3 Nov

STEAK AND SCOTCH AT LA QUEUE DE CHEVAL

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We’ve got far more accomplished food bloggers here at the Montreal Buzz, but when I saw that there was an event featuring a single malt scotch ambassador at La Queue de Cheval, one of Montreal’s premiere steakhouses, I did what any editor worth their salt would do: assign the story to myself…

La Queue de Cheval Steakhouse Bar is where one heads when they want a dinner served with a healthy side of machismo. This is not the place for vegetarians, molecular gastronomy aficionados or the faint of wallet (though they do have a $27 lunch menu). Perhaps the best indication of what to expect can be found on their website, which has a series of vignettes featuring the restaurant’s President, Peter Morentzos. He smokes cigars in all of them and several are “Rated 18+”.

This is a place done up in dark wood and leather, a place with a fully-stocked cigar lounge, an already exclusive place that boasts an even more exclusive private dining room. Though they have an extensive and well-regarded seafood menu, they are best known for their dry aged beef, a process that takes an already incredible piece of meat and intensifies the flavour into something that you’ll still be thinking about several days later. I know I am.

They take their steak quite seriously at “The Q”, but for one afternoon the food played second fiddle to the drink. Which was the grandest of all alcohols, the golden liquid of the gods, scotch whiskey. And we had the perfect guide: Scottish scotch expert and Glenfiddich Global Brand Ambassador, Ian Millar.

An absolute authority on single malt scotch and a consummate storyteller, part of Millar’s duties while in Montreal were to accompany Queue de Cheval’s newly purchased Glenfiddich 50 Year Old. Valued at aproximately $26,000, it is one of the rarest single malts in the world- only 500 bottles have been made and only 50 are released each year.

While we were unfortunately (but understandably) unable to taste the 50 (it was being auctioned off in support of the Canadian Cancer Society), Millar led us in a tasting of the Glenfiddich 12, 15 and 18 year old single malts and an incredible 1974 Vintage, which were paired with lobster bisque, some of the aforementioned and absolutely perfectly cooked steak and, believe it or not, some house-made potato chips. The pairing of steak, scotch and ultimate restaurant luxury made for an unforgettable experience. One that I’m pretty sure that you and your company’s expense account totally deserve.