The Changing Face of Dining In

The Pitch

Amid the myriad options of dining in which have surfaced since people were forced to spend more time at home with the onslaught of COVID-19 are partially-cooked meals.  Lying somewhere in between ready-to-eat takeout and DIY kits, these simply require heating, finishing or assembling.

New in this space is Sous Vide Gourmet, started by twin brothers Peter & Bill Mavridis in October of last year.  Based out of Saint-Simon in Ahuntsic, the siblings have set up a delivery service showcasing the merits of slow cooking as a technique.  They were generous enough to offer me a large sampling of their products to test.

tagged:  WE DELIVER

The Food

The fledgling operation's menu focuses on ribs and chicken along with sides, in addition to desserts.  Attention is placed on sourcing from local producers such as Nagano and Les Voltigeurs – even the amaretto used in one of the desserts comes from a Quebecois distillery.  Orders consist of feasts for two to four people while deliveries are scheduled for Fridays.

Items come vacuum sealed with the contents slow cooked over 16 hours and ideally portioned for family meals.  All that is required is to heat things up, which can be done in the oven or microwave, on the grill or in a bain marie.  The chicken I sampled exemplifies the promise behind sous-vide cooking: even on the outside as well as the inside with maximum moisture retention.

Seasoned à la grecque, it married nicely with the garlicky Yukon Gold potato wedges.  Two variations of chicken wings – maple-garlic-ginger and BBQ rub – were also juicy and quite flavourful.  A little less successful was an osso buco alla Milanese.  The sauce was tasty, but the meat not as tender as hoped for.

Finally, desserts were unusual but delicious.  A keto cheesecake in a jar had a creamy consistency and sat atop a fruity/sweet blueberry coulis; while a chocolate ganache brownie was beautifully fudgy, hiding delightful bursts of almond paste and amaretto inside.

Maple Garlic Ginger Chicken Wings

Classic BBQ Rub Chicken Wings

Osso Buco Milanese

Half Chicken à la Grecque

Greek-Style Yukon Gold Potatoes

Garlic Confit & Herb Yukon Gold Potatoes

Keto Sous-Vide Blueberry Cheesecake

Chocolate Ganache Brownies

tagged:  GOOD FOR SHARING

The Verdict

When I started 514eats almost ten years ago, my focus was entirely on dining out; meaning I would only review sit-down restaurants serving a full meal.  As eating habits evolved with the birth of delivery apps, ghost kitchens and other innovations – trends which have accelerated with the pandemic – I had no choice but to expand my scope to better reflect how Montrealers are eating today.

Sous Vide Gourmet has broadened the landscape with yet another model, introducing something easy to prepare which can sit in your fridge beforehand.  Personally, I will always prefer going out for dinner at a happening restaurant or ordering in pizza, Chinese, etc. on "cheat night".  But I must admit; Sous Vide's proposition does save time, tastes pretty good and gets the cooking right.