Barely five minutes from downtown, some 300 head of cattle graze happily in the green pastures of a valley bordered by the Diable River. Operated with passion by Patrick Léonard, this human-scale breeding operation provides – from farm to table – a delicious beef whose meat is said to be the best in the world. Welcome to Boeuf Tremblant.

Wagyu beef, the result of breeding pure-blooded wagyu bulls with Angus cows, is exceptionally tender with a flavour reminiscent of the sweetness of butter. The marbling in the meat is one of the main reasons for this matchless flavour. The fat is also lower in cholesterol than that of other breeds.

Raised naturally and traditionally, without the addition of preventive antibiotics or growth hormones, the Boeuf Tremblant animals eat only grass, hay and locally grown corn. The calves are born at the farm and enjoy, every day, hundreds of acres of nature at its best.

“My forefathers lived off the land, so there have always been animals on the farm, Patrick Léonard explains. “I didn’t want to do a typical commercial operation. I was looking for a niche product and I’d heard talk of Kobe beef. I wanted an outstanding, different meat along with the possibility – which was really important to me – to offer it at a price that made it affordable for everyone.”

The ancestral farm

Built around 1870, the farmhouse has sheltered six generations of Léonards, a true founding family of this area. Patrick is the fifth generation to live on the farm. His children, who now take part in the adventure, represent the sixth generation of Léonards to work on this land.

“My dream was to take back the family farm,” Patrick admits. “I was 29 when I confided my wish to my grandfather, who was still the owner. He promised it to me here, on the land, in the forest. It was sealed with a handshake, but he asked me to wait for a little while as he wasn’t ready to turn it over. I had to wait for eight years before it became official. My grandfather was by then 92 years old.”

Points of sale

Boeuf Tremblant, located at 5 chemin Paquette at the corner of Hwy 327, opened its doors in March 2021. Vacuum-packed frozen products can be obtained directly at the farm on Friday evenings, Saturdays and Sundays, as well as every second Friday at the Sainte-Agathe-des-Monts market.

It’s worth noting, as well, that some smart restaurants – including the P’tit Caribou – use Boeuf Tremblant’s delicious ground beef.

“Things are going even better than we expected,” says Patrick. “But you have to be passionate about agriculture, particularly with a small-scale operation like ours,” he adds. “I’m lucky that my spouse and my children support me, that my father gives me a serious helping hand and that one of my sons works with me full-time.

Longer term, we would like to offer our products to more of the local restaurants and also to create a farmer’s market at the shop,” he concludes.

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