Montreal

• Walking on sunshine. The Sunshine Boys Holding Corporation (Moe's Deli & Bar, Eggspectations, Weinstein & Gavino's Pasta Bar) has opened a serious steak-house, La Queue de Cheval. The hit restaurant, whose name means "horse's tail," serves aged USDA prime beef in the tradition of Morton's, Peter Luger, and Smith & Wollensky. Local diners traditionally favor the rib steak, but La Queue is going with such American-style cuts as Delmonico, Kansas-cut sirloin, T-bone, and porterhouse. The restaurant is housed in a downtown Art Deco building.

• Just when we thought Opus II couldn't get any better, it did. The Westin Mont-Royal Hotel's contemporary dining room was an instant hit when it opened last fall, garnering raves for its top-quality French cuisine and gorgeous sidewalk setting. Now, chef Nicholas Jongleux has sold his stake in Les Caprices de Nicolas, one of the most refined tables in town, and taken the toque at Opus II. Lunch is divine.

• Two new restaurants are serving up differing styles of fusion cuisine in Montreal's hip Plateau Mont Royal area. The tiny, serene Ginger, under owner Neil Jacobs and chef Kenzo Phan, serves minimalist Japanese cooking with Jewish influences, such as Asian noodles cooked in kosher chicken broth. Meanwhile, Ital-Asia opened on St. Lawrence Boulevard with a menu featuring miso chicken salad, pork with chutney, and numerous variants of risotto and pasta.