Five of Montreal’s best poutine spots – according to a local chef

Montreal-born chef Michele Forgione makes one of the best poutines in the city. Here are his top poutine picks in Montreal, from Chez Ma Tante to Ma Poulle Mouillée.

Piping-hot French fries topped with squeaky cheese curds and brown gravy: in Canada’s Quebec province, poutine is tantamount to passion. The beloved dish has become emblematic of the province and opinions abound on which curds make the best topping or how the frying method affects the dish.
Legends about its origins are also plentiful. In a 2015 tourism campaign, the town of Drummondville, Quebec, claimed ownership of poutine, declaring that it was invented in the 1960s by self-proclaimed “l’inventeur de la poutine” Jean-Paul Roy of local restaurant Le Roy Jucep. Another legend states that a customer mixed cheese curds with French fries at restaurant La P’tite Vache in Princeville, Quebec in 1966. But the most prevailing legend points to the town of Warwick, Quebec, in the late 1950s, when restauranteur Fernand Lachance of Le Café Idéal exclaimed “Ca va faire une maudite poutine!” (“It will make a damn mess!”) when a customer asked him to put cheese curds in a takeaway bag of frites.
In Montreal, Quebec’s largest city, poutine can take many forms. Since the invention of poutineries (poutine-only restaurants) in the 1980s, poutine has become a vehicle for an endless range of toppings, representing the great cultural diversity of the city itself, as many of the city’s ethnic groups offer their own takes on the dish.
To find the city’s most delicious poutine, we spoke to Michele Forgione, restaurateur and owner of modern Montreal casse-croûte (Quebecois snack bar) Chez Tousignant, whose poutine is often touted as one of Montreal’s best. “I truly believe that the culinary heritage that every single ethnicity brings to the city is very important,” he says. “Montreal is a melting pot, and one can really travel through different cultures through its food. That to me is so unique.” But no matter what goes on top of a poutine – from Portuguese chicken to Haitian griot (pork shoulder) – there are three non-negotiable elements: French fries made from red skin potatoes, dark gravy made from chicken or beef stock and fresh cheese curds. “Not mozzarella!” says Forgione.
Here are Forgione’s top poutines in his hometown of Montreal.