Au Pied de Cochon

Martin Picard opened on Duluth in 2001 with one of the first fully open kitchens in Montreal, and he put foie gras on the poutine while the rest of the trade was chasing finesse and lightness.2 1

Why go

Picard trained in fine dining and then built the opposite of it: a brasserie serving the best products simply, with the cooks in full view of the room as a deliberate break from the codes of haute cuisine.1 The kitchen is his nephew Michael Picard Labelle's now, his daughter Charlotte runs the dining room with Émile, and Robert and Maya work as sous-chefs.1 The place has been a school. Hugue Dufour went from here to M. Wells in New York, Gaëlle Cerf helped start Montreal's food-truck scene, and Philippe Poitras opened Hambar.1 Picard and his collaborators wrote in their first book that the restaurant industry remains one of the last bastions of work carried out by human operators, and that the restaurant places great value on the human element.1

Order this / avoid

Order: the foie gras poutine. Fries, cheese, brown gravy, foie gras on top, and it is the dish people crossed borders for.1
Order: pork, whichever end of the animal the menu is running. Snout to tail is the house position.1
Order: the pouding chômeur, which also arrives with foie gras on it.1
Avoid: counting on a walk-in. Reservations are online only and the room trades Wednesday to Sunday, 5pm to 10pm.2

What locals & experts say

Élise Tastet, Tastet: Au Pied de Cochon was the first restaurant to go against the grain of the dominant culinary trends of the time, which emphasized finesse, health, and lightness. The place reflects its founder perfectly: intense, generous, extreme, and deeply convivial.1
Tastet on where the cooking sits now: While foie gras still holds pride of place, time has brought a touch more freshness and delicacy to the menu. It remains just as memorable as ever - you simply leave feeling a little less full, which isn't a bad thing.1
Canada's 100 Best, No. 78 in 2026 and No. 76 in 2025: Martin Picard's ode to foie gras remains one of Montreal's most unapologetically indulgent expressions of Québécois cooking.3 5

Good to know

Timing: Wednesday to Sunday, 5pm to 10pm.2
Booking: online only, and the room turns 25 in November 2026.2
To drink: private-import wines, Montreal-brewed beers and the house cocktails.2
Which door: this is the Duluth restaurant. La Cabane au Pied de Cochon and La Cabane d'à Côté are separate rooms in the same group at a different address.1

Verdict

must-visit — Martin Picard opened on Duluth in 2001 with one of the first fully open kitchens in Montreal, cooking rich while the rest of the trade chased finesse and lightness. Canada's 100 Best ranks the room No. 78 for 2026 and No. 76 for 2025, and its 2026 write-up calls it one of Montreal's most unapologetically indulgent expressions of Québécois cooking. The foie gras poutine is the plate people came to Montreal for, and Élise Tastet writes that those fries, that cheese, that brown gravy under foie gras became famous far beyond Quebec. His nephew Michael Picard Labelle has the kitchen now and his daughter Charlotte has the floor, and Tastet and Canada's 100 Best both report more freshness and more season in the cooking than there used to be.