Montreal Village restaurant Panacée fuses comfort and finesse

Panacée, a new fixed-menu restaurant in the Village, opened quietly last fall. Its name — panacea in English — means cure-all, a nod to chef-owner Catherine Couvet Desrosiers’s belief that restaurants are spaces for healing and restoration.

Taking over the space formerly home to De farine et d’eau fraîche, this is Desrosiers’s first restaurant and her second role as executive chef, following a brief but ultimately very successful tenure at Foxy. (She’s also previously worked at Bouillon Bilk and Hotel Herman.) The location itself — an intimate, roughly 30-seat affair — had been coveted by Desrosiers for years. Though a longer stint at Foxy was initially the plan, when this space hit the market, it was a clear sign that it was time to take the leap into ownership.

Whether deliberate or not, the Hotel Herman influence feels abundant here — but in a way I wholeheartedly embrace. That was a restaurant I loved and one that left both a void in, and an indelible mark on, Montreal’s restaurant scene. There are a few ways that Hotel Herman’s influence manifests here, but the most obvious and most immediate is in Panacée’s 18-seat horseshoe-shaped bar, which restaurant sickos like me will remember was a standout feature of Hotel Herman. The room itself is elegant, marrying rich hues of yellow and green in an intimate yet inviting setting. It has a Nordicness to it — wishbone chairs and all — but avoids feeling like cosplay. There’s a groundedness to the design that faithfully reflects the experience to come.

Panacée’s most intriguing feature might be its menu structure. Guests choose between two fixed menus — three or five courses. Standard enough. But the format operates more like a table d’hôte, offering options for each course. It’s a structure that appeals to those who want to try a variety of dishes, while encouraging a return to individually plated meals and away from the shared-plate trend that has dominated Montreal’s dining scene for nearly a decade. We opted for the five-course menu, which includes an amuse-bouche (not counted among the courses), along with an additional savoury and dessert course not offered in the three-course option.

On the beverage side, Panacée maintains a tidy list of simple, mostly classic cocktails, a few beers and some non-alcoholic options. The wine list, put together by sommelière Brigitte Emond Serret, rotates regularly and includes roughly 40 selections, many of which are available by the glass as part of an optional pairing. It’s difficult for any new restaurant to build a serious wine list in its first year, but Panacée has acquired some excellent bottles from respected producers, along with a few curiosities for adventurous palates. We selected a bottle of Chenin from Damien Bureau, a celebrated winemaker in the Loire Valley. Vivid with bracing acidity upon opening, the wine mellowed into waxy yellow fruit, flinty minerality and honey, while retaining its brightness.

Like at Foxy, Desrosiers’s cooking is vegetable-driven and unconcerned with regionality or stylistic typicity — she lets the ingredient dictate the approach. Our first bite, a buckwheat tartelette filled with a rich, almost cheesy celeriac mousse, pickled celery brunoise and chervil, was light as air and somehow also deeply indulgent. It punched far above its weight — a theme that repeated throughout the meal.

While we tasted the entire menu, I’ll stick to describing the standouts. In the first course, that was the trout crudo. Using fish from Kenauk — one of Quebec’s best hatcheries — it was sliced raw and served with a piperade-like blend of roasted peppers and ancho chili, dressed in a vinaigrette made from smoky pepper juices. Rather than leaning into the lightness of crudo or the acidity of ceviche, this dish embraced the richness of lake trout, pairing it with the warmth of ancho and the sweet smokiness of roasted bell pepper. Another standout was the inventive beef tartare, flavoured with savoury meringue, cara cara orange and endives. I’ve had countless tartares, but never one quite like this. Delicious.

Next came the sweet onion — my favourite of the evening. Braised whole, its centre was hollowed and filled with a sauce of Louis d’Or cheese and black truffle. The translucent orb sat in a puddle of fragrant onion broth, finished with generous gratings of cheese and truffle. A beautiful, uncomplicated preparation that let the ingredients shine — and tasted like great French onion soup. That’s a theme of Desrosiers’s food: It’s novel, never derivative, yet feels deeply familiar. To me, that’s the perfect Venn diagram — food that sparks curiosity and satisfies the craving for comfort.

The third course brought three absolute hits: perfectly grilled walleye with endives, flawless squash agnolotti and my personal favourite: Cornish hen prepared two ways. The breast, roasted skin-side down and served in hen consommé, was a study in poultry purity — confident and precise. Even more impressive was the leg meat: poached in the style of Hainan chicken, pressed and chilled like a terrine. Paired with roasted kale, pistachio and pink peppercorn, it delivered an unexpected, almost Sichuan-like flavour. The two preparations harmonized beautifully, showcasing Desrosiers’s deep understanding of the protein.

The five-course option ends with two desserts by pastry chef Jessy Farrar. First, a light, palate-refreshing Beurasse cheese with a Honeycrisp apple ice cream and almond crumble — a smart transition from savoury to sweet. Then, a brilliant citrus dessert featuring Opalys white chocolate, clementine, burnt lemon sorbet and tarragon. Like all the desserts we tried (and we tried them all), it was exquisitely presented — reminiscent of Olive Park’s work at Franquette — and balanced sweet and savoury in perfect proportion. While my tastes tend toward more traditional desserts, Farrar offers plenty to please most palates.

Panacée, in my view, has tremendous potential. At just over 30 herself, Desrosiers and her team are among the youngest in town, and talented beyond their years. Where most new restaurants are revivals of bistros, diners and osterias, Panacée is trying something unique. With a debut this strong, there’s real staying power.

As the team continues to explore their capabilities — and the bounty of the upcoming seasons — I’m confident the best is yet to come. At the time of writing, Desrosiers and sous-chef Vincent Beauseigle have just launched their first spring menu, which, while untested by me, promises to be excellent. ■

For more on Panacée (), please visit their website.

For more on the food and drink scene in Montreal, please visit the Food & Drink section.