Destination Montebello

• Name + address: Chateau Montebello, 392 Notre Dame, Montebello

The old expression “A change is as good as a rest” was first found as part of a poem in an English newspaper in 1857. It avowed the virtues of work against sloth and came to mean that a change in occupation was as beneficial to health as time off.

I would now like to claim the sentiment on behalf of the slothful or those just needing a brief mental holiday from the city. 

Even a short stay at Montebello has the benefit of taking you out of yourself and into something mystical recessed in nature. You may never have experienced Montebello in its heyday, but there is an ineffable and palpable quality of familiarity carried on the vapours of a collective memory that blows like the winds through its trees.

Despite all its upgrades and room renovations of the last two years, Chateau Montebello remains a place out of time. A place where the modern world and all its trappings more easily fall away because you are imagining the comings and goings of the last century in the theatre of your mind.

Thinking back on the dinner at the newly opened Nymark restaurant the night before, it was difficult to not think of it as anything but exceptional. The quality of the ingredients, the technical execution and the thoughtfully rendered recipes, all exemplified hallmarks of a kitchen crew with the best yet ahead of them.

The next day breakfast beckoned and Aux Chantignoles’ staff had been hard at work organizing the considerable breakfast buffet.

Aux Chantignoles is the Chateau’s older restaurant offering breakfast, lunch and dinner in a cavernous wood and stone space with a full mezzanine.

Having had mixed experiences with buffets, I can understand anyone who views them with suspicion. Yet here was a buffet that met all the expectations I had of a Fairmont property.

It was meticulously maintained and re-stocked. The options were so plentiful that it would have been useful to shoot a video to capture all the offerings.

The buffet ran the gamut from super healthy foods to the savoury cheeses, and fried breakfast meats that are irresistible to some of us. 

The kitchen is mindful of differing dietary needs and provides vegetarian, gluten free and lactose free versions of popular items. It’s also wonderful that in addition to salads, they offer an abundance of freshly cut fruit.

Have your fill of hot and cold cereals, smoked salmon with cream cheeses, pickled red onions and capers, and load up on the sinful rolled crepes drunk with maple syrup and butter. 

Visit the bread station, baked goods station, fresh pressed juice and smoothie station or have one of their cooks prepare an omelet as you watch.

Then enjoy it all on their terrace where the gentle breeze was a chef’s kiss to the experience. At $34 a person, including very good coffee and tea, this is a buffet experience worth savouring.

Sometimes, after certain experiences, it’s easy to fall into a reverie. Letting your mind wander, lighting on this or that thought without a need to go very deep, is a kind of mental yoga. Then I remembered what Montebello communications associate Marion Rivaud told me.

On the grounds of the Chateau you will find bushes that have been sculpted into orbs. In front of each you will find a plaque with the name and story of a retired employee who gave years of service to Montebello. 

This is how you carry on into the future; by honouring those in the past who have made you everything you are today. It’s an affecting gesture and it has my respect.