Restaurant: La Demande Générale
Event: Pre #PASTAWEEKMTL media event
Chef: Constantinos Tsionas
Date: Tuesday April 17th 2018
Table of: 14+

Last week, I had the pleasure of attending a special pre PASTAWEEK media event at La Demande Générale in the Plateau, one of many restaurants participating in the first ever PASTAWEEK. PASTAWEEK will take place from May 1st to the 7th, with more than 20 Montreal establishments participating. Who will win the best pasta award?? But more importantly who will win A TRIP FOR TWO TO ROME??

To start off the evening on a good note, we were served a cocktail of rhum, peach juice, lime, mint and bitters which was very good. I loved the combination of flavours and the refreshing hints of mint and lime, mixed with the sweetness of the peaches.

We were then showed a bowl of La Demande Générale’s PASTAWEEK special: bucatini with a veal ragoût, pecorino and feta. Since there was only 1 dish and about 15 of us, we pretty much had to line up to take photos lol.

Next up was a sit-down dinner, featuring sharing platters and pastas. The first service was a beautiful and delicious sharing platter of antipasti, with: homemade smoked salmon roses with feta, grilled Cesar salad, tempura shrimps, salmon tartare over an avocado purée and a beet carpaccio. I very much enjoyed everything on this platter, even some things I don’t normally like, like the smoked salmon roses, which weren’t too “smoky” and still tasted like raw salmon too. I loved that the Cesar salad was grilled, because it added a nice charcoal taste to it, which I love. The tempura shrimps were very good and crispy, although they could have used more seasoning. I really liked the salmon tartare too, which had Asian flavours to it (my favorite), as the seasonings didn’t overpower the taste of the raw salmon and everything was very smooth, especially with the avocado purée. The beet carpaccio was also very good, something I don’t normally eat either! The yellow beets have a much milder taste than their purple counterparts and it was a nice and refreshing entrée.

For the main meal, we were served a duo of pasta, which I was very pleased with as I adore pasta. First up was the featured pasta for PASTAWEEK: bucatini with a veal ragoût, pecorino and feta. The dish was very simple but very good. The pasta was cooked to perfection, the ragoût sauce with pieces of pulled veal was delicious and the touches of cheeses were perfect additions to every bite. It was a very classic pasta, something I could see my Italian step-sister making for our family on a Sunday evening!

The second pasta in the duo was a carbonara pasta. Because carbonara pasta is currently my favorite pasta dish, I was super happy to eat some. However, I have to be honest and say that I was a bit disappointed, especially since I make it and eat it very often. Although the dish was good overall, there were some areas where it lacked a bit. The pasta could have used some more salt, there could have been more cheese in the actual sauce and the smoky taste of the pancetta was absent. There was also broccoli which I like as a vegetable, but that doesn’t belong in traditional carbonara pasta. With that said, we asked the waiter for more cheese and added some salt, which made the dish much cheesier and better. Because I am a huge pasta lover, I would eat this pasta again as it was still good, but I wouldn’t say it was the greatest carbonara I’ve ever had.

For dessert, we received another sharing platter of doughnuts with a dark chocolate sauce and salted caramel. The dessert was excellent, I loved every last bit of it! The doughnuts were very soft and crispy, the dark chocolate sauce was excellent and the salted caramel was the perfect creamy and sweet final touch.

I chose to accompany my evening with a glass of Ca’bolani 2016 Pinot Grigriowhich was excellent; I would buy and drink it again!

Overall, I had a great evening at La Demande Générale, where I got to meet other fellow foodies and bloggers (even a journalist), see some familiar faces, eat some great Italian food and enjoy some lovely drinks and wine. La dolce vita, quoi? A special thank you to Tommy from Le Cuisinomane for inviting me and to everyone from La Demande Générale for a highly enjoyable Tuesday evening!

If you too are a big pasta fan (who isn’t??), don’t miss PASTAWEEK which will take place from May 1st to the 7th! With more than 20 participating restaurants, everyone is bound to find their dream pasta. Plus, don’t forget that all participants have the chance to win a trip for two to Rome!! For more information and for the complete list of participating restaurants, visit PASTAWEEK’s Facebook page.

CAFÉ VIA DANTE – CALDO – IL BAZZALI – KESTÉ – LA DEMANDE GÉNÉRALE – LA MEDUSA – LOMBARDI – MATTERELLO – PANZZEROTTI – QUINDICI – PASTA CASARECCIA – PASTA DA PANZA – PÂTES BOL – PÂTES ET COMPAGNIE – RESTAURANT FERRARI – RESTAURANT ÉPIK – RISTORANTE QUATTRO – SALUMI VINO – TERRA MIA – TRE MARIE

#PASTAWEEKMTL

UP NEXT: Turquoise Blog’s pork and shrimps dumplings recipe!

*This restaurant post does not contain my usual restaurant review criteria of restaurants, as this is a sponsored post where I was invited to the restaurant as a guest.

*All photos are mine