Restaurant in Quebec City, Canada
Serious wine, creative Canadian cooking, book early.
L'Orygine earned a Michelin Plate in 2025 and holds a 4.7 Google rating across nearly 800 reviews — the most credentialled dinner option in Old Quebec's Lower Town for serious creative Canadian cooking. Chef Sabrina Lemay's dinner-only format pairs with a 1,000-label wine list managed by sommelier William Guay. Book well ahead: availability is tight year-round.
Yes — and if you are serious about creative Canadian cooking and wine, it belongs at the leading of your list for Old Quebec. L'Orygine earned a Michelin Plate in 2025, which in practical terms means Michelin's inspectors found the cooking consistently good enough to flag without finding fault. For a dining room at 36½ Rue Saint-Pierre in the heart of Old Quebec's Lower Town, that credential carries weight. With a Google rating of 4.7 across 794 reviews, the room is not coasting on hype: the consistency that earns Michelin attention appears to hold across ordinary evenings too.
The address places L'Orygine directly in the orbit of the Lower Town's most competitive dining corridor, which means you are comparing it against Tanière³, ARVI, and Légende for the same dinner slot. The case for L'Orygine over those alternatives comes down to a specific combination: chef-driven creative cuisine from Sabrina Lemay, a wine program managed by sommelier William Guay that reaches into Burgundy, Bordeaux, Rhône, Italy, California, and Canadian producers, and an ownership structure — Philippe Veilleux and Roxan Bourdelais , that keeps the room tightly run. When the same person signs both the general manager credit and the ownership credit, the service standard tends to be personal in a way that larger operations cannot replicate.
The address on Rue Saint-Pierre is one of the older commercial streets in Canada, lined with stone buildings whose walls run thick and whose ceiling heights vary depending on what century a given floor was added. Without confirmed seat count data, the room's precise scale is not verifiable here , but the physical envelope of a building at this address in Lower Town typically produces something intimate: close tables, low light, and stone or plaster surfaces that absorb rather than reflect. For the explorer-type diner who reads spatial cues as part of the meal, this is the kind of room that rewards arriving a few minutes early to settle in rather than rushing to order.
L'Orygine serves dinner only, which shapes everything about how you should approach it. There is no lunch service to use as a lower-stakes entry point , a relevant detail given that dinner here prices at $$$$, and a typical two-course meal lands in the $40–$65 range at the cuisine pricing tier listed ($$ for cuisine, which at this price range means the base meal is accessible before wine). The wine list is priced separately at $$, meaning a range of pricing with some bottles well under $100 and others above , which for a list of 1,000 selections and 5,000 bottles of inventory is a meaningfully deep cellar. William Guay's focus on Burgundy and Rhône alongside Canadian producers gives the list a specific character: it rewards conversation with the sommelier rather than self-navigation.
L'Orygine does not offer lunch, so the comparison is not between two meal periods at the same venue , it is between dinner here and a daytime meal elsewhere. That matters for planning. If you are calibrating a Quebec City food itinerary and want to save the $$$$ price point for one meal, dinner at L'Orygine is the stronger candidate over lunch at a comparable venue: the wine program is the reason, and wine at lunch rarely reaches its full potential. The evening format also aligns with what Sabrina Lemay's creative cuisine appears designed for , deliberate, course-by-course eating rather than a quick midday turnaround. For context on how Old Quebec handles lunch at a more accessible price, Kebec Club Privé and Auberge Saint-Antoine offer daytime options worth considering as the other bookend of a full day.
A 1,000-selection list with 5,000 bottles in inventory is a serious cellar by any Canadian standard. For comparison, most respected wine-forward restaurants in Canada carry between 200 and 500 labels; Alo in Toronto and Jérôme Ferrer - Europea in Montréal are among the few Canadian venues with programs of comparable depth. The strength areas listed , Burgundy, Bordeaux, Rhône, France broadly, Italy, California, Canada , suggest a classically grounded list that has been built over time rather than assembled for trend. The $$ pricing tier means you can drink well without committing to three-figure bottles if that is not where you want to spend, but the depth is there if it is. For a wine-focused traveller, this list alone is a reason to prioritise L'Orygine over peers with thinner cellars.
