Toqué! by chef Normand Laprise is a culinary gem in Montreal, serving exquisite Québécois dishes crafted from the freshest local ingredients in a chic, playful setting.
"In a city known for its current fine dining and farm-to-table obsession, Toqué was the first market-driven restaurant to list its producers right on the menu (and they’ve stayed with those same producers for the past thirty years) and their seasonal cocktails and dishes set a culinary standard for the city’s dining scene. The minimalist yet warm dining room opens onto Place Jean-Paul Riopelle, with a view either to the park outside or to the wine cellar inside. Lunch here is a nice option: a two-course table d’hôte with your choice of appetizer and main, like a classic red wine onion soup or foie gras, duck confit or a suckling pig for a main, and à la carte, beautifully presented desserts. Dinner offers similar classics that are always changing based on the season (we can’t wait for snow crab in the spring and lobster in summer) and always presented with finesse." - ivy lerner frank, team infatuation
"In a city known for its current fine dining and farm-to-table obsession, Toqué was the first market-driven restaurant to list its producers right on the menu (and they’ve stayed with those same producers for the past thirty years) and their seasonal cocktails and dishes set a culinary standard for the city’s dining scene. The minimalist yet warm dining room opens onto Place Jean-Paul Riopelle, with a view either to the park outside or to the wine cellar inside. Lunch here is a nice option: a two-course table d’hôte with your choice of appetizer and main, like a classic red wine onion soup or foie gras, duck confit or a suckling pig for a main, and à la carte, beautifully presented desserts. Dinner offers similar classics that are always changing based on the season (we can’t wait for snow crab in the spring and lobster in summer) and always presented with finesse." - Ivy Lerner-Frank
"After a nearly two-year-long hiatus, Normand Laprise and Christine Lamarche’s iconic fine dining establishment Toqué is back in action, serving creative, Quebec-inspired dishes using seasonal ingredients mainly sourced from small local producers." - Holly Tousignant, Ashley Joseph, Eater Staff
"Normand Laprise is a legend in the culinary world of Montréal, a pioneer who elevated the city's dining scene with an emphasis on local and seasonal products, putting the bounty of Québec at the center of his menu. When he opened Toqué at its original location, in 1993, it also breathed some new fun into the gourmet experience. For generations, haute cuisine in Montréal was synonymous with imitations of French cuisine, and old-school French at that. Laprise brought an emphasis not only on the best of Québec's products, but also playful and unexpected flavor combinations—fruit water mixed with savory meats, rhubarb paired with foie gras. In 2004, Laprise's success meant he had outgrown his first location, and he moved to the current one in the city's Quartier International. It remains one of the city's favorite special-occasion dining destinations, for both locals and visitors."
Rank: #6 "If you want to know the names of Quebec’s best suppliers of the moment, simply open the menu here and turn to the page labelled “nos producteurs.” From asparagus (La Sublime Asperge in Montérégie) to lobster (Homard des Îles in the Magdalen Islands) to suckling pig (Les Fermes Gaspor in the Basses-Laurentides), it’s all there—the product of Laprise’s many decades of experience cooking in lockstep with Quebec’s seasons."
