A sign outside Le Taniere recommends diners be open-minded before entering the restaurant. Which only served to make me paranoid. What on earth would they try to feed me?
This unusual restaurant is on the edge of Quebec City, out by farms and horse stables. They label themselves as “cuisine boreal.” Much of their food is influenced by the molecular gastronomy movement, but their website explains that they choose to distance themselves from that term because it’s too trendy. Instead, the site suggests “pentasensologic,” their term for an experience involving all five senses.
I had only a vague idea of molecular gastronomy, so I looked it up on a website called molecularrecipes.com. It described this trend as “a new style of cuisine in which chefs explore new culinary possibilities in the kitchen by embracing sensory and food science, borrowing tools from the science lab and ingredients from the food industry and concocting surprise after surprise for their diners.” That turned out to be quite true, as every dish was surprising. As did another bit on the site, “Many of these modern chefs do not accept the term molecular gastronomy to describe their style of cooking and prefer other terms.”
La Taniere – which means “the lair,” as in an animal lair – turned out to be a good experience despite my skepticism. As a vegetarian, I’m never in favor of mystery foods unless I’m at a strictly vegetarian restaurant. But our group’s amazing hostess, Paule Bergeron, made sure the chef was prepared for my visit.
Co-owner and executive chef Frederic LaPlante had planned a ten-course meal with wine pairing for us. The menu is very heavy on unusual animals. I don’t know how many vegetarians wander in, but since one of my courses came with what the server called “allergy bread,” I’m guessing they have some gluten-free customers. If you’re a vegetarian or vegan curious about La Taniere, I’d suggest contacting them ahead of time to make sure they can accommodate you.
I felt a little guilty that the chef had to come up with ten vegan courses for me. I was relieved when one of the other diners in our group asked if she could be vegetarian for the night. She’s an omnivore, but prefers common and easily identifiable meat, such as chicken. She looked pretty relieved when the second course came and she had mushrooms on polenta instead of a duck heart. Nor did she seem to be sad about missing out on bison, quail, monkfish liver or a whole bunch of other animals I’d never thought about eating.
Some of the flavors were very surprising. Perhaps the strangest was a shot of non-alcoholic pine drink with a grape-sized gel thing that exploded in my mouth. All the courses were small, exquisitely arranged, and unlike food I had eaten before. My whole group was intrigued and entertained. “It’s not a meal, it’s an experience,” said one, while another kept talking about how Le Taniere raised mindful eating to almost a spiritual level.
One course involved celeriac squeezed into a small white cube, the grain freekeh and spinach. Another featured homemade tofu with cucumbers. I’ll admit I was impressed to see homemade tofu amidst all the animal-based dishes.
One of the most over-the-top offerings was bacon-stuffed rolls with meat-glazed butter. I’d never heard of meat-glazed butter. I think this is when they brought out the allergy bread for me.
The wines were all private, small-batch varieties that civilians can’t buy.
While ten courses seemed like a lot to me, Le Taniere’s website recommends trying its 20-course dinner. I read a review of this meal on another website. The reviewer had to post it in two parts so he wouldn’t get carpal tunnel syndrome from typing a description of each dish.
If you’re visiting Quebec City and you’re an adventurous omnivore, this is definitely a place you should go. If you’re an adventurous vegetarian or vegan, call first. My trip to Le Taniere was a one-of-a-kind experience in my life thus far, and certainly worth having.