Booking difficulty is rated Hard. At a Michelin Plate restaurant in Old Quebec with a wine cellar of this scale and a dinner-only format, seats are finite and demand is consistent year-round given Quebec City's tourism and local dining culture. Plan to book well in advance , weeks out at minimum, potentially longer during Carnaval (February) or summer peak season. Walk-in availability is unlikely on any evening you would actually want to be there.
For further context on eating and drinking well across the city, Pearl's full Quebec City restaurants guide, bars guide, hotels guide, wineries guide, and experiences guide cover the broader picture. Wine-focused travellers who want to extend the L'Orygine logic to other Canadian regions should also consider Restaurant Pearl Morissette in Lincoln and AnnaLena in Vancouver for creative cooking paired with serious cellars. For a regional reference point closer to Quebec, Narval in Rimouski shows what the broader Quebec creative dining circuit looks like beyond the capital.
| Venue | Awards | Price | Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| L'Orygine | Michelin Plate (2025); WINE: Wine Strengths: Burgundy, Bordeaux, Rhône, France, Italy, California, Canada Pricing: $$ i Wine pricing: Based on the list\'s general markup and high and low price points:$ has many bottles < $50;$$ has a range of pricing;$$$ has many $100+ bottles Selections: 1,000 Inventory: 5,000 CUISINE: Cuisine Types: Canadian Pricing: $$ i Cuisine pricing: The cost of a typical two-course meal, not including tip or beverages.$ is < $40;$$ is $40–$65;$$$ is $66+. Meals: Dinner STAFF: People Sommelier: William Guay Chef: Sabrina Lemay General Manager: Philippe Veilleux Owner: Philippe Veilleux, Roxan Bourdelais | $$$$ | — |
| Tanière³ | Michelin 2 Star, World's 50 Best | $$$$ | — |
| ARVI | Michelin 1 Star | $$$$ | — |
| Chez Boulay - Bistro Boréal | $$ | — | |
| Auberge Saint-Antoine | Michelin 2 Key | — | |
| Ambre Buvette | $$$ | — |
Side-by-side comparison to help you decide where to book.
Dress as you would for any Michelin-recognised dinner: polished but not black-tie. At a $$$$ creative Canadian restaurant on Rue Saint-Pierre in Old Quebec, most guests arrive in smart evening wear. Showing up in jeans and a casual top will feel out of step with the room and the price point.
It's dinner-only, so don't plan around a midday visit. Booking is hard — this is a Michelin Plate restaurant with a small footprint in Old Quebec, and seats fill up well in advance. The format is creative Canadian cuisine, meaning the kitchen works with local and regional ingredients in a way that goes beyond bistro cooking. Chef Sabrina Lemay leads the kitchen, sommelier William Guay oversees the wine, and Philippe Veilleux runs the floor and co-owns the room.
If creative Canadian cooking and serious wine are your priorities, yes. A Michelin Plate in 2025 signals consistent kitchen craft, and with a 1,000-label list and 5,000 bottles in inventory, the wine pairing option here carries real depth. If you want a more casual, à la carte dinner in Old Quebec, Chez Boulay is a better fit at a lower price.
Bar or counter seating details are not in the available venue record. Given the $$$$ price range and Michelin Plate status, this is a reservation-first restaurant rather than a drop-in wine bar. check the venue's official channels to confirm seating options before assuming walk-in flexibility.
Tanière³ is the closest peer for ambition and creative tasting menus in Quebec City. ARVI is a strong option if you want natural wine and a more intimate, low-key format. Chez Boulay - Bistro Boréal covers boréal Quebec cuisine at a lower price point. Ambre Buvette works better for a relaxed wine-forward evening without the full commitment of a $$$$ dinner. Auberge Saint-Antoine suits travellers who want hotel-integrated dining in Old Quebec.
Yes. A Michelin Plate restaurant with a sommelier-led cellar of 5,000 bottles and a creative kitchen is well-suited to milestone dinners. The $$$$ pricing and dinner-only format reinforce the occasion feel. Book as early as possible — availability is limited and hard bookings at this level don't hold.
At $$$$ with a Michelin Plate (2025), a 1,000-label wine list, and a kitchen focused on creative Canadian cuisine, the price aligns with what's delivered — provided you engage with both the food and the wine program. If you're looking for a simpler dinner in Old Quebec, you'll get more value at Chez Boulay or Ambre Buvette. L'Orygine rewards guests who treat the wine as part of the meal.
Keep this venue in your Pearl passport, rate it after you visit, and track it alongside every other place you collect.
