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| - We arrived in Montreal in the afternoon on Valentine's Day and were looking for something at least more romantic than a Tim Horton's (not trying to throw shade, Canadians) but hadn't made reservations anywhere. Staying downtown, L'Orignal was one of the first places we noticed with fantastic reviews online, but figured it was a long shot on this particular evening. We weren't wrong, but we were lucky. We walked down the stairs, pulled aside the curtain to a warm ski-lodge atmosphere, and the waitress/host/barback/bartender extraordinaire (I want to say her name was Dez, but I could be way off) came over to us and found us the only two seats in the house at the bar.
The bartender who we learned was also the owner (I want to say Michael... 0-2?), chatted us up immediately and made us feel like locals even though he was insanely busy. This man was shucking oysters (smelling each and every one, which was a LOT, for freshness), grating fresh horseradish, making cocktails, motioning to staff when someone entered the restaurant without being noticed, while also making note of how long someone in the dining room had been waiting for food from the kitchen...what??? I think he might have been on that drug from that Bradley Cooper movie that gives him more brain capacity or something. He was honestly kind of a smartass too, but in the best possible way and that's why you sit at the bar, right? You want some conversation, some entertainment, some engagement and I could tell there were other bar customers there that were there precisely because of him... okay, and the food.
About those oysters... We probably ate oysters at least 4-5 times while in Montreal and these were hands down the best. The other reason the owner is present here a lot of the time, other than to watch hockey, is to monitor the how the food is coming out and making sure it's to his standards. The pricetag reflects the quality, and no one here is "mailing it in". I was so obsessed with how good the oysters were, I can't honestly remember what we ordered on Valentine's Day, but everything was wonderful. We returned a second time before we left and I had the bison burger (and more oysters). Even after accounting for the exchange rate, this was one of the more expensive burgers I've had, but sweet Jesus was it good. The man I'm calling Michael, told us the entire backstory about the animal this came from. The farm, the lady who only butchers one every once in a while, the other bison she keeps as a pet; I'm not making this up. If that's not farm to table, I don't know what is.
When we return to Montreal again, even if we stay at the complete opposite side of the city, we will definitely make a point of returning here, and maybe even make a reservation this time. So, Michael and Dez, or whatever the hell your names are, thanks for making two out-of-towners laugh and feel at home. Hope to see you again in the near future.
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