Ateliers & Saveurs

The concept of cooking something together and then sharing after works great for team building.
The setup is top notch, kitchen is what any culinary enthusiast would want for their home — except for their knives. They were quite dull, and to me this was a safety hazard. One star off for this.
We made two scallop dishes and two duck dishes, had fun eating and comparing them side by side after.
Good stuff.

I love this place. Easily accessible in the heart of the old port, this French gem has everything to be successful.
First thing to know is that the classes are only given in French. However, the team is very accommodating so you don’t actually need to know how to speak French. I went there for the 1h lunch express on a Friday. Although the class was short nothing felt rushed. The lamb and couscous recipe was delicious with a very generous portion of meat. Best of all, there’s no better feeling than eating the fruit of your own labor.
⁵⁄₅ I would go again in a heartbeat.

I love this place. People are kind. Food are great. I cannot wait to try everything on the menu. Very creative chef. Especially the dessert, quick and delicious.

Pros: Le chef était excellent, le concept est génial la bouffe est bonne, on apprend beaucoup
Cons: On nous a parlé au début de soirée qu’ils servaient du vin à la bouteille ou au verre. Lorsqu’on nous a servis, on n’avait pas de carte de vin, donc pas vraiment de prix ni de choix. On pensait que c’était inclu puisqu’on nous remplissait nos verres sans même trop nous demander… Du coup à la fin, après 6 verres (ma femme et moi) on nous a chargé une bouteille et un verre. Lorsque j’essaye de dire que dans une bouteille il y a 6 à 7 verres donc qu’on né devrait payer qu’une bouteille (et je la paye volontiers), le directeur me dit «si vous préférez je vous charge 6 verres mais ça va vous coûter plus cher». Je trouve que c’est un vrai manqué de tact, et j’ai l’impression de m’être fait arnaquer même si le vin n’est pas cher (40 $ la bouteille 10 $ le verre).
Conclusion: jusqu’à ce moment, je pensais vraiment que du bien de cette expérience, je l’aurai recommandé à tout le monde et j’y serais retourné volontiers. Mais ce petit truc à la fin a gâché mon expérience et j’y retournerais peut être mais avec méfiancé.

Would have been a great experience… instead I feel like we were hustled. My company paid for a 3 hour cooking class which was awesome. It included mixology and cooking. We made two different drinks during the mixology portion of the class. When the drinks were finished they would ask if you would like another. At the end of the class they brought out drinks for a few guest that they said they has made special for them and asked everyone else if they would like another drink. Most said sure. They later turned the music down and informed everyone that the mixology drinks were included in the cost but the other ones they made were not included and we would need to pay extra. Such a scam and poor business practices. I had a great time during the class… but the fee we paid took care of a few drinks. Shameless scam that left me leaving this cooking class with a bad taste in my mouth!

Wow!
One of the most FUN things I’ve done in Montréal!
We went in a group of 12 and were greeted by the most gracious, dapper host: Julian, who escorted us into the Mixology Room first. There, we learned how to make two delicious cocktails. The key apparently, is vigorous shaking while dancing to Top 40 Hits.
After that, we went into the immaculate, modern, and well-​appointed kitchen, and made the acquaintance of Rudolfo. A gem. Funny, enthusiastic, helpful, and an absolute pleasure to get cooking tips from. In the midst of all the witty banter, I totally forgot the man was putting me to work!
We made an array of tapas by each of us contributing some slicing, dicing, peeling, stirring, mixing, chopping, sautéing, caramelizing (me!), deglazing (me encore!), massaging (of chicken thighs; not me), filleting, roasting and frying.
And then we ate it all!
At the very end, Rudolfo rewarded us with dessert. Home-​made cookies and panna-​cotta.
A thoroughly entertaining and enjoyable evening, partly due to the phenomenal people working at Ateliers & Saveurs, partly due to the awesome facility, and yes, partly due to those two cocktails at the beginning of the session. They know what they’re doing over there…

En fin de semaine, ma soeur et moi sommes allées à Ateliers et Saveurs pour apprendre à faire des délicieux macarons. L’école de cuisine est facile à trouver et ce qui est plus difficile, c’est faire le choix de vos cours. Il y en a pour tous les niveaux, tous les goûts et tous les budgets. Notre professeur était excellent — un chef pâtissier gentil et comique (un p’tit secret… il parle à ces ingrédients). Après seulement 2 heures, nous sommes reparties avec une douzaine de macarons de toutes les couleurs à différentes saveurs en plus de savoir non seulement comment refaire la recette à la maison, mais aussi comment la personnalisée pour créer des saveurs nouvelles et époustoufler nos invités. Même si j’ai déjà été pâtissière, j’ai quand même appris quelques nouvelles techniques qui me seront définitivement utiles. Ça été une super belle manière de passer du temps avec ma sœur et d’apprendre quelque chose de nouveau que je repense déjà refaire bientôt.

Guess what?! I know how to make macarons now! Yea, those expensive but delicious French cookies they sell at fancy patisseries. I can make those! How, you ask? I took a 2-​hour class at Ateliers & Saveurs and by the time I left, I could make them!
The class was in French and though you’d never know it to hear me speak French, I actually understand it quite well, so this wasn’t a problem for me. It’s 2-​hours long with lot’s of hands-​on time, which is what I am really looking for in a class. The classroom was clean and very well laid out, assuring that everyone had enough space to work and really see what was going on.
We started with making the caramel chocolate ganache, moved on to the apple compote and finished with making the apricot filling. Then we started on the macarons. Each of the three types of macarons were prepared separately. This gave us two additional chances to get a feel for how the macaron cookie was prepared.
— process and sift the almond flour and powdered sugar
— beat the egg whites with a pinch of salt until they are coming in on themselves
— add in sugar
— add in any colourings
— remove from the mixer and keep it moving, then make them «lisse» or smooth them
— add in the flour and sugar mixture, all at once, wetting it with the meringue
— burst the bubbles gently
— put into a piping bag with the end «corked»
— pipe — not too big, not too small, with plenty of ventilation
— let it rest, then bake.
Ta DA!
Happily, the entire class went from making huge, stuck together figure 8 macarons, to mastering delicate hearts and perfectly round cookies with impressive «feet».
Afterwards they send the recipes to your account via a link on the Ateliers et Saveurs website. It’s a little confusing to find, and is not available in English but that’s fine by me.
What a great morning this was, spent with my best friend and other enthusiastic and fun classmates!