A 2018 Guide To The Best Chefs In Montreal

Montreal’s culinary scene is on fire, rivaling other cities like Toronto, New York, and Chicago. What’s the secret to opening a successful restaurant? The chefs! There’s an undeniable amount of talent in the city, as local chefs continuously strive to push the boundaries and deliver delicious food. Today we’re highlighting some of the best chefs in the city!

Antonio Park

Beyond the generic all-you-can-eat sushi restaurants that dot the Montreal restaurant scene is Park – a secluded gem hidden on Victoria Street in Westmount. The owner and head chef Antonio Park serves unique raw and cooked dishes and combines traditional sushi with various flavours.

Park (the chef) is half Argentinian, half Korean, and uses both backgrounds to influence and inspire the menu. He moved to Japan in the late 1990s to attend culinary school and eventually made his way to Montreal where he worked at the renowned Kaizen restaurant; a sushi staple in Montreal for years.

Mr. Ma

For the last decade, Mr. Ma satisfied Montreal’s craving for Szechuan cuisine at his eponymous restaurant in the heart of Place Ville Marie. The restaurant has closed, but Mr. Ma now focuses all of his energy on Restaurant Szechuan on Notre-Dame Street in the Old Port. This establishment remains one of the best places in Montreal for Shanghai noodles and crispy orange beef. You’ll occasionally see Ma quietly watching from a distance, as his quest for perfection is well documented throughout the authentic cuisine.

Michele (Mike) Forgione

It’s quite a feat to co-own three famous restaurants in Montreal, which include Impasto, Gema, and Chez Tousignant. Drawing inspiration from his Italian family’s recipes, Forgione had a breakout moment when his restaurant Impasto opened July 2013 with fellow chef and business partner Stefano Faita.

Food critic Lesley Chesterman noted in her review of the restaurant that Forgione cooks “à la nonna-style,” meaning he wants you to savour the authentic pasta dishes. A few years later and the chef opened up Gema Pizzeria, which serves delicious wood oven pizza. In fact, the pizzas are so authentic and savoury you’ll feel like you’ve been transported to Naples instead of Little Italy.

Marc-André Jetté

Over the last decade, Rosemont has gone from a sleepy neighbourhood to a sprawling gentrified metropolis. Old factories were gutted and transformed into sprawling living spaces, and trendy restaurants followed suit.

This leads us to Hoogan et Beaufort, a trendy haute-cuisine establishment created by Marc-André Jetté, an ambitious and creative chef that pushes the boundaries of the culinary scene. At his restaurant, everything is cooked over an open fire using locally sourced ingredients to create a truly unique menu. According to another review by Lesley Chesterman, the Gaspor pork, served with salsify purée is divine!

Plus Hoogan et Beaufort is right near the TAK Village project, one of DevMcGill’s most innovative condo projects. Inspired by Scandinavian architecture, this development will be the crowning jewel of the Rosemont-Angus area. If you’re interested in buying a property, call 514-900-3434 or visit our website at TAKVillage.com.