Sutton, Quebec: a destination filled with culinary delights

Our visit to the Eastern Townships of Quebec could not be complete without a day in Sutton, a tiny community that is big on taste.

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We loved strolling the streets of Sutton, Quebec, and dropping into the various local businesses. Note the Swiss flag as there are plenty of alpine activities in the area.

There are only 2,000 full-time residents in Sutton, Quebec, but the town’s population doubles in winter when skiers take to the nearby slopes. There is a notable presence of residents of Swiss heritage, which explains why the community has a strong focus on food, wine, craft beer, and European-style chocolate.

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The chocolate shop in Sutton, Quebec, offers handcrafted Belgian-style chocolate, freshly-made ice-cream, chocolate gift items, and a small chocolate museum.

We were fortunate to have a guided tour of the town’s creative and culinary highlights with Liane Bruneau, the general manager of Sutton’s Economic Development Corporation and welcome centre. Liane was the perfect guide for our tour. She knows everyone in town, what they’re up to, and the best tastes for any gourmande to enjoy.

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Muriel Norka and her son Marek Latzmann proudly display the chocolate they create in their shop in Sutton, Quebec. Pictured in the front centre of the tray are the almond truffles which I really liked.

chocolate in sutton quebec

An extra special addition to our tour was a visit to the Chocolaterie Belge Muriel, a small chocolate shop in the Belgian tradition run by mother and son team Muriel Norka and her son Marek Latzmann. Muriel originally hails from Bolivia, but has been gone a long time and was unaware that Bolivia is now growing some excellent cacao. I encouraged her to look into getting Bolivian cocoa to make her own South-American inspired chocolates. The shop is currently focusing on traditional Belgian-style chocolates. There is a small chocolate museum on-site that traces the history of cacao from its roots in Mesoamerica to modern-style chocolate in North America.

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The Auberge Sutton Brouerie has guestrooms on the upper level, and a brew pub and restaurant on the main floor.

In addition to the chocolate shop, we visited a European-style bakery, a gourmet cheese and culinary shop, a catering company with sought-after flair, and a wool shop, ending up at the local brewhouse where we enjoyed a delicious lunch with some locally made beer.

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The Porter beer (shown on the right) was delicious. The Auberge Sutton Brouerie does offer chocolate beer on occasion, so be sure to ask for it if you visit.
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I really enjoyed my lunch at the Auberge Sutton Brouerie: fresh halibut fish served with fresh dill, rice, and pea pods.

There are three vineyards right in the Sutton area, and a total of 24 throughout the Eastern Townships. The region is home to a wine route festival and an arts festival during the summer months, so if you love handcrafted creations, do put Sutton and the Eastern Townships of Quebec on your radar–for the skiing and outdoor beauty, for festivals and local French-Canadian culture, and for the top notch culinary treats.

65 thoughts on “Sutton, Quebec: a destination filled with culinary delights”

  1. Wow, I did not know that chocolate was as big in Canada. I’ve had a chocolate beer and Belgian chocolate is my all-time favorite. I grew up in the UK and European chocolate is the best!!

    I was going to ask how or if we can also visit. Then I saw the note about the place burning. Any chance they are back up and running. I hope so…. Nikki

    1. Hi Nikki. Thx so much for your comment. Europe does indeed have tremendous chocolate. But so does the rest of the world! You’d be surprised at the quality of chocolate in the Americas. Stay tuned for the second volume of Chocolatour for more on that. You must have also been reading my post on Palette de Bine (also from Eastern Quebec.) Christine has rebuilt her business following the tragic fire and I’ve updated the post on her at this link: at https://chocolatour.net/a-salute-to-palette-de-bine-of-mont-tremblant-quebec. Please check it out.

  2. I haven’t been to Quebec since I went there with my family as a teenager. Reading your articles take me there and make me want to plan a trip there with my husband. Maybe next year!

  3. Sutton seems to be a calm and tranquil place, where things are leisurely and everyone knows each other. Chocolaterie Belge Muriel looks like a great place to chill and also yield in to some chocolate temptations.

  4. I can only imagine a place with just 2000 people!! We in India have all the cities and even small towns populated. Nowhere is less than 10 million or so 🙂 The place is so beautiful too. I want to travel here one day

    1. Hi Neha: Yes, it’s so amazing to be on the internet and be introduced to places that are so different from and so far from our homeland. How lucky we are to be born in the day of easy and economical travel. I hope you soon have the opportunity to explore Canada and Quebec.

