L’Initiale, Quebec City

L'INITIALE, Quebec City, Quebec

Chefs/owners: Yvan Lebrun and Rolande Leclerc
Website: www.restaurantinitiale.com. Cuisine: French and seasonal modernity
Telephone: 418-694-1818. 
2015 Rank: 24 (new entry)
Price Range: $16-$56
You Must Order: Seared foie gras and trempette parsnip confiture poivre Sarawak pimbina and spicy bread. ($32)
Need to Know … from food writer Allison Van Rassel: “Chef Yvan Lebrun's cuisine is distinguished and of grand culinary art. L'Initiale is the most refined gastronomy in Quebec City. A somber environment that embraces a taste for both French and seasonal modernity. A menu composed in finesse and with divine perfumes. Food has truly moved only but a few times in my life. L’initiale was one of these experiences.”

Fine-dining aficionado Howard Levitt says: “With the plethora of inadequate French restaurants in Canada, this one would fill the tables in Paris.”