Restaurant Tanière³ — Restaurant in Quebec

My wife and I had the honour of securing a reservation at the Chef’s Table this past Saturday (March 12) At a price point of $225 a person +$85 for non alcoholic drink pairing package for this multi-course meal, let’s just say are expectations were very high.

Restaurant Taniere in Quebec City is the epitome of delivering on locally sourced food and ingredients to its patrons. This close to 4hr dining experience wasn’t just a meal, but an experience that was a buffet for all the senses to feast on. The use of smoke, fire, lighting, spices, and sounds were absolutely astonishing. In all my years of dining, I have never experienced anything like this in my life that Taniere offers.

I was impressed with the attention to detail in the preparation, presentation, and explanation of all the dishes. I was equally impressed by the attention to detail and presentation of the non alcoholic pairing drinks, as I was never left with the impression I was second rate because I didn’t choose the alcoholic drink package. This place didn’t disappoint and exceeded our expectations!

Prior to making a reservation here I read previous reviews from other patrons. I want to address a couple of things. Someone said that after the meal they were starving, eating this multiple course meal I was more than full and couldn’t finish the dessert. It’s more than a enough food and you are literally eating for close to 4 hours from welcome drinks, snacks to dessert.

Another person commented said they were disappointed that they couldn’t see them plating the food at the Chef’s Table. This is untrue, you can most definitely see the team plating the meals. I was able to even speak with Chef Francois who provide us with a tour of the kitchen, introduced us to some of his colleagues and explained further the process of the operations. Another person said the seats were uncomfortable at the chefs table. I found the chairs to be comfortable. You also have three different areas within the restaurant as you move through the various stages of the meal.

I will post a lot of photos for this review, but really it doesn’t truly capture the full experience with all the emotions, feelings and memories created from actually going.

A couple points for the owners

I would install hand railings for the stairs as it will help everyone (given the low light especially at the entrance and exit)

I don’t think it’s necessary to have to watch Jonathan sample all the wine he is serving right in front of us at the chefs table. For half the meal I thought he had a drinking problem and then realized he is probably just ensuring the wine quality before presenting, if this has to be done I understand, but perhaps not in the centre of the chefs table.

Lastly for the personalized summary cards it would be nice if they reflected the date of the visit, ours said March 5 but the visit was March 12 Yes I did revise the reservation, but it would show true attention to detail if this was sorted for future patrons who make reservations. ( This didn’t ruin our night, just a suggestion to help the experience for patrons)

Thanks to everyone at Taniere for the most memorable dining experience I...

So much had been written about this French restaurant in Quebec City, the heart of French Canada. I won’t rave as many reviewers do. We went to experience something different, and we weren’t disappointed. But there are caveats. There is no doubt that Taniere is a premiere example of a French restaurant combining the best elements of Haute and Nouvelle Cuisine. Exquisite presentation in a historic old and comforting environment. Detailed explanations of each course by a trained and dedicated staff. Extraordinary, enjoyable, and an experience well worth the time and cost. But yet---not the best my wife and I have experienced in our world travels. We still revel in and prefer classical cooking and presentation.

I’ll only describe a few of the 14 courses in our meal. We started with an elderberry cocktail followed by 4 hors d'oeuvres centered on duck, walleye (fish), pig flank, and trout eggs. All were in Haute/Nouvelle portions which, we decided, could be sized by ‘bites’ (forgive us, we were having fun). Each hors d'oeuvre was one bite plus another for the accompaniment (like water pepper with the pork and immature catkins with the walleye). The seven ‘main’ courses ranged from ‘9 Shades of Tomatoes’ (9 combinations of different tomato types with spices and condiments-9 bites), to spruce grilled Arctic Char in a caramelized sauce (2 bites), to a 2 bite slice of Wagyu Beef with a sauce containing goldenrod and mushrooms (2 more bites). Dinner was followed by 2 dessert courses (6 bites total).

The dinner from hors d'oeuvres to dessert took 3 hours and we were moved twice to a new location in the cellar restaurant (hors d’oeuvres lounge to the main dining room to the more casual dessert room). Nice effect to separate the three parts of the meal.

The one downer in the presentation of the various dishes was the detailed and critical description of each. It may be unfair, but the description of each dish by our server was lost quickly at its rapid fire delivery in French-English. While a description of each course was provided to us in a menu we received after the meal was done, each course was stated in just a few words in that menu. A more detailed description, as told by our server, would have added to the educational value of the meal.

Finally, the cost of the experience cannot be ignored. My wife’s and my meal, plus a bottle of wine, plus tip cost over $550. Had we opted for the wine pairing at we would have paid over $700. If you want to sit at a bar surrounding the chef and watch him prepare your food, add another $50 per person. Was it worth it? Yes, 4 stars for the food and 5 stars for the...

Truly spectacular! One of the Top 3 dining experiences I've had in my life (tied with Michelin 2* Noor in Cordoba, Spain and slightly above 3* Akelare in San Sebastian).

Atmosphere, food, wine pairing and service are all world-class and, frankly, unsurpassed. How lucky the people of Quebec City are to have Taniere for special occasion dining.

Start with the atmosphere. One is given a secret pass-code to enter the restaurant which is unmarked on the outside. You're warmly greeted and immediately escorted to the 'cocktail lounge' where you get your first drinks and the amuse buche. It's underground in a 500 year-old stone cave with incredible lighting.

From there, you're taken either to the dining room or, if you were lucky enough to get the reservation, to the 12-seat Chef's Counter which my daughter thought looked a bit like 'Dr Evil's lair' in a pre-dinner photo I shared. Dr Evil should have been so lucky, as the leather chairs are plush and perfectly situated to watch the chef's in action for the next several hours.

Different staff members bring the courses out and describe their provenance and preparation. As much as possible is locally sourced from Quebec and the servers will relay stories of their time on fishing vessels, in the forests, etc. sourcing the ingredients. It's a wonderful and eclectic mix of ingredients. Preparation and presentation is 3* quality.

There are two wine pairing levels and a non-alcoholic pairing option as well. While you can't go 'ala carte' on the food, you can on the beverages - one of my fellow diners described the types of cocktails he likes, and the mixologist brought him 2 or 3 (of varying styles on the theme) throughout the evening. I had the Collection pairing and thought what was picked complemented the food exceptionally well. I also enjoyed the non-alcoholic fruit juices (palette cleansers), cocktails and teas that were in the beverage line-up.

Service is very professional, warm and inviting. Everyone was able to answer the questions asked of the food and beverages. The training and excitement of the staff to be part of Taniere comes through...and diners feel almost like they were given a special pass for dinner at an old friend's home for the evening.

I've read some articles lately suggesting fine dining is dead. That hasn't been my experience in various foodie cities around the world and it certainly wasn't my experience at Taniere where a new, modern fine dining experience is being conceived and perfectly delivered.

Just outstanding...one of the top restaurants...