“it was very important to remain anonymous. […] I always made a reservation as Jessica Simpson or Marge Simpson. I always paid cash to avoid using a credit card with my name on it. Always pay for the meal. We were never a guest of the restaurant”.

– Lesley Chesterman

Lesley Chesterman

Lesley Chesterman is a graduate of Montreal’s Institut de tourisme et d’hôtellerie du Québec. After her studies at ITHQ, she worked as a pastry chef, perfecting her skills in Quebec and France. From 1998 to 2018, she was the fine-dining critic for the daily newspaper The Montreal Gazette, while also contributing to numerous local and international publications. A columnist on the show Médium Large on Radio-Canada for 10 years, she now participates in the show Pénélope on ICI Première. In 2018, she also collaborated on the production of the documentary 100 Ans à Table about the history of Quebec cuisine, broadcast on Télé-Québec. She has also written several award-winning cookbooks, including Chez Lesley, Un Weekend Chez Lesley, and Make Every Dish Delicious. Today, she continues to share her expertise with a wide audience as chair of the jury for Eastern Canada for The World’s 50 Best Restaurants, co-host of the Salt Lick podcast, and writer of the Lick My Plate newsletter on Substack.

On the Menu – Montreal: A Restaurant Story

The exhibition On the Menu – Montreal: A Restaurant Story celebrates Montreal’s extraordinarily diverse and inventive food scene from the 1960s to today. Featuring a wealth of audiovisual testimonials, photographs, archives and objects displayed in an evocative setting, the exhibition highlights the evolution of Montreal restaurants, be they delis or fine dining establishments, and their crucial role in shaping the identity of both the city and province.