violetfox

Thank you, Chromedome, for your posts - very useful information! I hope to be up in that sarea over the summer, and if I am, I'll definitely be in for a meal! Good luck to you!

Thank you - those are great! I wonder how many meals I can eat in three days, including two dinners at APdC? I'm glad to hear that Montreal is good for walking, that will help.

I had been thinking about that - sounds great. Thanks!

But Bilboquet will have the TIRE A LERABLE ice cream. violetfox, I recommend the tire a l'erable ice cream at Bilboquet, it's got delicious chunks of maple taffy in it, and it's only on sale for maple season, which may include the time you are here in April. ← Uh oh, I'd better try BOTH! I knew that this trip was going to be the best kind of trouble! Indeed, maple ice cream with chunks of maple taffy sounds irresistable, but I can't pass up Havre aux Glaces either. Montreal IS a good city for walking, right?

Excuse me (or not) but you brought on the "vitriol" when you categorized anyone displeased by Food TV's steady trend of "dumbing down" its programming as a "hater" - now that's vitriol. As others have said, many if not most of us are quite capable of appreciating what Food TV does well, and we don't fault them for running their business as they see fit, but a total lack of interest in RR, Sandra Lee, or endless episodes of "Unwrapped: The Hot Pocket!!!" does not a "hater" make. I'm not interested in the network's success or failure, I simply want watchable, informative shows about food. I didn't say all the programming was good, merely that it was profitable. My jab was more at all the amateur TV execs (and embittered ex-talents and their pals) who post about "The death of the food network" and "Boy those people are stupid, they're driving away all their viewers" here and elsewhere on the Internet. It's an interesting parellel: many people who can properly heat up a can of soup think they "can cook", and many people who watch television think they know how to run a network. Neither is true. But please, keep the vitriol coming. It is entertaining! Edited to add: I also find it fascinating when someone chooses to define themselves as a "discriminating viewer" based on what they do not watch as opposed to what they do. ←

Yes, I was already thinking about Fairmount bagels - sounds like a good plan to follow them with ice cream. I'd love to try the burger, but two nights at APdC has me thinking that the other meals should be lighter - sadly, this means no Schwartz's on this trip! Thanks for the recommendations!

I've received some gifts of chocolate from Montreal, so I'm glad to know where to go! Thanks! I am actually planning on the APdC poutine, so that should do me in for poutine for at least a year (assuming that I survive that long!). Thanks for the recommendations!

So I'm coming to Montreal for three days, two nights in April. Other than two dinners at APdC - what MUST I eat? What will it be possible for me to eat and, er, survive? What are the most essential things? I mean, yes, I know about Scwartz's -maybe not this trip, you know? I'm a pretty serious eater, but I plan on doing the really serious stuff at APdC. I'm staying near Parc de la Fontaine, so close to that would be swell. Other ideas are fine, too. Thanks in advance!

Thank you for the welcme, johnnyd! Sorry that I've been missing for a bit. My favorites in Portland for 2007 have been: 1. Duckfat - I've developed a serious craving for Duckfat's truly wonderful poutines with duck gravy! Everything I've had at Duckfat has been really great, but the poutines are my favorite. I LOVE it when people stare and ask "excuse me, but what IS that?" 2. Yosaku - I've only been twice, but I really like it. While I like Sapporo and Fuji (yup, I like Fuji - some things better than others, but I've always had a nice lunch there). Much at Yosaku that I'm anxious to try! 3. Cinque Terre - I still love Cinque Terre, and I've never had a meal there that has been less than excellent. It always carries me straight back to Vernazza, sitting by the harbor with a glass of cold white wine.. 4. Browne Trading Company - not a restaurant, but a ton of fun anyway. RIGHT after I got Eric Ripert's "A Return to Cooking," I went in and got smoked salmon, salmon roe, creme fraiche and caviar, and made the stuffed baked potato - totally easy, and one of the best things I've ever eaten (she said modestly). It's VERY cool to have a place with such high quality here in the wilds of Maine. 5. Also not a restaurant - Rabelais is my favorite find of the year, a wonderful place where I've spent way too much money and expect to continue to do so. Duckfat poutine followed or preceded by a little spree at Rabelais is an afternoon well spent! I haven't yet been to 555, to Hugo's, or to Miyake. I live a couple of hours from Portland, so dinner tends to be confined to the weekends, especially in the winter.

