Vitamin Daily

We’ve watched St.Henri experience a recent regeneration, and now neighbouring Griffintown is getting its own makeover, with a restaurant takeover featuring a talented team of restaurateurs who transformed an old, unloved chicken grill into the hottest dish in town.

Nora Gray, is changing the face of rue St.Jacques, serving market-fresh southern Italian cuisine to a lively late-night crowd (come early if you want a quiet meal!). We happily joined in the party with a mouth-watering primi of tender calamari and tasty meatballs ($11), followed by an indulgent pasta course, sharing half portions of the creamy and rich wild mushroom Cavatelli ($11) and deliciously textured crispy sweetbread ravioli ($15). We’d already heard raves about the white fish, cooked to crispy/flaky perfection on the charcoal grill salvaged from the space’s previous owners and destined to become our must-have meal. On the day we dined the daily special featured fresh, never-frozen marinated tuna served atop lentils. Delish!

Welcome to the restaurant renaissance! —Jennifer Nachshen

Nora Gray, 1391, rue St Jacques, Montreal, 514-419-6672, www.noragray.com