Lesley C

Hee hee ... good one Russ.

It's amazing to me that here in Montreal, waiters and sommeliers use that kind of terminology -- in French -- all the time, and we never consider it pretentious. Yet it’s funny how all that sort of stuff really does sound so much more precious in English. Just listening to Eric Asimov’s pronunciation of French wines makes the hair stand up on the back of my neck.

I like Francois Chartier, but I wouldn't call him an expert on the fine-dining scene. Frankly, I find that article completely off base -- no, make that embarrassing.

They do. Have the liver.

Hmm.. but think about it, you could recommend the place to friends you don't really like, who regularly show up late for reservations, just becuase you know there is a chance they could get a major dressing down. I like it, I like it...

What! Joe Beef is fine dining. And the food is quite something. This restaurant is about as far from the usual hi-my-name-is-Steve-and-I'll-be-your-waiter-tonight dining as I've ever experienced. And nobody in town has better oysters.

So people with kids have a right to cancel at the last minute, guilt-free? Not sure I agree with that one...while canceling was probably the right decision for davecap's family, that doesn't mean it doesn't affect others. No Megan, I just thought that the owner, himself a father of a young child, might be sympatheitc to their problem. I have spoken to the owner a few times about this since this thread got going, and he says the facts stated up top were not quite as told. Anyway, Joe Beef is a, shall we say, bit of a different restaurant. The chefs who run the place are great guys, but they definitely have strong personalities. Things like this happen at Joe Beef, which is kind of what makes the place special. They have a certain soup nazi appeal. They made it very clear when they opened that the restaurant is very small and customers who have to play by their rules. It's not as bad as it sounds (Joe Beef is a terrific restaurant) but these fellows just don't take stuff like this lying down. I still think it was bad form, but I'm not at all surprised. Weird and wonderful things happen at Joe Beef. You have to take the bad with the good. The Cheesecake Factory it's not.

The festival food is different because the visiting chefs work side by side (in the best cases) with their hosts, so the collaboration is often what makes the meal special. They also bust their ass to do their best, so you're seeing them at their peak (or so I like to think). Anyway, I think it's time TO and Montreal worked together and food is a great venue for that. I have a bit of a hard time with their fusion style, but hey, let's see what happens. BTW, Susur Lee will be the honorary president of next year's fest, so we're off to a good start. Susur at Toque! maybe...I know he and Normand are friends.

You know, I think it's great that they're going with TO next year. There are a lot of interesting chefs in TO and the ones who have come here for past festivals left praising our city. Let's get Susur Lee, Mark McEwan, Jamie Kennedy and all those guys on board and have them show us their stuff. Really. I think it would be exciting, far more so than what? the chefs of Bordeaux or some predictable ciy like that. Please, give me Toronto, I'd be thrilled. Anyway, I hear Paris will be the featured city for the 10the edition, so we can all go wild then. That is, if any of the good chefs show. And same goes for Toronto. I hope they manage to pull in the big guns. Otherwise, yes, it could be a bore.

And there's more to come. From me, Will Goldfarb tonight, then Laurent Tourondel Wednesday, Alex Urena Thursday, and finally on Saturday Gray Kunz. There will also be reports on Anita Lo, Dan Barber, Bill Telepan and others. Hopefully photos for all those events as well.

Sorry, we're trying to fix the web problems.

The Montreal High Lights Festival is now in full swing and so far no reports have been posted here, which is too bad. Come on people, post! I attended both the Daniel Boulud dinner at Toque! and the Kurt Guttenbrunner dinner at DECCA77 and both were fantastic. This year at The Montreal Gazette web site -- www.montrealgazette.com -- we're posting both daily reports in a notebook and pictures in the photo gallery. It's a fun way to cover the fest and the pictures give you a good idea of the behind-the-scenes action. There are also some close-ups of the plates. And there's a lot more to come...

My dinner, two adults and two little kids, with a bottle of wine (we only wanted a half bottle, but service was so slow that we had a whole) and no dessert was $175, and the kids shared a plate of carbonara. Service was arrogant and awful. The place is gorgeous and the concept is great so I hope the new chef can iron out the problems.

Good to hear. I had an iffy and expensive meal there last month and have been hoping they would straighten things out.

Grilled veal chops. Easy and delicious, though if you get nice fat ones, expensive.

You know what's also really good is Taro on Ste-Catherine. They roll maki with soy paper and rice paper instead of nori, which gives a much cleaner taste. I also quite like Zen Ya on Ste-Catherine, through the service is frightening. Great place for lunch though, where you can sit at the bar. Me like the bento boxes.

There are two companies that produce goose foie gras in Quebec. I spoke with a producer of goose foie gras here in Quebec, and he told m he had a hell of a time mastering the art of "gavage" (force feeding) with the geese, so you might want to think long and hard before giving this a shot. I've had "foie gras d'oie" here in a terrine (good, but not as flavourful as duck) and hot (terrible, no wonder i've never seen it in France). Keep in mind when describing the taste of foie gras that there is hot foie gras (seared) and terrine (poached, chilled and sliced), and a few variations in between (raw, salt-cured etc..). Texture-wise and flavour-wise they are not at all alike. And whatever you do, don't plan on making hot goose foie gras.

Worst thing about living in Montreal: crappy fruit. I've stopped eating it, save for the occasional orange and grapefruit. I ate a green apple the other day. It was mealy and it tasted like I was licking the inside of a dumpster. I shudder just thinking about it.

That was nasty. I have a three-year old and can understand how that can happen. And David McMillan -- one of th owners and quite possibly the guy on the phone -- has a toddler as well so he should be more understanding. You know what I would have done in your case. I would have let the guy finish his rant, and then I would have lied and said: "I'm really sorry to cancel but we spent the day at the Winter Festival and my child has frostbite and is in the hospital right now having two fingers AMPUTATED." Give back the guilt as good as you got. Anyway, you have every right right to cancel your reservation. They were wrong to lash out at you.

I heard from Patrice Demers on Friday and was hoping he would post the news, but.... So here goes, as of this week, he is taking over the Laloux kitchen as executive chef and pastry chef, and Danny St-Pierre, formerly of Les Derriere les Fagots will be chef de cuisine. I don't quite get the executive chef/chef de cuisine thing there, but good luck to them both. Update: apparently Demers is just the pastry chef and the restaurant only opens for dinner after Feb. 7

So Tony did Oprah...big deal. Nice little story he contributed. Funny cake. Ha ha. When did Oprah become the antichrist?

Had the cooking slipped? Maybe from my last visit, but probably not enough to justify a drop in business. I don't know what happened, maybe they simply tired of the struggle with a locale they never really liked. From day one they seemed to be on the lookout for a new space.

It was, but I just found out the chef is outta there. Not surprised. And no hints!

It's always easy to blame the customers when things don't work out. But considering the lousy $340 meal I had in one of Montreal's "top" restaurants last night, I think it may also be time for many high-end restaurants to rethink their missions, as it do it right or don't do it at all. And considering the fact that doing it right means you need a lot of staff and Montreal is suffering a shortage of hospitality industry workers, yes it looks as though the restaurant scene in our city is not necessarily imploding, but no doubt having to adjust.

It appears so. Sad news indeeed.