yelenarennie

Hi guys, I am the blogger from Beyond Salmon who just attended that program. You can read the details here: Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 I can't say I learned a lot about cooking. I found the material presented to be too basic, and too much focus was put on producing food in teams and on time. It's very important for working in the industry, but don't expect this program to improve your techniques. A disclaimer though: I cook a lot, I've interned in a restaurant before, and I teach cooking classes. I've never gone to culinary school though, so I thought it would be a great experience. The only area that was really new to me was presentation. A lot of attention was given to plating (almost too much for my taste), and I did pick up a few tricks on how to make your food look good. But I can't say it was worth $2000 and a week of vacation. This is not to discredit CIA classes in general. I am guessing that classes on more specific topics would be better. Somehow the words "boot camp" make it sound really serious. I think "Cooking 101" would be a more accurate name for this course.

Oops, I guess it's the priciest BYOB I've ever been to

Christophe 1187 Van Horne Avenue, Montreal QC / (514) 270-0850 4-course dinner: $45-60 (Canadian) Christophe is the most expensive BYOB in town. Montreal has many wonderful BYOBs. Most of them offer meals at around $30/person. Every BYOB restaurant that we had tried had some great and some so-so dishes. We went to Christophe in the hopes that it would be more consistent since its prices are $50-60 person. Unfortunately, the food was no better than at Poisson Rouge or Les Heritiers and definitely not worth its price. The bread in the basket was a day old. The fish soup was poorly seasoned and didn’t taste good. The stuffed cabbage swimming in it did not make it any better. The salad of marinated salmon, scallops, and avocado was delicious. Foie gras “crème brûlée” was a rich and creamy mousse with a caramelized sugar crust. It was decadently delicious, but the pate could use more foie grass and less cream to make the flavor more pronounced. The lobster ravioli were sad. The filling tasted too processed, the pasta dough was mushy (I think they used wonton wrappers instead of real pasta dough). The dish was topped with lifeless and bland spinach that tasted like something that was frozen and then microwaved. The lobster sauce lacked clarity of flavor. It tasted as if 10 different ingredients were simmered in a pot until they turned into one big “blah”. Our other main dish of sweetbreads with lobster, chanterelles, truffled potato and asparagus had only one good part – truffled potato. The chef at Christophe often uses expensive ingredients, but the results are often disappointing. The chocolate cake with a liquid center was an outrageously good end to an otherwise disappointing meal. Montreal Restaurant Reviews

Chez Noeser looks interesting. It's hard to tell how good the food is from their web site. We are on a quest to find a BYOB with excellent food. We've been to Les Heritier, A la decouverte, and Poisson Rouge. The food had its ups and downs at all three. Some dishes were outstanding, others so-so. Of course they were still great value meals because the prices were quite low. We are trying to find a BYOB place that has really great food (not Toque level interesting and creative, but as good as Au Pied de Cochon). Would Noeser be this kind of place? We will have a car, and can drive there (I guess it would take around 30 min from downtown Montreal where we are staying). Is it worth a drive or are there comparable BYOB places in Montreal?

Hi, I am new to this board. We are from Boston, and Montreal is our favorite destination for french food. I am so sad that Toque is no longer Toque. It was our favorite place not only in Montreal, but in the world (even after eating out for 2 weeks in France). We are coming to Montreal in the end of May, and were going to try the new Toque, but now I am not sure about it. I think it will just make me nostalgic. There are many new places that we haven't tried yet. If we are going to do only one expensive dinner, which one should we do -- Anise, Chevres, or Chronique? One of the things we loved about Toque is that they first chose wines, and then created dishes to match them. Their food/wine pairings were incredible. Are any of the above mentioned restaurants as good as the old Toque? I guess it's not fair to compare them. So far Chevres sounds really good. Do you get fish and meat in some courses there? I eat pretty much everything, but my husband is more of a fish and meat kind of guy because he hates some veggies (eggplants, cucumbers, etc). Do you think he'll have a hard time at Chevres? As far as casual places go, we are definitely going back to Au Pied de Couchon, and we are trying to choose 2 more places from the following list: Brunoise Christophe Bleu Raisin P'tit Plateau Which two do you think are the best in terms of food? Thank you so much for all your help. So little time, so much yummy food... -Helen