This new Kanata brasserie brings French comfort food to the suburbs

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Chez Lionel

101 Kanata Ave. suite 100 (contained in the Vacation Inn & Suites Ottawa Kanata), 613-271-3057, chezlionel.ca/kanata

Open: Monday to Friday 6:30 a.m. to 10 p.m., Saturday and Sunday 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Costs: appetizers $10 to $24, mains $24 to $42

Entry: absolutely accessible

I’m having a tough time framing my ideas about Chez Lionel, which opened final fall within the Vacation Inn & Suites Ottawa Kanata.

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As eating places within the high-volume, premium informal class go — suppose Joey’s, Moxie’s, Milestones Grill and Bar —  its made-from-scratch meals was fairly good, if uneven, whereas its service was simply peculiar.

As resort eating places go, it’s higher than many in Ottawa, particularly at a Vacation Inn and particularly in terms of its freshly renovated atmosphere.

As eating places in Kanata go, it’s in all probability adequate to discourage western suburbanites from driving into Ottawa for dinner out. A packed home on a latest Saturday evening actually left that impression. However I don’t know if Chez Lionel sparkles sufficient to steer central Ottawans to move west, until they’re additionally purchasing on the close by Kanata Centrum.

So far as brasseries in Ottawa go — these being massive, casual, convivial, French eateries  — it might properly be the most effective. Thoughts you, there’s only one different brasserie in Ottawa. Two, should you depend the one which has a haggis roll on its menu.

It’s a far cry from the brasserie in Paris the place I ate final 12 months.

However it’s additionally a laudable iteration of the made-in-Quebec brasserie idea behind 4 different Chez Lionel areas which have opened within the final dozen years in Montreal’s suburbs.

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Chez Lionel is considered one of a dozen or so manufacturers held by the Montreal-based Groupe Grandio restaurant group, which has greater than 3,800 staff at greater than 55 areas in Quebec. James Denis, basic supervisor of the Chez Lionel in Kanata, says the resort and Groupe Grandio are companions and that his restaurant will quickly supply room service for resort friends.

When the Chez Lionel in Kanata opened final October, it changed Graffiti’s Italian Eatery, which ended its 24-year run in late 2023. The previous restaurant was gutted and 9 months of renovation adopted. Now, a smooth, high-ceilinged house holds about 100 individuals at tables and two dozen extra at a four-sided bar.

The room feels fashionable, relaxed, stylish and even a contact ostentatious, because of a floor-to-ceiling showcase of wines behind a glass wall close to its entrance. Retro brasserie touches embody chandeliers, globe lighting and blocky, picket tables that bear the Chez Lionel brand.

The background music right here is distinctly francophone, which jars a little bit with the very anglophone really feel of the service, should you pause to consider it.

Chez Lionel’s dinner menu, which is to vary in a number of weeks to its spring/summer time iteration, is the work of government chef Frédéric Dufort, who oversees the meals in any respect the Chez Lionels and at Groupe Grandio’s two Iru Izakaya eating places.

Sampling roughly half of the present menu, we discovered some dishes tasty and satisfying, whereas others might have been higher executed and particularly higher seasoned. Some dishes felt cluttered.

Beef and salmon tartares ($18 for starters, $34 for mains with a facet) have been respectable, umami-forward starters. Whereas the meat and salmon might have registered extra, different components (white truffle oil, crisp capers, mullet and herring roe and Dijon mustard with the salmon; mushroom purée, black pepper aioli, pickled purple onions and sunchoke chips with the meat) have been well-considered and impactful.

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Foie gras parfait ($24) was a whimsical and profitable play on a homey jelly sandwich, inserting its slab of foie on brioche bread adorned with jammy blueberries and roasted hazelnuts.

Tuna tataki ($20) was rather a lot to absorb, with its wild caraway crust, pickled carrots, orange supremes, sesame-carrot purée and carrot chips. It wasn’t unhealthy, however easier, higher raw-tuna dishes on the town, as at Brassica or Supply and Demand, pack larger punches.

Arancini ($18) have been well-fried, whereas black garlic aioli, marinated mushrooms and a bathe of grated parmesan improved the dish. As tasty as these rice ball have been, they skimped a bit on the duck confit that was inside them.

Essentially the most underwhelming starter was a bowl of fried calamari ($20). Its squid rings sorely lacked in flavour and have been overwhelmed by too many daring garnishes, together with pineapple chutney, jerk-spiced mayo and curried cashews.

Of 5 mains, finest was the seafood risotto ($36), which delivered a number of flavour because of its lobster bisque, correctly cooked shrimps and bay scallops and dots of saffron mayo. The rice was free and creamy, if a contact overcooked.

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Ricotta ravioli ($32) was a very good pasta dish with an interesting veal-stock sauce, plus some duck confit, mushrooms, parmesan and white truffle oil to zing issues up.

A flat iron steak ($34) was large and cooked to the requested doneness, and its potatoes and veg have been nice. Nonetheless, between the meat and its Bordelaise sauce, one thing was markedly too salty.

Duck breast a l’orange ($38) disillusioned as a result of its meat was underseasoned and its fats wasn’t properly rendered. The plate’s orange components, together with butternut squash purée, kumquat marmalade, Grand Marnier gastrique, clobbered the duck, each visually and flavour-wise.

At lunch, beef bourguignon (a part of two-course menu beginning at $24) was alright, though its tiny bits of beef felt extra like scraps.

For dessert, a tarte tatin with vanilla ice cream and a brownie with vanilla ice cream (each $11), have been sizeable and really candy.

The wine listing right here is lengthy, eclectic and based mostly on personal importation, with French bottles in all probability making up a majority. Whereas signature cocktails ($15 to $17) intrigued, I didn’t selected properly with the Autumn Hearth, by which the carrot juice and lemon juice dominated the whisky, calvados and cinnamon syrup.

Whereas service was sufficient, it might have been extra attentive to chores reminiscent of pouring wine and selecting up glasses. It might even have been extra personable and French in model, if not in language.

However the place else would I get my foie gras repair in Kanata, particularly if I have been staying on the Vacation Inn?

Common supervisor Denis says that if his restaurant performs properly, different Chez Lionels might open in Ottawa’s outskirts, maybe in Orléans or Barrhaven. Primarily based on my visits to Kanata’s Chez Lionel, I’d welcome these arrivals. They wouldn’t be excellent, however they’d be pluses.

phum@postmedia.com