Sugar Shack Shivers

The Sofitel hotel on Sherbrooke is one busy place. It seems that week after week there’s a cool new event taking place at Renoir (which evidently keeps me on my toes!). This time, they have maple on their minds and a few cool things up their parka covered sleeves. On Wednesday’s for the last two weeks (continuing until April 8^th) Renoir is hosting Renoir en sucre, a celebration of everything maple. As per usual, Renoir goes full tilt with their events, leaving no holds barred when it comes to playing the part. A small hut is set up just at the entrance of the snow-covered terrasse where we can stop and have some piping hot traditional pea soup and meatballs. As usual, Renoir went all out to transform their terrasse into a cabane à sucre. They proudly decorated with toboggans, snowshoes, pelts and huts. Further inside, a warm fire burns in a hearth surrounded by deep and comfortable Adirondack chairs where you can sip on either one or two of the specially mixed Sortilège cocktails dreamt up exclusively for the event. In fact, you can enjoy a Sortilège cocktail and a canapé (prepared by chef Olivier Perret) for only $20. We went on the first day and the temperature conveniently plummeted to minus 1000 degrees. Despite the bitter cold, the excellent hotel and restaurant staff joined us outside to kick things off. We shivered and smiled, enjoyed the smell of wood fire crackling in the hearth and after an hour we started heading inside to avoid the cold. The staff showed their stamina and stuck to their promise to enjoy the cold. Its what our crazy ancestors did after all. I recommend going to Renoir any day of the week. The service, ambiance and food are out of this world. I highly recommend heading to the restaurant during Renoir en sucre because it makes the experience that much sweeter. There’s only two Wednesdays left so you better hurry!

Drop over to their website for more info.

Photo credit: David Major-Lapierre (for more exclusive photos, visit our Facebook page)

#cachetonmenton