I am willing to bet that pretty much all of you already heard of Le Richmond, the latest project of Paul Soucie, main man behind Misto, one of Montreal's most famous restaurants and Luc Laroche, yes, the one and only renowned designer. The two guys have a long and eclectic creative and entrepreneurial career and initiated the project nearly three years ago. They finally opened for business on November 19th, 2013.

Opening night was a great success (we kind of expected it to be) and the news rapidly flew across the city and its surrounding areas. So much so that you have to book your table in advance, especially for a group. I have to say, the place is breathtaking and perfect for celebrating a special event.

Luc Laroche has indeed created quite a beautiful decor and ambiance here. He managed to respect the true soul of the former manufacturing building by using raw materials like Eastern hemlock wood and steel while adding items that would trigger a formidable mix of genres. My personal favorites are definitely the magnificent orange velour Louis XI chairs and the huge light fixtures that will catch your eye as soon as you walk in the room.

The chef and co-owner Paul Soucie got inspired by his extensive knowledge of north Italian cuisine to design a gastronomical menu, based on regional products. He and his acolyte Terence Sheppard manage the kitchen that operates on full capacity since the very first day. The food menu offers lots of choices that will please everyone and the cocktail, beer and wine menu is more than complete and will surely satisfy your thirst for high-end products.

We tried and shared a few different plates to get a good taste of what a north-italian cuisine has to offer. We began our evening on a pompous note with an oyster platter and a glass of Duval-Leroy Cuvée Design Paris brut. Then we had the tasty veal carpaccio and the perfectly grilled shrimp and scallop plate.

For the main course, we ordered the fish of the day, a red snapper filet, served on a green pea coulis and the rack of lamb from Australia, which has a gentler taste than the one from New-Zealand.

For the dessert, we let the chef choose what he wanted us to try. He served us a vanilla pana cotta with apple chips and butter and a chocolate, blood orange and candied sea berry semifredo. Since we're two real chocoholics, we literally devoured this one with the melting heart and fleur de sel topping, although the pana cotta was as delicious in a refreshing and light kind of way.

We will definitely be back to try more items from the menu!

Bon appétit!