Marconi Montreal: Discover this Little Italy table!

The Marconi Montreal closed its doors on October 29, 2024

The brand new restaurant of Mehdi Brunet-Benkritly, formerly of Toqué and Pied de Cochon, recently came back from New York, where he opened the Fedora and Bar Sardine, to open the Marconi Montreal. Besides, his cuisine takes inspiration from his stay in the two New York restaurants.

Start with the cocktails

The latter, which is located in Little Italy on Mozart Street just around the corner from Clark, is a man-made restaurant with about 40 seats. You will notice the magnificent open kitchen and the gigantic bar space which make us want to sit down and order a cocktail immediately. This is exactly what I have done. Besides, the cocktail menu, created by Mehdi’s wife, Molly Superfine-Rivera, is very interesting, offering various choices in the spirit of the restaurant. I took the Peniccilin, advised by Jade and Gabe, a former colleague of Mehdi at Fedora who come to help the Marconi team for the opening.

Up to the dinner

I was there for dinner, so I must not only drink. I have to eat. So I decided to go with the Smoked Mackerel Nigiri, a delicious little starter we are advised to eat quickly. The taste is just perfect, and it is good to find the mackerel, a little unloved fish here, on the plates of the restaurants here.

Afterwards, I take the time to taste, to observe this new place that fills up quickly. There are a lot of people there, including some friends who are either in a couple or in a group.

Marconi Montréal: Let’s eat!

So, the first dish. The beef tongue. As I was telling you about the mackerel, it is quite interesting to notice dishes that you do not eat every day on the menu. For me this is the experience of a restaurant, getting us out of our comfort zone, bringing us to lesser avenues.

So this beef tongue is very interesting, with a white Portuguese wine, the Fossil de Vale da Capucha, yes, it’s quite strange as a mix, but it was perfect. The wine being mineral enough, it will fetch the ginger and the apple present in the dish. And it is strong enough to be the perfect accompaniment for the beef tongue.

We take the time to observe this restaurant wonder while I struggle to decide what my second dish will be.

By observing Mehdi in front of the kitchen counter, very delicate and complete control of the kitchen without raising the tone, it is the desire to taste another dish that comes to me. It will be the mushrooms.

The dishes are divided somewhat randomly, they are entries, dishes, small dishes, in short it is an ideal to share. This mushroom dish, accompanied by Pinot Noir Liaison from Enderle & Mol, is simply perfect with its poached egg and beurre noisette. The wine is very sweet, and fits perfectly with this mixture of egg and mushrooms which is still fairly light.

Let’s move on to the last dish. Pork T-Bone.

This piece of pork is giant. What more can you say? Are you hungry? You will be served with this. I suggest you share it. Seasoned to the point with an anchovy accompaniment that one could still call strange, but which once again is simply perfect. Grilled to the point, I could have sliced it with a butter knife as the meat was so tender. And with the bok choi, which adds a little greenery to the whole, it was difficult to do better.

As an addition to my visit, I had the pleasure of meeting with Chief Charles-Antoine Crête who was visiting his former colleague of Toqué. An honor to see these two masters of Montreal cuisine reunited. And yes, Charles-Antoine, I will soon return to the Montreal Plaza.

Marconi Montréal: The dessert!

How to finish the evening well? With a little sweet.

For those born in the late 1970s and early 1980s, this dessert will certainly remind them of the famous chocolate bar Crunchie, still on the shelves, very popular during my youth. The mixture of chocolate and honeycomb draws us so much from this famous candy that it brings us back to our memories of childhood. In short, a perfect diner. No complaints. An excellent combination and guaranteed success.

Adress:

Marconi Montreal
45 Mozart West
Montreal, Qc

For an other desserts spots in the area, we suggest you the Ratafia