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| - First, a disclaimer. I haven't dined at Le Beaver Club in many years. I had heard that the grandeur and glory which was Le Beaver Club had been dismantled in the '80's, but restored in recent years. The restaurant holds far too significant a place in my personal progression of understanding and appreciating a fine dining experience to go without a review. Now that things are again right, I'll write my piece.
Having just graduated high school, Montreal was where I most wanted to visit for a few days of get away. The "fancy" dinner for this trip was Le Beaver Club. An evening which began with some griping about getting dressed up for dinner, ended with my first appreciation of how a truly extraordinary meal had the power to excite my senses, to transport them to places I had never known to exist. The elegance was apparent in everything which caught my eye, and yet remained approachable to this eighteen year old on his best behavior. The differences between "eating" and "dining" were suddenly neither semantic nor subtle. I can't honestly recall what I had for dinner that evening, only that it was an important cog in my first true dining experience.
Le Beaver Club was revisited several years later, while on our honeymoon, with the recollection that what was great on the first visit was even better on the second. A fresh visit will be needed to assess this gem of a restaurant among my adult dining experiences, thus a star is withheld-- for the moment.
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