iharrison

I have to agree with the previous poster here. Have you ever heard of this 'head chef' as you call him? This is what bothers me about Hell's Kitchen. It serves as a poor introduction to Gordon Ramsay for those who have never read about him before or seen him in Boiling Point or the superb Kitchen Nightmares. We on eGullet take it for granted that everyone knows Ramsay, Batali or Bourdain. But it's worth remembering that we're in the minority.

Yes! Yes! DiNic's rocks! Good call.

No more tamarind? Blast!

I finally had dinner at Garde this past Friday night. I must begin with what I consider to be the highest of compliments. The experience was very ... Joe Beefy. On time for our 9 p.m. reservation, three of our party of four sat at the bar for drinks while our table was prepared and we waited for the last person to show. The restaurant is beautiful. Not in a grand Michelin three-star dining hall kind of way ... but in a rustic, dirty, dark (to borrow from Mlle Tatin) and diamond-in-the-rough kind of way. Full credit to the owners for restoring and beautifying the space. One of them, Kyle, told me they spent two hours refinishing the vintage chairs. That's two hours per chair. Their hard work is evident throughout. There are so many kitschy and cool design discoveries, from the monstrous, gaudy yet utterly perfect chandelier over the bar, to the quasi-confessional booth that guards the bathrooms, to the sunken bookcase that lies behind a slick white banquette, to the alcohol cases and bartop. The vibe inside was electric and exciting, with good 80's rock and loud, animated conversations providing the soundtrack. I immediately wanted to settle in for a long night. The females in whose company I had the pleasure to be in, had what amounted to raspberry mojitos. I enjoyed my Bierbrier but I had to admit, the cocktails were delicious. Nice way to start. While we scanned the chalkboard menus, we nibbled on slices of hearty, nutty bread that we slathered with a thick, oniony sour cream dip. Retro and yummy. After another round of drinks, we settled on the seafood platter for two to start. The extremenly generous portion of shrimps, crab legs and Raspberry Point oysters came on a towered silver serving tray with assorted dipping sauces that ranged from horseradish, traditional cocktail and a hot sauce described by the label as "Fuckin' Hot." We devoured the food and quickly started contemplating what to order next. We finally decided on grilled opah, salmon tartare, sticky ribs and a seared tuna salad. The tuna was delectable and tender. The accompanying micro greens were a perfect foil. The toothsome and flavourful rack of ribs were addictive. Not Joe Beef or Meatmarket addictive, but up there. The potato salad it came with was a little short on salt but that didn't stop me from diving in with my fork for more. Other quibbles with the food and service were equally minor throughout the night. The tartare was in a word, perfect. The little morsels of salmon melted in our mouths. But the best dish by far was the opah. Otherwise known as moonfish, opah seldom appears on Montreal menus. I wish it did though. The flesh was meaty, delicious and set atop roasted yellow beets. Excellent. We subsequently made several bad jokes about Oprah and throwing our plates and yelling "Opa!" Gotta love that opah. We enjoyed the food with a bottle of red wine ... I believe it was a 2004 Meneton Salon Clemont but to be honest, I had a lot to drink over the weekend and I can't remember anymore. I can tell you that there are several reasonably priced bottles and even more not on the chalkboard lists. Just ask. There were two desserts available Friday night. A deep-fried Mars bar with ice cream - was it vanilla, I can't remember - and freshly picked strawberries from that day with Devonshire cream. Both were sinful and delicious in their own right. On to the minor, very very minor I must emphasize, quibbles. Service was at times, a little slow. And one of the diners at our table thought that after the seafood tower, the other plates were maybe a little small. I disagree on that point however. Our total bill came out to $75 each, with a generous tip, and in my mind, that was a sweet deal all things considered. I had a wonderful time and will soon be back for more. With an ever-changing menu, I feel compelled to.

Dirty AND delicious? That's crazy. I can't wait.

Yum, that debris po' boy at Mother's is killer. I had it twice in one day once, it was so cracktastic. edited to add the word "it".

My ultimate chocolatier is Suite 88 in the heart of beautiful Montreal, where fine chocolatiers are aplenty.

And in response to a question about the slow food movement in 2002: I think the slow food movement is a very positive thing. It's a positive force, even if people dont become adherents, and I'm wary of such people. Slow food is often expensive, like organic food. More often than not it's some rich bastard in an SUV driving off to the Green Market to get environmentally friendly vegetables at three times the going rate. But anything that makes us more aware of where food comes from, and what it takes to get it to the table, is a force for the good. So I can make an informed decision as to whether to eat swordfish for dinner. I know there aren't many left. I know there are certain foods that we're running out of, but tough shit.

