this dish is also available at noon for half the price, making it one of the best lunch choices in town.

Textures are playfully manipulated, from a walnut foam that tops the earthy escargot portobello appetizer, to the almonds that firm up the nougat glacé dessert. It looks like ice cream but does not taste frozen. A creamy mouth feel is offset by the firmness of the almonds.

The new menu at La Vieille Gare is surprising many of the restaurant’s long-time patrons, who initially lament the loss of their favourite preparations, but are quickly won over by the results. New customers who revel in contemporary cooking are also discovering the kitchen’s talent. On a recent evening, a top Winnipeg chef was dining at the next table. His parting comment, “these are the best sauces in town”, says a lot about the heights to which Chef Luc Jean aspires. Besides the nougat glacé, two signature finishers are tarte au sucre (maple sugar pie) and rosemary crème brulée. The feathery light pie builds in taste to a maple crescendo. The rosemary accent to the crème brulée is subtle but sound. Also worth investigating is valencia, a chocolate cake with orange mousse.

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