Restaurant Le Hatley

Fine dining at an extremely high level. The chef continues to take outstanding ingredients, many of local origin, and, through creativity and expertise, turn them into offerings even more interesting and delicious than you expected, and those expectations were already elevated. An award-worthy wine list and amiable service makes this not just a restaurant, but a destination.
May 24th, 2023

(Translated by Google) DO NOT GO! TL:DR - Cold, disparate, rushed service of lackluster dishes in dire need of modernization. "Not bad" was my spouse's description of the meal, I expect more when you pay $600+ for 2 After warm recommendations, we arrived at Hatley very happy to finally taste this "jewel" of the region (WHAT A MISTAKE!) So we took the tasting menu with wine pairing. Service: Dishes were dropped off with no explanation, with descriptions like "sea urchin and...uh...rhubarb", thus forgetting to mention half of the ingredients and no explanation of the cooking methods used. They didn't know what to answer when I asked a question about a dish or an ingredient, and when they answered me, the answer was wrong (e.g. the black garlic from the liver mousse service described as being a mixture of grape must ). No mention of the inspiration of the dishes, of the provenance of the ingredients. More than 8 different servers, without continuity in the service and a general impression of coldness. Food: The best service was the bread, then it was the tumble. After a delicious homemade bread and butter, we were full of hopes. The sea urchin service was fine, nothing more, the rudimentary description of the dish not helping. Then, the egg with sabayon and caviar was so generous in sabayon that we lost the caviar - we are far from the same dish at Jean-Georges, where the proportions of caviar vs. egg/cream creates a harmonious marriage. If you feel like eating 1/4 cup of sabayon hoping to stumble upon a small egg from time to time, let go. The liver mousse dish was monotonous, the sponge cake adding very little if not color and a touch of sugar (which the dish didn't need). The trout was a joke - with the explosion of sous-vide machines for home use, much more than a meager sous-vide piece with Swiss chard is needed at this level of fine dining. The lamb was dry, too small, with tomato puree spread here and there without precision or vision. The carrot dessert was spoiled by the coulis tasting too much carrot, without its sweet side which would have complimented the sea buckthorn. In short, a great disappointment, at an aberrant price for this kind of gastronomy from the 1990s-2000s. Wine: Great discoveries, but a sommelier seemed in a hurry. The wines were served 15-20min before the dish, there was very little left when the dish finally arrived. Despite delicious wines, the description was quite vague, focusing more on varietals and regions rather than aromas and flavors. (Original) N'Y ALLEZ PAS! TL:DR - Un service froid, disparate et expditif de plats sans clat ayant nettement besoin de modernisation. "Pas mauvais" fut le descriptif de ma conjointe du repas, je m'attends plus lorsque l'on dbourse 600$+ pour 2 Aprs de chaudes recommandations, nous sommes arrivs au Hatley bien heureux d'enfin goter ce "joyau" de la rgion (QUELLE ERREUR!) Nous avons donc pris le menu dgustation avec accord vin. Service : Les plats taient dposs sans explication, avec des descriptifs comme "oursin et... euh... rhubarbe", oubliant ainsi de mentionner la moiti des ingrdients et sans explications sur les mthodes de cuisson utilises. On ne savait quoi me rpondre lorsque je posais une question sur un plat ou un ingrdient, et lorsqu'on me rpondait, la rponse tait errone (e.g. l'ail noir du service de mousse de foie dcrite comme tant un mlange de mot de raisin). Aucune mention de l'inspiration des plats, de la provenance des ingrdients. Plus de 8 serveurs diffrents, sans continuit dans le service et une impression gnrale de froideur. Nourriture : Le meilleur service fut le pain, ce fut ensuite la dgringolade. Aprs un pain et beurre maison dlicieux, nous tions plein d'espoirs. Le service d'oursin tait bien, sans plus, la description rudimentaire du plat n'aidant pas. Ensuite, l'oeuf avec sabayon et caviar tait tellement gnreux en sabayon que nous perdions le caviar - on est loin du mme plat de chez Jean-Georges, o les proportions de caviar vs. oeuf/crme cre un mariage harmonieux. Si l'envie vous prend de manger 1/4 de tasse de sabayon en esprant tomber par hasard sur un petit oeuf de temps en temps, lchez-vous lousse. Le plat de mousse de foie tait monotone, le gteau ponge n'ajoutant que trs peu si ce n'est de la couleur et une touche de sucre (dont le plat n'avait pas besoin). La truite tait une farce - avec l'explosion des machines cuisson sous vide pour les particuliers, il en faut bien plus qu'un maigre morceau sous-vide avec bette carde ce niveau de gastronomie. L'agneau tait sec, trop petit, avec une pure de tomates rpartie ici et l sans prcision ou vision. Le dessert aux carottes fut gch par le coulis gotant beaucoup trop la carotte, sans son ct sucr qui aurait compliment l'argousier. Bref, une grande dception, un prix aberrant pour ce genre de gastronomie des annes 1990-2000. Vin : De belles dcouvertes, mais un sommelier semblant press. Les vins taient servis 15-20min avant le plat, il n'en restait que trs peu lorsque le plat arrivait enfin. Malgr des vins dlicieux, la description tait assez vague, se concentrant davantage sur les cpages et les rgions plutt que les armes et saveurs.
May 22nd, 2023

Mar 22nd, 2023

Mar 21st, 2023

Mar 9th, 2023