Here in Maine, at least at the moment, there are a fair number of dairy cattle and thus, apparently, some access to veal. My local grocery store doesn't have it all the time, but quite regularly has inexpensive veal stew with bones and what they call "blade chops" that work well enough for stock. Personally, I find veal stock - when I have it - a terrific boost to the quality of my home cooking. Any recipe where I've used it tastes distinctly better, not just to me, but to everyone who tries it. Also, I'm pretty sure that I read in Elements that Ruhlman says if you don't have stock, it's better to use water than other, lesser "substitutes" - I think this is an important point that's gotten lost in the discussion. Just about everyone has access to water, and it's worth trying that for its own merits. I've done this recently in places where I would have often used whatever "stock" I had on hand, and water has worked extremely well.

Gee, I have NO idea who "those people" that are "somewhere" online could possibly be - other than the fact that "they" are why I'm here and not there anymore. Ahem. And you're quite right, they know nothing, so I'll be sure to check out Gaucho's! Thanks for the tip!

Like: Mario Batali - most informative, least insulting to viewers' intelligence of all food shows Ming Tsai - blew my every preconception and experience of "fusion" clear out of the water Bourdain, of course Jacques Pepin - love his beautiful new cookbook Alton Brown - not so crazy about his hosting on ICA, though Jamie O - his delivery can be too much, but I really like his recipes Alice Waters - shifting my focus a little at home from lots of involved cooking on work nights to selecting great ingredients and not messing about has made my life a whole lot better Emeril - without a live audience! Martin Yan Dislike: Rachel Ray - does Dunkin Donuts seriously think that plastering larger-than-life posters of the grinning "Rach" cause passersby to do anything other than flee in horror? Paula Deen - really wanted to like her, really tried - but her show has a rapidly increasing tendency to produce actual nausea Bobby Flay - no doubt at all tht he can cook, but I find him unwatchable Rocco - still not sure whether it's all a joke or nearly a tragedy Sandra Lee - makes "Rach" look like a genius chef I'm amazed that no one has mentioned the horrible "Mr. Food!"

Gfron's Spouse wrote: "...and, of course, nary a Jell-O salad in sight. All that stuff is pure 1950s kitsch." You say that almost as if 1950's kitsch were a BAD thing! Seriously, the kitchen with the 50's "decor" ( a stretch, I know) - faux-brick floor tiles and oven surround, avocado appliances, copper molds and Moscow Mule mugs, hideous light fixtures - that's the kitchen where I spent countless gleeful hours watching Julia Child and the Galloping Gourmet and messing about in the kitchen. It is dear to me. And am I really the only one who actually enjoys "moldy salad" aka "the green stuff" aka "congealed salad"? Or am I the only one who'll admit it?

This is a good topic - thanks for starting it, although I realy disagree about the meal. I am very thankful to have a family full of really good cooks. My sister, who hosts the meal, prepares the turkey, the pies, and most of the vegetables. The rest of us bring a variety of sides. I love every single thing about the meal - turkey that's always delicious, never dry (brined!), lots of very good wine, two kinds of stuffing (traditional and non); jellied, whole berry and chutney cranberries; homemade pickles and relishes; root veg mash; Delicata squash, Brussels sprouts, creamed curried onions; and yes, "moldy salad" aka "the green stuff" - I remember seeing it the first year we did the meal all together and thinking "oh no!" - but it's refreshing, silly, halfway between salad and dessert. Many kinds of pie. Strong coffee. A long walk, and a nap. The only "controversy" in my crowd is gravy - I always make the gravy because there are a number of folks who don't care about gravy - I need gravy - drippin's, port, giblets...it's all good. Is the meal itself better than the leftovers? Tough call. Hot turkey sandwich with stuffing, gravy and cranberry chutney is pretty wonderful.

I bought Elements last week, and hadn't started reading it when I began reading the reviews here. I wondered - not too hard, because I've read and loved Ruhlman's other books - if I'd be disappointed by Elements. Well, I needn't have worried. I started reading it this week, and I love it. As several people have said above, criticisms here seem to be of a book that Ruhlman wasn't writing. Elements is clearly intended as a compact, useful, opinionated (ah yes, it does say that on the leaf!) discussion of some elements of cooking, and it is perfect for what it is. It's clearly not intended to be encyclopedic, and I think it's foolish to critiize it because it isn't. If I want the long, thorough version, I'll turn to McGee or the Professinal Chef - if I'm looking for quick, useful information, I'll grab Elements.