The dining scene in Montreal is a central component of our metropolitan cultural identity. Other cities have restaurants. We have icons. L’Express. Joe Beef. Au Pied de Cochon.

Eating out at an outstanding establishment is one of the key criteria for tourists choosing to travel to Montreal, and among the most desirable features of living here. The restaurant industry, according to a 2022 study conducted by MTL2424, generates $1.3 billion annually for the local economy.

Our restaurants put this country on the culinary map. “Without Montreal,” the beloved food writer Anthony Bourdain said, “Canada would be hopeless.”

Restaurant culture has evolved significantly here over the past two decades. No longer is it just bagels and smoked meat, poutine and pea soup. No shade against these mythical dishes, but Montreal nowadays offers some of the globe’s most audacious dining experiences and pleasurable payoffs for those with inquisitive palates.

“Montreal diners are the best and most educated diners in the world,” says Ryan Gray, co-founder of Nora Gray, the stylish 49-seat destination in Griffintown which since launching in 2011 has consistently earned a spot on the list of Canada’s 100 best restaurants. The accolades are well-deserved.

“I’ve travelled extensively,” Gray claims, “and I think that yes, there’s incredible food in Manhattan and Paris and Copenhagen. But pound-for-pound, our restaurants are on par with anywhere.”

For this city’s discerning gourmands, Nora Gray has become a landmark. Bon Appétit comments that it, “feels like home, if your house has sleek black leather booths, a beautiful long wooden bar, romantically dimmed but not-too-dark lights, and handmade pasta readily available.” Cult Montreal food critic Clay Sandhu has definitively called it, “Montreal’s best Italian restaurant.” The décor is decidedly your grandparents’ basement. But the food is a contemporary take on traditional and regional Italian cuisine, with an emphasis on seasonal, local, and natural fare.

“Montrealers are very savvy and if something isn’t actually great, then they don’t go,” Gray says. “In Montreal, we have this wonderful French heritage where cooking good food is part of our culture. That’s not something you find in other North American cities. The expectation here is so high that it forces you to be really incredible.”

Save for the stint during the pandemic, which shuttered everything, I have been coming to Nora Gray for more than a decade as often as my budget and belt size will allow and have never left less than satisfied. Owners Ryan Gray, Emma Cardarelli, and Lisa McConnell originated out of Joe Beef’s Liverpool House, where Gray and Cardarelli worked together for five years before venturing off on their own.

“At the time in 2011,” recalls Gray, “there didn’t seem to be a whole lot of options for people like us. We really felt like we were working at the top, working for the Joe Beef group. It was certainly the coolest restaurant in town. We had an incredible roster of clients and regulars, dealing with celebrities, politicians. We were part of something so amazing and the thought of working somewhere else, or for someone else — there was just nothing else like it at the time. But we were hungry for more, we wanted to keep growing and learning, and it was either leave Montreal or open our own restaurant.”

They chose the latter and the rest is history. The Nora Gray group now operates their flagship location on Saint-Jacques as well two additional offshoots, Elena and Gia, with an Elena-adjacent pizza-by-the-slice concept set to open in September at the corner of Ottawa and Murray. “We’re stoked,” Gray exclaims. “It’s been a long time coming.”

While Nora Gray benefited from being among the first of its breed, evermore of Montreal’s eateries are taking a page from their cookbook. “There’s a lot more high-quality options in Montreal than before,” Gray notes. “Every other day I feel like someone’s opening a new Italian concept. We had the market to ourselves for a little while there. Now, there’s no neighbourhood that doesn’t have its own small Italian restaurant.”

However, maintaining a restaurant at the highest calibre is another feat. The fictional Italian chef Artie Bucco of The Sopranos delivered the now-famous pearl of dining establishment wisdom: “Running a restaurant is like owning an elephant: it costs a fortune and one day it shits on your head.”

Gray laughs, “Don’t these young people know that it’s a terrible business idea? It’s scary. The rates are crazy right now. Construction is out of control. Raw materials are so expensive. You have to be really passionate. And insane. But you’re just happy to do what you want to do and work for yourself. I think there’s always going to be an appetite for that.”

Nora Gray’s new executive chef Dmetro Sinclair tells me that the self-imposed pressure of setting the menu is the most challenging and rewarding part of the job.

“I love it when you put something on the menu that maybe seems too weird or too out there and then it flies,” Sinclair says. “It reminds me how much people trust us. This is our dinner party.”

Sinclair arrived in September 2024 via Mon Lapin and Salle Climatisée and has quickly become an integral part of the Nora Gray crew. “I consume a lot of cookbooks,” he explains, “and stay on top of what’s happening at restaurants around the world. I like to change things a lot. Sometimes we change the menu three times a week. Especially in the summertime when you have three micro-seasons and everything is constantly changing.”

Maître d’hôtel Shelby Skaberna and head bartender Lexi Becker are Nora Gray’s most public faces. “Sometimes people see us working and they comment on how there’s so much non-verbal communication,” says Skaberna. “There are so many times that we could have potential collisions, but we move out of the way last-minute. We know each other so well.”

“It’s such a small team,” notes Becker, “not more than 15. If we get too busy, people help without being asked.”

Sinclair agrees. “We’re all dancing together,” he remarks.

We are invited to stay for the staff meal — cold gazpacho and a deliciously garlicky Caesar salad followed by fried zucchini flowers, veal strozzapreti, focaccia and spiced olive oil, and a marbled torte for dessert. Everything is carefully prepared, beautifully presented, and remarkably tasty. The camaraderie around the table is tangible as Sinclair and Skaberna detail the reservations, specials, and other such subtleties. I ask Becker what constitutes her ideal customer. “We like people who are adventurous and like to try a bit of everything, share everything,” she says.

It is clear that an appetite for excellence guides Nora Gray’s ethos — from the food to the vibe, the music, the service and staff. “I can’t say enough how important it is to have good people — people who care. We’re so blessed,” Gray says.

Nora Gray’s list of notable clients includes the likes of Kevin Hart, Jennifer Lawrence, James Blunt, Aubrey Plaza, and Georges St-Pierre, icons in their own right.

“We have had a lot of Montreal Canadiens players and players from other teams — and musicians performing at Bell Centre,” Gray says. “Ideally, you’re the kind of place that people out-of-town want to come to. People who travel from abroad and come here, they’re always absolutely blown away. Our diners push us to be better.”◼︎

Nora Gray is located at 1391 Rue Saint-Jacques.