Quebec City is très fantastique for girlfriend getaway, pt.4

Dinner

Dollar:

Le Saint-Amour  a.k.a. foie gras heaven. I don’t care how many artery-clogging calories it has, you must order their signature appetizer, Decadence: 7 artisanal variations on fois gras. (Fois gras bonbons with chocolate, anyone?) If you’re trying to show a little restraint, you could simply request a foie topping on any main course. Or order the Discovery menu which offers an embarrassment of culinary riches at a very reasonable price, which you can settle back and enjoy in any of the three dining rooms. The romantic indoor garden with a high glass-domed ceiling gets my vote.

Father and son chef team:
After working many years on the creation of this landmark restaurant, veteran Chef Jean-Luc Boulay, an early proponent of sous-vide cooking, is now running the catering division and has passed the restaurant toque over to his well-mentored (and very cute) son Frederic.

Toast!
Toast has it all going on and provided my most memorable meal of the trip. Outstanding food simply yet beautifully presented, modern chic décor, great wines, perfect service, plus the fact that after spending an hour roaming the Market with Chef Christian Lemelin, it became wildly apparent that this impressive, amazingly talented yet humble young chef is going to a leading force in the creation of tomorrow’s gastronomy. He had me at the goose breast and foie served over a bed of light spaghetti squash treated like risotto and finished me off with a luscious apple and Riopelle cheese pastry topped with almond milk ice cream.

Another fan of the foie, Leminlin told me, (his face was still beaming) that his proudest moment was, “after Thomas Keller ( French Laundry, Per Se) ate at Toast he told me, Congratulations. Your fois gras was exceptional.”

Cents:
Hot off the press: the winning team from Toast! (Chef Lemelin and front-of-the-house manager/ sommelier extraordinnaire, Stephane D’Anjou) decided to take pity on those with gourmand tastes and PB & J budgets by opening Simple Snack Sympatique, right next door. This brand new venture will be open for lunch and dinner and will feature gently-priced reinvented snacks ( such as a not-so-traditional cheese sandwich which will be made from artisanal goat cheese, air-cured beef, half-cooked organic egg oozing over a toasted homemade brioche---yum!) plus a large selection of Quebecian wines by the glass.

Must exercise

 The Parc Linéaire de la Rivière St-Charles, an ambitious project for renaturalizing the area by creating a 19 mile walking, biking, rollerblading or whatever trail—was completed just in time for the 400th anniversary and connects downtown Québec City with Lac Saint-Charles. Follow the winding network of bridges and boardwalks for stunning views of canyons, waterfalls, marshes, birds, plants, historic sites and the city.

Or not…

Sibéria Station Spa, about a 10-minute drive from the city, features the Nordic method of outdoor relaxation based on alternating stops at hot tubs, Finnish sauna, infrared sauna, steam bath, cold baths with thermal falls or relax by the fireplace in the Mongolian yurt. A variety of massages are available.

For all your travel needs: Bonjour Quebec, the go-to site for all your Quebec travel needs (hotel, restaurant, event calendar and well-thought out sightseeing suggestions which run the gamut from Intensely Urban to Infinitely Nature) will prove indispensible when planning your next “escapade entre copines."