by A.J. Kinik

Considering the frequency with which one sees signs declaring “Nouveau concept” in this city, it’s surprising how infrequently we’re presented with a restaurant that’s truly novel. Many of our most notable restaurants either began with a bon vivant concept or a sleek, stylish, ultramodern concept—sometimes both—but even the most singular among them are often no more than a variation on a theme.

To a large extent, it’s the very fact that our culinary scene here is perceived as having one foot in the New World and one foot in the Old, both geographically and temporally, that has made it so attractive to outsiders in recent years. So when a restaurant comes along trumpeting an entirely new philosophy to dining, you stand up and listen, and Robin des Bois is just such a restaurant.

Robin des Bois’ sense of novelty is twofold. On the one hand, 100 per cent of the restaurant’s proceeds go to charity; on the other, the restaurant’s staff is made up almost entirely of volunteers, the sole exception being the chef. This means that many of those who go to the place might not only be looking for a good meal, they might be looking to soothe their souls.

It also means that the service is likely to have more of an Amateur Hour feel to it, for better or for worse, and that one’s tips might have very little to do with whether the wait staff performed balletically or not. The gambit here is that this combination of elements will add up to a dining experience fuelled on altruism, one where some sense of a common goal—in this case, generating charitable donations for organizations such as Le Chaînon, CACTUS Montreal and Sun Youth—will make the efforts of a kitchen led by a talented chef with a Toqué pedigree taste all the better.

With this in mind, a group of us went to Robin des Bois the other night to see if the experiment was paying off. The menu is organized bistro-style, with a small selection of entrees, mains and desserts listed on chalkboards scattered around the room. We got things going with two salads to share—a refreshing citrus and fennel number with fresh almonds ($4.75) and a somewhat less inspired buckwheat noodle concoction with cherry tomatoes, traces of confited garlic and a balsamic vinegar reduction ($4.85)—before choosing our mains.

By far and away the best of the lot was a peppery venison steak cooked to rosé perfection and accompanied by sautéed beet greens, some lovely roasted carrots and a very fine parsnip purée ($23.50). Also of note were the delicate cod cakes that came with a tangy coriander sauce, but with only two cod cakes per order they had a hard time filling up the plate even with the addition of a sunflower-studded side salad. Less impressive, and frankly a bit deceiving, was the spicy chicken ($16.75), which was actually a rather run-of-the-mill, milquetoast mild and, unfortunately, lukewarm chicken curry served alongside a dull quinoa dish with oranges. Meanwhile, tri-coloured rotini pasta served with thin strips of trout and a basil-cream sauce ($12.50) had all the pizzazz of something from the Quick ’n’ Easy section of a homemakers’ magazine.

These contradictions and inconsistencies carried over into our desserts. Robin des Bois’ almond shortcake with fresh peaches and sweetened labneh ($3.75) was both generous and well-composed, while a lemon pot de crème ($3.25) was anything but.

So is the glass half-empty or half-full? Well, Robin des Bois has enough going for it that there’s no reason to doubt that they’ll be able to overcome any early unsteadiness. But, in my opinion, this resto has some difficult questions it needs to face. Does its sense of purpose necessarily have to include all those tired hippyish flourishes? Does Montreal really need another venison steak-serving “classic” bistro? Is Robin des Bois’ formula enough to generate an altogether different dining experience when so many other restaurant conventions have been left untouched? Does the figure of Robin Hood—the brigand, the thief, the rake—even make sense in this context? I’m being a little bit tough, I know, but that’s only because the larger project is worthwhile, and anything less would be overly charitable.

Robin des Bois
ADDRESS: 4403 St-Laurent
PHONE: 288-1010
HOURS: Mon-Sat 8 a.m.-11 p.m.; closed Sun
BEST FEATURES: Good karma
ALCOHOL: Yes
WHEELCHAIR ACCESS: Yes
VEGETARIAN FRIENDLY: Yes
CREDIT CARDS: Yes
PRICE: $15–$30 per person before wine and tip
RATING: ** and a 1/2 out of ****