by MARK SLUTSKY

The Kit Kat Diner used to sit atop the hill at the corner of St-Laurent and Sherbrooke. It was a classic diner, and it was sad to see the old place go when it shut its doors a couple of years ago. It wasn't long before a new resto, Resto Le 2, occupied the same smallish space, and although the current occupant is a very different animal from the Kit Kat, it's retained the same cozy feel.

Part of that continuity of coziness has to be the restaurant's look. A winner of 2003's Commerce Design Montreal competition, which rewards stylin' local businesses, Le 2 was designed by the local firm LDC. It's got an airy, modern feel which, together with the lighting, really opens up the space. They've wisely kept some of the original architectural features intact, like the leaded-glass transom windows - a nice touch.

And yeah, the food's good too. Le 2 makes with the fusion tapas styles, which seems like a pretty popular way to go for restaurants these days. Basically we're talking a one-page menu of small, shareable dishes influenced by various international cuisines - our waiter suggested ordering two for each member of our party, though in the end we could've used a couple more. With a nice list of wines and cocktails, Le 2 seems like the perfect place to have a couple of drinks and a snack, though you could definitely work a full meal.

To start things off, try the chips de tubercule ($6), which are not, thankfully, tubercular wedges of potato, but rather chips made from various tubers. You've got your regular old taters, sweet potatoes, faro - even lotus root makes it into the dish. They're crisp, thin, and very salty, and damned if they don't fly off the plate. A nice contrast to the chips is the alliage de légumes crus ($9). Shredded beets, asparagus tips and fennel drizzled with a lychee vinaigrette top four squares of rice pastry, each containing a bite-full of cauliflower couscous. This is one fresh-tasting dish - cold, flavourful and a perfect starter.

A couple of plates saw the chef's ambitions somewhat outstrip his results. One of these was the brochettes verticales ($7), three small brochettes laden with apple, beet (marinated in balsamic vinegar, I believe), manchego cheese, and canard confit giblets. While this sounded delicious in theory, the confusing mélange of flavours lacked something in the execution. Another dish where reach exceeded grasp was the pétoncles poêlées ($10). Three pieces of scallop, each breaded in polenta, sat alongside three pieces of portabello/polenta maki, a form of maki that was new to me! The scallop was fine, and the portabello and polenta combined to form a pleasingly warm flavour, but something was missing.

This wasn't always the case though, as some of the dishes worked perfectly. My favourite was the ravioli de crevette ($10), three shrimp ravioli (obviously) positioned strategically around a hockey-puck's worth of shredded fennel and onion. The ravioli were drizzled in bright-orange carrot butter, and when that flavour combined with the shrimp, we're talking fireworks here. Also on the scrumptious side was the aloyau d'agneau/rouleaux de jarret d'agneau confit ($11, worth it for the slash in the middle of the name alone). On the aloyau side were tender, peppery slices of roast lamb, as well as a mix of Asian vegetables in a wicked, sweet soy-based sauce. Very tasty, especially when you factor in the fried spring rolls, also stuffed with lamb, that made up the dish's other half. The côte de boeuf braisée ($10) was also quite good, served on a very geometrical terrine of potatoes and onions, and drenched in a sweet syrah sauce.

All told, Le 2 offers a very pleasant meal, especially accompanied by a cocktail or two. If you're really hungry, you might want to take a pass and find something more filling, but for ambience and light snacking, Le 2 is definitely a winner.

Le 2
ADDRESS: 2 Sherbrooke E. (at St-Laurent)
PHONE: 843-8881
HOURS: Sun-Wed 5PM–12AM, Thu-Sat 5PM–3AM
BEST FEATURES: The stylin', friendly atmosphere
ALCOHOL: Yes
WHEELCHAIR ACCESS: Yes
VEGETARIAN FRIENDLY: Yes
CREDIT CARDS: Yes (no Interac, though)
NO-SMOKING SECTION: No
PRICE: $15–$20 per person, before tax, tip, or wine
RATING: *** out of ****