The chef is Chris Hepner, a friend of Dave M. The emphasis is on seafood. A friend told me that the food looks "fantastic." To quote him further: "But the most amazing thing I saw was the Seafood platter. It was huge and they serve it in an old chicken feeder (which kinda looks like a 3 foot long wooden toolbox) with oysters on the half shell galore and crab legs hanging from the top handle. It was very sexy." And there's nothing wrong with fried food baby.

← I had an incredible $2 Banh Mi at Hong Kong Supermarket in Gretna, Louisiana, just outside New Orleans: ← Yo Jason, enough with the porno pics ... I'm dyin' over here dude.

Sounds very Tyler Florence-ish ...

Chufi, is it customary to drink milk with that veal croquette sandwich? It seems like an odd combination. And what is that in the glass next to the milk?

Oh yeah ... those New Orleans photos brought back some delicious memories of fried oyster po' boys. Ridiculously sinful and addictive.

Understood Jason. As long as we have your respect in New York ... we certainly could never ask you to switch allegiances and declare a preference for our sandwich classic. Montreal bagels are much better though, admit it .

A <A HREF="http://www.schwartzsdeli.com/index_eng.html">Schwartz's Hebrew Delicatessen</A> smoked meat sandwich. A veritable Montreal classic since 1928. As Anthony Bourdain said, "this is a damn good sandwich." Montreal Gazette columnist Bill Brownstein just <A HREF="http://www.vehiculepress.com/titles/404.html">wrote a book on Schwartz's</A>.

I will for sure. I didn't get any info on the owners ... yet.

You can. BitTorrent.

Nah, didn't get the chance ... they're closed on Monday. I just strolled in and had a quick chat with the owners, who were having a little meeting. I didn't get the opportunity to scan the menu or wine list or even glean that much info from the staff, not because I wasn't incredibly curious but because I was sort of interrupting their discussion. But I will eat there within the week! Mark my words.

Hang on there -- we just had a thread on this topic, which I found to be very educational. Foie gras is not obtained through cruelty: ducks have a natural capacity for eating a monstrous amount of food, and left to their own devices, will eat up to 100-150% of their own body weight in the wild. That the general public might not grasp this (and thus send foie gras into oblivion through ignorance) I can accept -- but us egulleteers ought to be a little better informed. Foie gras is not cruel. ← You grossly misinterpreted my post Grub. I never asserted that foie gras is a derivative of cruel methods. As a proud Montrealer and resident of the province of Quebec, and field coordinator for the No Reservations Quebec episode, my stance on foie gras can be easily traced. I simply cannot live without the stuff and I thank God I don't live in Chicago every day. What I meant was exactly what Jason aptly posted ... the Japanese didn't engage in a cruelty debate. They're far too informed and cultured to bother. Long live the Japanese . So to sum up .... us eGullet members DO know better. And foie gras is most certainly not cruel. Sorry if the post was too vague dude. edited to add: I have friends whose livelihoods directly or indirectly depend on the stuff and I'm intimately familiar with the process by which foie gras is made ... at least in Quebec, where we do it real, real well .

Japan lifts ban on French poultry imports Bird flu concerns abate, no apparent debate over cruelty ... at least not in Japan.

I completely, completely agree with every word! I was lurking around this forum so I could rant against the Rubino brothers but I was even more delighted to have the opportunity to concur wholeheartedly with this assessment of Smith. Whew. I feel SO much better now.

Took a glance in Garde-Manger yesterday, a new restaurant on St. Francois-Xavier in Old Montreal that has been open for just over two weeks now. The place looks incredible. Old Montreal all the way in terms of decor, cool art on the brick and stone walls (I think I saw stone), chalkboard menu and a young staff (who were in the middle of a discussion on whether to open for lunch ... currently the restaurant serves dinner only, Tue-Sun). I hope they open for lunch. And I cannot WAIT to eat there. If anyone has had the pleasure, give us a full report!

Thank you for sharing your descriptions of Toque and Au Pied. It's always fascinating for me to read an outsider's perspective on the two restaurants that typify, I believe, the Montreal dining landscape. The contrast between your illustrations of both is so emblematic as well. While Toque in many ways is flawless, Au Pied is a total, and quite different of course, experience. Your effusive description of the latter speaks volumes. Not that there's anything wrong with what Laprise does at Toque. It's just a completely different animal. Really interesting to read ... thanks again.

Kidding jf. Just kidding. I was speculating tonight with someone who works at Cavalli about how much the penalty will cost Buona ... this person, initmately familiar with liquor sales at these establishments, thought that maybe 100 large for the terrasse over the course of the long GP weekend was a decent estimate. That's pretty much in line with your 30 gr x 3.

It turns out the 21 day ban is ONLY for the terrasse at Buona Notte (open GP week) and not for the restaurant proper. So all in all, a loss of maybe 100 grand and not half a mill It still sucks for them ... big time.