It started at home: the family behind MacTaverne

My parents moved up to Val-David a couple of years ago to retire. Mike and I came to see them often, with the kids. We'd think about the childhood they could have up here: outside, surrounded by nature, feet wet and dirty and muddy.

We love the city, and that hasn't changed. But we'd worked in great houses and at good tables in Montreal, and we brought along what we knew. It's less posh up here. There's just as much hospitality.

Hospitality isn't something you stumble upon. You live it, you grow up with it, and we have our parents to thank for ours: the Christmas dinners, the Thanksgivings, the knack for taking an ordinary moment and making it one you remember. Hospitality didn't start in a restaurant. It started at home.

The proof is on the menu. The vinaigrette on the green salad is listed, just like that, as "mum's vinaigrette."

That's exactly why we do what we do. There's a real romance in a tiny mini vacation. An hour and a half, maybe two, at one of our tables. Set aside the spreadsheets, the day job, the constant decisions, and leave it up to the family.

Everyone here has a role, and it all slots together so you don't have to think about it. You just get to feel welcome. The table is welcoming: a couple of drinks, good food, good music, and good conversation with someone you love or someone you're hoping to get to know. And there's a fireplace for the evenings that are getting colder.

That's MacTaverne: a new family-run restaurant in Val-David, in the Laurentians, open since June 19, 2025, with seven rooms upstairs and Le P'tit Train du Nord at the door.

This fall, our restaurant in Val-David is also one of 30 finalists for Air Canada's Best New Restaurants 2026, out of more than 90 nominations, and their finalists page calls MacTaverne "very much a family affair." They got that right. If you missed the news, it's here.

I won't go through everyone's job in detail, but they all have a big hand in what lands on your table. The short version: Mike is in the kitchen, and I'm at the bar and on the floor. Lindsay looks after the welcome and the team. My mom, Lynne, is behind the design and the feel of the house, and Jennifer makes the sticky toffee pudding from her own recipe. Charles and I do the cocktails. The bar program is getting bigger this fall and winter, and the new cocktail menu is one to watch for.

My dad, Craig, does the heavy lifting: the construction, the finances, the breakfast. He moved up here to retire, and he's up before everyone. Everyone in the family is a co-owner.

And there's the crew, front of house and kitchen, who get our first thank-you. Without them, this place wouldn't run. Full stop.

Some days, all three generations are running through the halls of the taverne at once: my parents, the rest of us, and the kids. Up here in the Laurentians, we'd like to be a family address, the kind people come back to without needing an invitation. And what we'd like to hand the kids is what we were handed: the habit of opening the door.

So bring your mom, and don't forget to hug her. It doesn't need to be fancy or schmancy. We just want you to feel at home. Book a table, we'll be here.