Agnus Dei & Chartier

This past Wednesday a select number of Montreal food enthusiasts and media gathered at the Phi Centre in the heart of Old Montreal to sample the beginning of a beautiful partnership.

Legendary Montreal based caterers Agnus Dei and the internationally renowned Francois Chartier have come together to create a truly innovative tasting menu with the aromatic profile of specially selected and privately stocked wines as the starting point.

Over the course of 3 hours we sampled 8 different bouchées that perfectly reflected the complex make-up of each of the selected wines. We started with eggplant au miso blanc, topped with walnut and crisp apples that swilled with the flavors of the Cava 1312 Mestres. From there we moved to shrimp with black tea and mint whose flavors were ran the same lines as the Pierre à Feu 2012 Touraine that we were served.

For the duration of the 8 course cocktail semi-dinatoire flavors of cloves, cherries, cedar, rosemary, anise, mushrooms, olives and lemon blended perfectly with the their wine partners like Latue Temparnilo 2012 La Mancha, the surprising Canadian Riesling Brickyard 2012 Niagara Peninsula VQA and more. We ended the evening with a 22 hour infused green tea cocktail that got kick started with the addition of a little Cava and a locally created gin. It was a delightful way to close out the evening.

Both Agnus Dei and Francois Chartier are eager and excited to be embarking on this gastronomically redefining adventure. Started by his father in 1986, David Carrier now runs the business and spoke of how inspiring it is to be working with his longtime friend. Chartier, the multi-award winning sommelier, expressed the same excitement on his part. Both gave speeches throughout the evening and mingled with the excited crowd.