The oldest fine-dining restaurant in the city of Québec has been housed since 1956 in a house built in 1845 by the Honourable Jean-Thomas Taschereau, a judge of the Supreme Court of Canada. In Governor Frontenac’s time, rue Saint-Louis had already become the most prestigious residential street in the Upper Town. The street ran from the governor’s château and had been named in honour of the Crusader king, the good Saint Louis.
Today, with 140 seats across two floors, Le Continental continues the tradition of its Italian founders, the brothers Angelo and Luigi Sgobba, but with a signature take on high-end classic French cuisine. Proudly fitted out, the decor of the historic Taschereau house almost makes you feel you’re aboard a vintage cruise ship. Rich, warm wood panelling, silverware, immaculate tablecloths and table lamps immerse diners in an intimate, hushed atmosphere.
For decades, Le Continental has welcomed celebrities from the worlds of film, music, sports and politics, both from here and from elsewhere. Nearly all Québec premiers have had their own table here, as have several Canadian prime ministers.
Le Continental also describes itself as “the restaurant for life’s milestones,” whether it’s a graduation, an engagement, a wedding, a wedding anniversary, a promotion or any occasion to gather guests and celebrate. It is also not uncommon to serve third-generation customers here.
In 2010, Mathieu Pettigrew and his partners acquired Le Continental. Mathieu had already been working there since 1993. Their goal at the time was to make the most of tableside cooking, one of the key elements of its success.
The varied, gastronomic menu includes specialties such as continental filet mignon, veal sweetbreads flambéed in Madeira, or langoustines flambéed in whisky. A four-course table d’hôte is also offered, with quite respectable value for money. Two attractive private dining rooms are available to guests.
The highlight remains the only tableside service. Flambés come as a bonus, offering the luxury of dishes prepared and cooked at the table. These artists are trained on site to flambé dishes in the restaurant’s tradition. Product quality and authenticity are at the heart of management’s concerns. The wine cellar, too, impresses with some 12,000 bottles and 300 French, Italian and Californian appellations, from the most affordable to the finest grand cru classé.
Though the menu has hardly changed in 50 years (customers like it that way), it is revised twice a year and adapted to the availability of ingredients. No effort is spared to ensure consistent quality and satisfy both new customers and long-time regulars.
Worth noting: back then, the Continental’s kitchen was in the basement. Today, it’s combined with that of its next-door little brother, the Conti, with a single kitchen team.
Le Continental is open year-round, seven days a week, for dinner. Together, the two restaurants employ 75 to 80 people.
A story that still inspires today
From the early 1800s, when the courthouse was installed at the corner of place d’Armes, many lawyers settled on rue Saint-Louis. That is how the house now occupied by Le Continental restaurant came to be built in 1844 for lawyer Jean-Thomas Taschereau. At 30, he moved into the new house with his young wife and their first child. Fortunately, the young lawyer Taschereau had a large house built for himself. Five children were born of his first marriage, and seven more came with his second.
His talents and good reputation won him appointment as a judge in 1855. That same year, he also became a part-time professor at Université Laval. In 1878, Judge Taschereau was elevated to the eminent position of judge of the Supreme Court of Canada. However, his health grew increasingly frail, and he retired in 1888. He spent his final years in his home on rue Saint-Louis, where he died in 1893, the very year the Château Frontenac was inaugurated not far away.
Steeped in this history, Le Continental has welcomed guests since its earliest days. It was opened by Italian brothers Angelo and Luigi Sgobba, along with their friends Luigi Giacomello and Stephano Degan, after a six-month journey in Québec. Upon arriving in Québec, it was love at first sight.
Restaurant Le Continental
restaurantlecontinental.com
26, rue Saint-Louis
Vieux-Québec (Qc)
418 694-9