In just the few short years that they've been open, Chartier has become the heart of Beaumont, literally and figuratively. With Beaumont being just a half hour drive south of the city, the French-Canadian restaurant welcomes anyone and everyone through its doors. It's become a local favourite for brunch, lunch, dinner, and dessert.
Chartier came to be after a successful Kickstarter campaign raised over $100,000. The public was clearly hungry for some good rustic French food.
From the moment you walk through the doors, the restaurant is ever so charming. It's the definition of country chic, with reclaimed wood, animal horns, mismatched chairs, and vintage plates and cutlery. Because the restaurant would not be there without the help of its Kickstarter supporters, there's also a giant wall map towards the back, with individual donor names making up Chartier's "family".
When we arrived for Sunday brunch, the room was buzzing. Thankfully we made a reservation and were seated right away. Since it was mostly everyone's first time at Chartier, we opted to order a bunch of dishes to share. In hindsight, our eyes were definitely bigger than our stomachs. The food is rich with monster portions, so bring your appetite!
Perhaps the greatest Canadian invention (ever) to come out of Quebec is the humble poutine. French fries, cheese, gravy ... match made in heaven. We ended up ordering the breakfast poutine ($15.00), a super decadent version with Montreal-style gravy, peppered bacon, cheese curds, truffle hollandaise, and a soft poached egg. It's a hearty portion that comes in its own cast-iron skillet. The fries are skin-on, thick-cut, and triple-cooked. They weren't super crispy, but crispy enough with a soft, fluffy inside. Surprisingly with all of the components, it wasn't too salty. Perhaps it was the creaminess of the egg yolk and hollandaise that tempered the salt. It was also the only dish that we managed to finish since we couldn't stop eating it!
The mushrooms on toast bennie ($16.00) starts with a base of their housemade sourdough. Mushroom mousse, sauteed mushrooms and pickled red onions are topped with poached eggs, truffle hollandaise, and balsamic glaze. If you love mushrooms, this is the dish for you. It's savoury, earthy, and a little tangy.
If you ask me, the scotch egg ($15.00) came out looking more like a dinosaur egg. It was huge! A 64-degree egg is surrounded by crêton-style spiced pork sausage, coated with panko, and then deep fried. It's served on a nest of smashed baby potatoes and arugula with smoked maple mayo and black pepper jam.
The egg was perfectly cooked within the shell of peppery sausage. I liked the sweetness and creaminess of the maple mayo but thought the overall dish was much too heavy with the additional side of baby potatoes underneath. I think having just the arugula would be the perfect foil to lighten up the scotch egg (if that's possible).
Chartier
5012 50 St #102
Beaumont, AB
(780) 737-3633
- CT
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