  5. Sutton looks very quaint and relaxing. I’ve only been in the Montreal airport as far as traveling to Quebec goes, but we really should hit the road and discover that wonderful province! I visited Doreen and was lucky enough to sample the Almond Truffels that she brought home with her. They were delicious and definitely a great treat from her travels!

  6. What a wonderful post about Sutton, Quebec. It is great when I see places have particular stores, such as the European style bakery. Too many places have become “industrialized”, all having the same chain of restaurants. Glad to see some flavor in this town.

    1. Hi Dannielle. I have not yet had the pleasure of visiting NZ. But it is definitely high on my list for that very reason. I am attracted to destinations that respect nature and where there is a strong connection between people and the land. You can’t beat that feeling in a small town.

    1. Absolutely, Sue! We often need to return to a destination several times before we discover all of its nuggets. I’ve been to Quebec at least 5 times before, but it is only on this latest visit that I finally got to the Eastern Townships.

  7. Just like Quebec City, this is a little slice of Europe! That is why we meet a lot of Europeans in Canada! So the chocolates must be there, too!

  8. Sutton looks and sounds like a very pleasant place, especially for eating. What caught my interest here the most was chocolate beer! I’ve never heard of it! I don’t like beer, but this I might!

    1. Hi Rachel. As a long-time read of this blog, I’m surprised to hear you say that this is the first time you’ve heard of chocolate beer! I’m sure I’ve written about it before. But stay tuned! I will write a post from my time in PA during which I visited several craft breweries that offered terrific chocolate beers. 🙂

  9. As a Sutton resident I should mention that we are now as much of a summer and Fall destination as a winter one. There is fabulous hiking, kayaking, cycling, vineyards and music festivals. It can get busy here at weekends so try and come midweek and for a local flavor dont miss Le Cafetier or the Saturday market.

      1. Agreed. We didn’t have any difficulty communicating with francophone folks. I checked out your Top 10 post, Lynda, and wow! I would love to experience the Domaine des Cotes d’Ardoise’s summer exhibition of sculpture in the vineyard. That sounds amazing!

  10. I haven’t been to Quebec yet, but a chocolate extravaganza around the state and in Sutton would be right up my alley, so to speak. A chocolate and beer pairing would be divine.

  11. Sutton looks tasty! It would be interesting to explore beer and chocolate pairings. There’s a restaurant in my area that offers a beer and ice cream pairing flight of all things.

    1. Hi Jeri! I hope you are doing OK. Yes, I have explored many chocolate and beer tastings. Pure dark chocolate goes best with a stout, porter, or savoury chocolate beer. Milk chocolate pairs best with a lighter beer like a prisoner or lager that might have some complementary flavour notes. India Pale Ale is more difficult to pair well with chocolate as it has such strong flavour notes of its own. More in volume II of Chocolatour–coming your way soon! 🙂

  12. Sutton looks quite lovely and very relaxed. I’ve fallen in love with Quebec City, so I’m sure I could easily like Sutton as well. Do they speak French in Sutton as well?

  13. We have a “Sutton” in the UK! I doubt it is anything like Sutton in Quebec.

    What a small town of only 2,000 residents. I can imagine it is a tight knit community where virtually everyone knows everyone.

    The meal looks tasty and very well presented which always impresses me.

  14. It must be difficult for your tour guide, who knows everyone and cares about each business as if it were her own, to winnow out the highlights her town has to offer. Sutton looks like a perfect place to visit during the long,, slow days of summer.

    1. Hi Linda. Indeed. I think that Liane did her very best to choose which businesses she thought I would be interested in, and she did a great job at that! Yes, I really enjoyed my visit to Sutton. Glad I got to see it when it was not overrun with tourists or skiers. 🙂

  15. I think a lot of people, including me, associate Sutton strictly with downhill skiing. I was pleasantly surprised when Liane mentioned that ongoing donations of private land to the nature conservancy have opened up miles of hiking and XC skiing trails too. I will be back.

    1. Right on, Virginia. I should have mentioned those interesting pieces of info in the post. The nature conservancy is a wonderful safeguard that hopefully will preserve the pristine nature of the region.

  16. We have fallen in love with Montreal, Quebec City, and the Laurentides but have not yet visited the Eastern Townships. Your article has put this region on our must visit list! Thanks for the great article introducing us to Sutton.

    1. Thx so much for your comment! Montreal and the Laurentians will be covered in upcoming posts. I hope you caught the guest post that explored chocolate in Quebec City. It’s been a long while since I’ve been there, so was happy to get a current reading on the chocolate pulse of the city.

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