These are stories Report on Business is following Monday, April 6, 2015.
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Where the wealthy dine
If you really want to impress your date, try Toqué!.
The well-known Montreal eatery, with chef Normand Laprise, is among the world's top restaurants for the rich, according to a survey of readers of Elite Traveler, which bills itself as "the private jet lifestyle magazine."
(When I first looked at the menu online today, I thought $26 for its striped bass ceviche wasn't all that bad. Then I realized it's an appetizer.)
Toqué!, which has been around for more than 20 years, is ranked No. 70 among 100, and is a new entry on the 2015 list, the result of a poll among Elite Traveler readers as to their favourite restaurants and chefs.
The Top 10, by the way, include Chicago's Alinea, Spain's El Celler de Can Roca and Azsurmendi in the next two spots, New York's Eleven Madison Park, Britain's The Fat Duck, China's Robuchon au Dome, New York again with Per Se, Rome's La Pergola, yet another for New York with Le Bernardin, and Osteria Francescana of Modena, Italy.
(I haven't been to any of them.)
The Montreal restaurant – Toqué!, according to translations, informally means donning a chef's hat or a tad crazy – was opened in 1993 by Mr. Laprise and Christine Lamarche.
According to their website, the two "aimed to create a restaurant based on market-fresh cuisine where the emphasis is placed on local products."
The two "took the gamble that led them to becoming both chefs and owners of a gastronomic restaurant, in a city that was then in full recession."
It opened on St-Denis with 10 employees, a restaurant that could fit 55 diners, but within about a decade moved to "the heart of the Quartier International, where they would create a custom kitchen for their creative and visionary project."
In fact, it says it became a "learning center" for young cooks that encourages research and "development of new approaches" and whose kitchen "has become quite the laboratory."
And a few years ago, it published a 400-page cookbook.
(Which might be the only way I experience its food.)
- The hottest chef in the land
- Try it at home: Normand Laprise's goat-cheese gratin with leek and potato
- Try it at home: Dougle-fried French fries
- Montreal chef Normand Laprise wins James Beard Award for new cookbook
- Elite Traveler's top 100
Oil woes spread
The hit to jobs and investment from the oil price plunge is spreading beyond the oil patch, according to businesses surveyed by the Bank of Canada.
"Signs of spillovers to other sectors and regions are . . . emerging," the central bank said in its quarterly business outlook survey, released today, The Globe and Mail's Barrie McKenna reports.
Over the next 12 months, fewer companies expect to invest in machinery and equipment, to expand sales or to hire.
"Lower oil prices continue to dampen overall sale outlook of firms, weighing on investment and hiring intentions," the central bank said.
Hiring intentions were weaker than they've been since the recession in 2009, and the problem is evident in "most sectors and regions," the central bank added. Many businesses tied directly the oil industry plan to cut their work force, although overall hiring intentions remain positive across the country.
The mood isn't all bad. Businesses outside of the oil sector said they are starting to see the benefits the lower Canadian dollar, but they "expect the benefits to unfold only gradually in the future."
What to watch for
It's a big week in a few respects.
Wednesday marks the start of first-quarter corporate earnings, with the release of Alcoa Inc.'s results. And, as The Globe and Mail's Luke Kawa reports, this could be a disappointing quarter, with the threat of a "profit recession."
Then on Friday, Statistics Canada releases one of its major indicators with the employment report.
Economists are all over the map on what to expect, but, generally, it's not pretty.
- Luke Kawa: ‘Profit recession’ looms ahead of U.S. first-quarter financial reports
- Brian Milner in ROB Insight (for subscribers): Jobs-report trends point to deepening woes in the months ahead
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