Four years after moving to the Limoilou district, the Grand Marché de Québec is a mandatory stop for foodies visiting the nation’s capital. Four new kiosks have just been set up there.
Sophie Bourlard’s macaron counter is reminiscent of chic Parisian boutiques with its pastel colors, mounted pieces and pedestal trays. But beyond the decoration, the Belgian-born pastry chef wanted the taste and texture of her round desserts to be as refined as those found in Europe. “Everything is made with natural ingredients,” she explains. I do not use any artificial coloring. I cook them like for my family. Self-taught, Sophie Bourlard was obsessed with macaroons. She left her job as an administrative assistant and started her business at home in 2016. The entrepreneur was part of the first cohort of MYCÉLIUM, the food business incubator located at the Grand Marché. This training gave him the tools to open his first store in Charlesbourg and a second in Sillery. With its counter, inaugurated in February, it is making a comeback through the front door. A word of advice: don’t miss the fleur de sel caramel macaroon. He is so popular that his caramel is also sold in pots.
Decadent biscuits, giant galettes and cupcakes, impossible for lovers of sweets not to succumb to the desserts of Dominike Audet. The former Quebec radio host converted to pastry during the pandemic. She has been present at the Grand Marché for a few months and, seeing the queue forming every day in front of her stall, her delicacies are all the rage. “My boyfriend comes in at 6 a.m. every morning to bake the cookies,” she says. It’s always fresh! Of the nine varieties on offer, her Red Velvet cookie is a favorite. Since the victory of the Remparts, she has been selling the sandwich cookie topped with white cake icing, in the official colors of the hockey team. “We called it the So-Gros,” adds the pastry chef. It’s the dirtiest. Dominike Audet became known to foodies when she appeared on CBC’s The Great Canadian Baking Show in 2021. Behind her counter, her zest for life is contagious.
Cheeses from La Laiterie Charlevoix come to the kitchen in the new space called La Dinette. “Customers wanted to see the finished product,” says manager Sandy Walker. We’ll show them what we can do with our cheeses! In the central aisle of the market, just in front of the dairy shop, we offer a 100% cheese menu. This is made up of several grilled cheeses, onion soup, cheese platters and, for lunch, Jersey cow’s milk yogurt parfaits. All dishes can be taken “to go”, but it is more pleasant to enjoy them at the bar, with a glass of wine to boot.
No need to travel to Charlevoix to savor José Poulin’s famous smoked meat. The chef, who has been running a boutique in Baie-Saint-Paul for over 20 years, now runs a counter at the Grand Marché. The entrepreneur wanted to get closer to some of his customers, because it is not uncommon for his customers to go back and forth from Montreal to get his products, he says. “The cooking and cutting are perfect, that’s why my smoked meat is the best,” says the chef. In addition to its vacuum-packed meat, its counter contains a host of dishes prepared with its smoked meat, including sausage, gratin and lasagna.
Opened in 2019 on the ExpoCité site in the Limoilou district
Thirty permanent merchants, including SNO Nordik microbrewery and Lebanese cuisine restaurant Zeitoun
About twenty market gardeners present in summer
Nearly 1 million visitors per year
Open seven days a week
Free parking
