Restaurant Vogà — Restaurant in Prévost

Very weird experience at Voga last night. I called to make a reservation and was told there was a table available at 6 or 8, or outside seating was first come, first serve. When we got to the restaurant, we asked if we could sit outside but were told that since we had made a reservation we could only sit inside. While disappointed, we were okay with this except I have a sensitivity to smell, and the restaurant smelled of a cleaning product that was affecting my system. I went to the host, told him that I hadn't known about the rule and unfortunately, I was having a reaction to the product and asked if we could please sit outside. He moved us outside, but he was clearly very angry, not just annoyed. He told me that since 5:30 he had had to turn people away because we had made a reservation inside for 6. While I understood it was not ideal that we were sitting outside, I found Voga's--once you make a reservation, you must sit inside--rather rigid, and I felt he should have handled his frustration in a more professional manner. I was even more surprised when it was obvious he was still quite angry 30 minutes into our dinner when he brought our food out. When I went to use the restroom right before we left around 7:30, I saw quite a few tables available inside and there were some tables available outside. From the way the host talked, we had caused them loss of business when we asked to eat outside, but this did not appear to be the case since there was no reason to turn people away when they called. The food was solid although the rapini in my pasta dish didn't taste good. I like rapini, but this one had an unpleasant taste. I ended up eating half and didn't take the rest home. All in all, Voga needs to make their policy more clear regarding reservations/outdoor seating when someone calls so they know it's not an option to sit outside if they make a reservation. Or better yet: change the policy. If there's room outside, people should be able to choose whether they want to sit inside or outside. Most importantly, even if they're annoyed or frustrated, I would recommend being more professional and less blatant when they're angry with their customers, particularly if the customer has a valid issue like chemical sensitivity. We won't return to Voga after last night's experience. There are many welcoming restaurants in the Laurentians we'd rather visit.

Edit: I was hoping I could respond directly to the very kind owner who clearly loves his restaurant. I so appreciated his thoughtful response and desire to create a welcoming environment for his customers. My husband and I would love to give Voga another try, and when we do, we'll write another review. I have a sense that what happened on Saturday was...

I was very upset to learn they moved to St. Jerome. However, since their food had been impressive on my first visit, we decided to make the 1.5 hour trek to try the new location. No parking lot now! The new place only offers street parking, which was very busy on a Weds. night. I had to park several blocks away. The whole time we are walking towards the restaurant, a patron appeared to be smoking on their stoop, half inside their entrance way. I don't know if it's illegal to let a patron smoke inside your doorway, but that should not be tolerated. We both almost vomited from the smoke inside the entrance way, as we passed through. As we entered the interior, we were shocked by how loud the music was. It felt like a noisy night club, not the sedate and romantic setting we were seeking. There was no host station, seating signage or host at the front. We intently looked around, made eye contact with a busy bar person and food server, but no one came over or jestured one minute, please. We knew from the long walk from our car, that other clients hadn't recently entered, that a host would have been busy seating them. After two full minutes of feeling invisible at the front door, we left very hungry, and regreting our long drive. I have worked in food service, for years, as a host. This type of restaurant should have a host and lower the music volume. We...

Was missing half my order on delivery and this came close to ruining the experience but the owner (I think?) truely stepped up and handled with professionalism and genuine care. He prepared a full order from scratch and personally delivered it to our place (quite a while from the restaurant I might add). My wife's meal was one of the best risottos we've ever tried, packed with seafood and flavour, and my pepper sauce veal+carbonara side were just as satisfying. Food was well packed and arrived steaming hot, which was surprising given the distance. Definitely looking forward to trying it in person next time!

Update: We finally managed to have a night without the kids and decided to try Voga in person, after ordering there a few times. Since we were very last minute, we called and were told they were full for the night - fair enough. But after about 10minutes, we got a call back (?!) informing us that if we're still searching for a spot, they had just gotten a cancellation. It was very nice to get that kind of follow up, which again, shows the care and professionalism with which this place is run. As with our every home order, the food arrived steaming hot, packed with flavor and fresh ingredients, generous (huge) portions. Everything was top notch and gave us a much needed break from...