At the restaurant, customers savor Chef Brisson's recipes, made with local products. And they keep asking for more! To bring back in their bags and for take-out to enjoy on-site, as they please.
La Galouïne comprises a restaurant with around a hundred seats, an inn with 22 rooms, and the Aquilon Boutique, a local market. The family-owned business employs over twenty people in peak season. Like every spring, Paryse Deschênes and Martin Brisson, co-owners, are preparing for their summer season. In this year 2021, constraints related to Covid-19 sanitary regulations might once again be in place. They have decided to respond to their customers' demands and adapt to the new trend of take-out. Delicious dishes to enjoy with more autonomy, on a stroll, for a picnic, or during accommodation.
For breakfast, inn guests can already order them at the restaurant and enjoy them in their rooms. This summer, they will certainly be able to take away beautiful plates from the restaurant, or prepare a meal themselves with products from the boutique.
For the La Galouïne team, this means "bringing out our take-out products, making more space for our products," explains Paryse Deschênes. "We have a large smoker, and we can smoke up to 2000 pounds of salmon per season." Maple-glazed salmon and vacuum-packed duck breast, along with jarred sauces, will be sold on-site.
Quality of life...
In 2001, Paryse Deschênes and Martin Brisson left Montreal and returned to live in the Haute-Côte-Nord, their region of origin, which they appreciate for its quality of life. Two years later, they opened the La Galouïne restaurant in Tadoussac. Martin Brisson, a self-taught cook of Algonquin indigenous origin, concocts his recipes with carefully chosen and harvested products from the North Shore, including herbs, spices, wild berries, and mushrooms. He establishes a network with forest pickers and local small producers.
La Galouïne develops and markets around twenty of these products under the Terroir Boréal brand in 2008 and creates the Aquilon Boutique, a local market. Customers take home the resources of the boreal forest that the chef has transformed without waste: herbs, spices, infusions, wild berry powders, preserves, spreads (less sweet than jams), blueberry juice, and fleur de sel.
...quality of products "Tadoussac is a festive experience, it's a beautiful place to live, I'll stay here for the rest of my life!" exclaims Paryse Deschênes. The tourist establishment expands every year. According to the co-owner, this northern living space enhances the quality and distinctiveness of the products. "With the harsh winters, the fruits produce more flavors, the blueberries have more sugar." But she adds that the products develop their own authenticity with the landscapes, quality of life, and the people here through their sense of belonging. So, why not further develop new products and flavors in the North Shore! Why not aronia? This berry from the Rosaceae family is harvested for the pharmaceutical industry due to its high vitamin C content and strong antioxidant properties. Paryse and Martin have planted 2800 bushes in L'Anse-de-Roche, the hamlet of Sacré-Cœur, the first ones in the North Shore. They lead this research and development project with the College Center for Technology Transfer (CEDFOB), based at the Baie-Comeau CEGEP.
Written by: Christine Gilliet (Mots et marées)
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