Restaurant in Mirabel, Canada
Groups-only sugar shack dining, book early.
A 15- to 20-course tasting menu inside a wood-fired sugar shack on 165 acres in Mirabel, La Cabane d'À Côté books as private sittings for groups of eight or 16. The menu tracks Quebec terroir season by season — maple, seafood, and foie gras in late winter; lighter outdoor feasts in summer. One of the most place-specific dining experiences in the province.
Yes — if you can get a seat. La Cabane d'À Côté is one of the most specific dining experiences in Quebec: a wood-fire-heated sugar shack on 165 acres in Mirabel's small sugar bush, serving 15- to 20-course feasts for groups of exactly eight or 16 diners. Partners Martin Picard and Vincent Dion Lavallée have built something with unusually strong local identity — a place where the cooking is inseparable from the land around it, the season on the calendar, and the group sitting at the table with you. If you are planning a solo dinner or a quiet meal for two, this is not the right venue. If you are organising a group celebration rooted in Quebec terroir, it is hard to find a comparable experience in the province.
The format changes with the season, which is the point. In late winter, when the maple sap starts flowing, the menu leans into Quebec's coastal and forest larder: oysters, scallops, and snow crab give way to confit trout with pastis, duck with blackcurrant sauce and beets, and crêpes au calvados finished with foie gras. Everything cooks on a wood-fired syrup-evaporation table , a setup that doubles as both kitchen and centrepiece. The flavour profile is rich, smoky, and emphatically seasonal: maple syrup is not a finishing garnish here but a structural ingredient threaded through savoury and sweet alike. To close, Quebec cheeses and a pavlova with maple syrup and citrus keep the register local to the end.
Summer shifts the register considerably. Dishes move into lighter territory , tomato with Quebec sea urchin, little gem BLTs, grilled chicken, and fruit tarts , served under canvas chapiteaux tents or, for groups of up to 18, at a formal table outdoors. Quebec whites, rosés, and reds anchor the wine list, and the Cabane's 15 ciders are always available to purchase or taste, including at their annual fall open house. Unhurried guests are invited to walk the paths around the sugar shack, orchard, and gardens , a 165-acre setting that makes the meal feel less like a restaurant visit and more like a full afternoon or evening absorbed into a working Quebec property.
The cooking is executed by Dion Lavallée and Matthew Babin. Elise Tastet, one of Quebec's most respected food voices, has described the experience as an extraordinary tasting menu in an enchanting setting , a signal worth taking seriously when you are deciding whether the drive from Montreal is justified.
La Cabane d'À Côté is structured for groups. The private format , eight or 16 diners, full tasting menu, a fixed setting , makes it a natural fit for milestone celebrations: significant birthdays, anniversaries, or any occasion where the group itself is the event. Food-focused travellers who want to understand Quebec terroir at depth, rather than sampling it across a standard à la carte menu, will find the 15- to 20-course format genuinely instructive. It is also a strong choice if you are visiting from outside Canada and want a single meal that captures Quebec's culinary identity with conviction. For comparisons to other Canadian tasting-menu destinations with similar terroir ambition, see Tanière³ in Quebec City, Eigensinn Farm in Singhampton, and Restaurant Pearl Morissette in Lincoln. For a different expression of the farm-to-table format in a remote setting, Fogo Island Inn Dining Room is the other Canadian benchmark worth knowing.
Reservations: The private group format , parties of eight or 16 , means availability is genuinely limited. Book as far ahead as possible; the sugar shack season (late winter) is the most in-demand window, and seats fill quickly once the sap-flow dates are announced. Summer picnic season offers slightly more flexibility for outdoor tent bookings for groups up to 18. Getting there: La Cabane d'À Côté is located at 3595 Mnt Robillard, Mirabel, QC , a rural address that requires a car. Factor in travel time from Montreal (roughly 45 minutes north). Dress: No dress code is specified, but the sugar bush and garden setting, combined with wood-fire cooking in the cabin, points toward smart-casual or comfortable layers, particularly in late winter when temperatures in the sugar bush can be cold. Ciders and wine: 15 house ciders plus a Quebec-focused wine list. Ciders are available to purchase on-site. Annual event: A fall open house offers a lower-commitment entry point if a full group booking is not possible.
| Venue | Awards | Price | Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| LA CABANE D’À CÔTÉ | Unhurried guests here are invited to freely wander the paths around the sugar shack, orchard and gardens, located in a small sugar bush with 2,000 taps — an idyllic 165-acre oasis. Partners Martin Picard and Vincent Dion Lavallée have created a place of unusually strong local identity and, with it, a transporting culinary experience. The cooking — executed by Dion Lavallée and Matthew Babin — is a celebratory showcase for Quebec terroir, evidenced in 15- to 20-course parties at the wood-fire-heated cabin, available for groups of eight or 16 lucky diners. When, in late winter, the sap starts to flow, Quebec oysters, scallops and snow crab appear on the menu. Expect confit trout with pastis, duck with blackcurrant sauce and beets, crêpes au calvados (with foie gras, of course), all of it cooked on a wood-fired syrup-evaporation table. To finish, opt for Quebec cheeses and an indulgent pavlova with maple syrup and citrus. In the summer picnic season, dishes move into lighter, simpler territory — tomato and Quebec sea urchin; little gem BLTs; chicken on the grill; and artful fruit tarts, designed to be happily devoured underneath umbrellas or on a bring-your-own-blanket. Groups of up to 18 can reserve the beautiful canvas chapiteaux tents for feasts à table, complemented by Quebec whites, rosés and reds, and Cabane’s 15 ciders — always available to purchase or to taste at their annual fall open house. An extraordinary TASTING MENU in an ENCHANTING setting. Elise Tastet | — | |
| Alo | Michelin 1 Star, World's 50 Best | $$$$ | — |
| Sushi Masaki Saito | Michelin 2 Star | $$$$ | — |
| Enigma Yorkville | Michelin 1 Star | $$$$ | — |
| Shoushin | Michelin 1 Star | $$$$ | — |
| Edulis | Michelin 1 Star | $$$$ | — |
Side-by-side comparison to help you decide where to book.
Book as far ahead as possible — months, not weeks. The format seats only groups of eight or 16, which means each service has a tiny number of slots. The late-winter maple season is the most in-demand period, when sap-season menus draw the most attention. If you have a fixed date in mind, lock it down immediately.
No. The entire format is built around private group seatings of eight or 16 diners, so solo diners cannot simply show up or reserve a spot on their own. You would need to join or organise a group to access the experience. For solo tasting-menu dining in Quebec, Alo or Edulis in Toronto offer counter and small-table formats that suit one person.
Dress practically for a working sugar bush on 165 acres in rural Mirabel. In late winter that means warm layers you can move in — guests are invited to wander the paths, orchard, and gardens. In summer picnic season, casual outdoor clothing makes more sense than anything formal. This is not a white-tablecloth setting.
Yes, provided you can fill a table of eight or 16. The private group format, 15-to-20 course wood-fire menu, and 165-acre property make it a strong choice for milestone celebrations, corporate gatherings, or any occasion that warrants a dedicated feast. The exclusivity of the format does the work — this is not a restaurant you share with strangers on a busy floor.
Keep this venue in your Pearl passport, rate it after you visit, and track it alongside every other place you collect.
