Dear Margaret: A French-Canadian Family Affair

July 26 • By Andrew Langford

Quebec has been having a moment for a number of years now. Whether it’s Quebec City or Montréal, crowds have been flocking to Canada’s francophone province for its international twists on French classics, maple syrup, and fall colors. Yet aside from Denis Villeneuve, few of Quebec’s cultural mainstays have actually made their way across the border. Travel back in time just a few years and questions about the best Canadian restaurant in Chicago would be met with either suggestions for poutine or blank expressions. Then Dear Margaret opened.

Since Chef Ryan Brosseau opened this tribute to his Québécois mémé in 2020, diners have flocked to this cozy Lincoln Park hangout. Feeling more like a French-Canadian’s home than a proper dining establishment, Dear Margaret is about as relaxed as a few hours of fine dining in Chicago can get.

Once you’ve been able to snag a reservation at one of the handful of tables in this tiny dining room, the hardest part is over. The dinner, drink, and dessert menus are all finely curated to narrow your selection down to a few of the season’s top rotating options. If you still find yourself in need of some guidance, the servers are more than happy to walk you through the menu and help find some selections likely to please everyone dining in your party.

Given the highly seasonal nature of everything here, it’s difficult to provide set guidance on the direction of the menu or outline an experience which can be carbon copied. Instead, just trust the house and dial into the vibe. A meal at Dear Margaret is centered on the great food and wine, but it’s made by who you’re interacting with. Perhaps if you’re a homesick French-Canadian the meal is all you need for comfort, but for most this experience should not be enjoyed solo. Instead, grab an old friend, bring a date, or catch up with a relative over a nice glass of Beaujolais.

In what feels like a matter of minutes, a multi-hour dinner at Dear Margaret reaches its wistful ending to become another Proustian memory. Luckily, if you live in Chicago, your next meal at Dear Margaret is only a reservation and the right pairing of dinner guests away. And with some of the top plates in the city, national acclaim, and plenty of cold Chicago nights that warm French-Canadian fare is the perfect remedy for, there are plenty of reasons to recommend this spot for a nice occasion with close company.

Menu Highlights

Dear Margaret’s menu is constantly evolving and only about half of these dishes are still on the menu. Still, these should offer some guidance for what to expect and what ingredients standout on an already strong menu:

Charcuterie & Cheese

*Baguette with duck liver mousse, ‘nduja, two cheeses, and honey (Photo Credit: Andrew Langford)*

Great French food starts with a charcuterie board. No this is not some $30 cash grab that does little more than make for a great Instagram story; the options for whatever board you assemble here are all carefully selected to set appropriately high expectations for the meal ahead. This starts with either a perfectly crunchy baguette or 9-grain toast, which in the context of a shareable appetizer is probably more conducive to spreading cheese and proteins.

The duck liver mousse - a menu standby - and ‘nduja were both satisfying options, although the mousse packed a more distinct flavor. Mousse, duck, and liver are not for everyone, much less when they’re all combined, but if you’re at least open to this, it’s worth trying.

Pommes Dauphines

The first dish on the main menu is probably the first thing you will ever eat at Dear Margaret since it usually comes out before any charcuterie. Highly recommended by the staff, this bite-sized amuse bouche combining oyster mousse, pickled red onions, and ostera caviar is a bit like a decadent croquette, but who ever complained about that?

Fried Smelts

Americans don’t quite get to claim hegemony over fried things. French-Canadians can hold their own frying against the best talent out of the Iowa State Fair. In this dish, a selection of pickles are fried in beef tallow - just like how McDonald’s use to make their fries until the 1990s - and served with tartar sauce and lemon. This is one of the best items on the menu and easily sharable.

Pommes Frites

Dear Margaret’s Pommes Frites are fried in the same beef tallow as the smelts and are as delicious as one would expect - it is called a french fry after all. Still, they’re also just fries, so if you’re stuck between the two fried options, maybe go out on a limb and try the smelts instead.

Louisiana Frog Legs

Frog legs are another divisive entree in French cooking, but those who love them tend to order them whenever they can find them at a restaurant. Still, this might be the weakest plate on the menu. Being frog legs, you don’t get a lot of meat for what you’re paying for and the flavors are somewhat muted.

Duck Breast Margaret

Dear Margaret usually has some form of duck on the menu, and this version plated duck breast alongside gnocchi. The duck is flavorful and perfectly seared, but the gnocchi was a bit bland. Still, if duck is on the menu and includes a different side, it makes for an easy, crowd-pleasing protein.

Quebec Foie Gras Galette

This was maybe the most complex plate sampled from the menu, placing foie gras above a galette base interspersed with caramelized onions, apricots, and walnuts. Depending on what makes its way onto your fork, you’ll shift between savory, sweet, and nutty flavors in the same dish. It’s a safe, but well-made foie gras plate.

Maple Blueberry Butter Tart

It was the first dessert on the menu, but also the least impressive. The crust is just a bit too hard and its flavor is far less interesting than the other desserts on the menu.

Carrot Cake

This isn’t exactly the most French-Canadian dessert, but it’s the star of the dessert menu. The cake achieves the proper moist density desired in such a large dessert, the cream cheese icing is great, and the toasted coconut shavings are the metaphorical cherry on top.

Chocolate Mousse

Easily the middle of the three desserts. It’s a well-made mousse, but that’s about it. If you love chocolate or the velvety texture of mousse, then you’ll be happy, but if you want a more interesting mix of flavors, go with the carrot cake.

Dear Margaret: A French-Canadian Family Affair

Blog Post Title Two