Les Arts Financière Sun Life
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T W T F S S M T W T F S S
PARIS, OUR HONOURED GUEST STAR
The Air France Wine and Dine Experience presented
                    by American Express

The festival’s gourmet Program, the Air France Wine and Dine Experience, has been a runaway success since its inception in 2000. No surprises here: nowhere else in the world will you find dozens of renowned chefs in the same city at the same time, cooking at the highest level in the company of their peers. Some 250 guests from 5 continents have already paired up to sate the appetites and palates of Festival fans, who fully understood the opportunity served up before them: tasting dishes prepared by the greatest chefs, at Montreal restaurant prices!

This year, in celebration of our 10th anniversary, we are happy to welcome Paris as our honoured guest city. Our honorary president will be the unique Alain Passard of l’Arpège (three stars in the Michelin guide). Joining him will be a delegation of 27 veteran french cooks, judiciously representing the culinary diversity of this great gastronomical capital, as well as six French winegrowers eager to present their meticulously refined vintages.

Close to 50 partner restaurateurs—the Festival’s Finest Tables—have gone to great lengths to offer you a panoply of special activities. Many of them will pair up to welcome their guests, while others prepare elaborate theme soirées offering genuine culinary discoveries.

More? How about eight specialty restaurants, the Festival Lunch Menus, featuring fortifying lunches for only $12.95, or the Festival of Our Cheeses with a dozen of Quebec’s finest cheesemakers, or the activities at Jean-Talon Market including a showcase of products from Slow Food Les Montérégiennes, or the popular Grande Raclette, held just before the renowned Montreal All-Nighter. Surrender to the gourmet adventure of the MONTREAL HIGH LIGHTS Festival, and dig into an immense and tantalizing array of activities.

The complete Air France Wine & Dine Experience program will be available from December 16, 2008.

Délice - Good food cities of the world

Alain Passard
Alain Passard

Ranked among the top French chefs and consistently garnering three Michelin stars since 1996, Brittany native Alain Passard has not forgotten his roots. Born into a family of artisans, he was introduced to cooking by his grandmother Louise. Later, he would train under Michel Kéréver and Gaston Boyer, then with master of nouvelle cuisine Alain Senderens at L’Archestrate—a life-changing encounter.

Passard would take over the restaurant from Senderens, dubbing it L’Arpège (the arpeggio) as a token of his love for music. The grill mecca became a haven for vegetable lovers with dishes that dance through the seasons. Whether raw and cut into paper-thin slices, whole with a salty crumb topping, minced and tucked into ravioli, peeking out of a salad, or in a gratin or mousseline, his vegetables are an entire ballet with game, poultry, and shellfish for accompaniment, all served in discreet and refined elegance.

 
 
©Copyright 2008. All rights reserved. MONTREAL HIGH LIGHTS Festival - A masterwork conceived and executed by L’Équipe Spectra.