Anemone

Montreal’s Exciting New Anemone Takes Pride in Preservation | Eater Montreal

"Inside a cozy 50-seat bistro that occupies the former Manitoba space, jars of red- and purple-hued marinated berries and root vegetables glisten over the stove, announcing a homey warmth and a comforting sense of déjà vu. Anemone is the new Mile-Ex project from chef–owners Minh Phat Tu (Mui Mui) and Mike Madokoro (Bar Suzanne) and sommelier/co‑owner Elena Racevičiūtė Ouellette, and I noticed a real pride in preservation and local sourcing—wild and foraged ingredients, an emphasis on koji rice fermentation, and an Asian influence that Madokoro describes as “certainly not Asian cuisine, but it’s not NOT Asian cuisine, either.” The seasonally changing menu currently offers a trio of nori-wrapped temaki (arctic char with red caviar; beef, oysters and chips; mixed mushrooms with garlic purée), a bright crudo of fluke with honeycrisp apple, duck magret prepared with koji served with beets, chestnuts and tarragon, confit leeks with horseradish and watercress, mussels with celeriac and crème fraîche, and Tu’s Korean-style gnocchi-shaped rice cakes in a squash-based XO sauce with sunflower seeds; I also watched chefs slap and stretch Shaanxi-style biáng biáng noodles served with braised rabbit, Swiss chard and ginger relish. Desserts by Arnaud Rosboch lean into the season—tarte tatin with nori caramel and oats and a crème of cranberry with cranberry tuile, buckwheat and rose vinegar—while a natural-wine program and cocktails made from local ingredients (a squash cocktail with rum and sage, and a Paper Plane variation featuring Charlevoix’s Menaud camerise/haskap gin) round out the experience. The team’s collaborative, consensus-driven spirit is visible in the open kitchen, and their palpable delight in working together and eagerness to share flavorful, personality-driven food is central to what they want this project to say." - Ivy Lerner-Frank