riboflavinjoe

im pleased with my mixing in a metal bowl, and so on. all flour, or all semolina have both yielded good results. and really, a grand for a pasta maker? my 45 $ (canadian) machine is fine. in schoolwe made a chocolate lasagna for the dessert of the day. we made a cocoa pasta with citrus segments, and ginger and chocolate sauce, which we layerd in the plate as the order came in. it was quite nice! and for an amuse bouche, i made shrimp ravioli with saffron and orange creamy sauce, which we served in a chinese spoon. joey

the few times i watched it, it seemed to be okay. there are many chef-hosts so there are lots of different approaches happening. but in general, i found that they were decent guys and gals doing decent things, showing tricks of the trade, and so on. they could use some new music, though. and what's the deal with showing all the helpers drinking beer after they are done their plates?...

yeah, the word newfie can be seen as a slur, no doubt. i tend not to use the word, but i also know that some of the people don't mind it. as they say, when in doubt, throw it out. so if you're not sure if you might offend someone, and are sensitive to that kind of thing, my advice would be to avoid the word, like the n-word, or the k-word, and so on...

pronounce: New-fin-lan' with an emphasis on the NEW, so it is like newfin' lan' almost like saying newfie, but newfin, then lan. at least that's the way we said it home...

recommended download, if you're into that: newfinese, by buddy wassisname and the other fellers. you might catch a few more newfenese expressions... and yeah, im originally from happy valley-goose bay, labrador, but now i live in the great city of montreal.

dunch, in my Labradorian understanding is an adjective, to mean numb: example: ah, me arse is gone dunch, 'by! i believe it always must be used with the noun "arse"... only an arse can "go dunch." but it might be different on the rock than in labrador...

decent mexican in montreal. hard one to answer, i havent really been to a ton of places, but id say the best one ive been to so far was either manana which is in the village, on ste cath, near, oh i don,t know, baudry or something, and then there is cactus, on st denis and mont royal. both of these places, i frequented a long time ago, and before i became a somewhat serious foodie, so i can't offer much more than that. places to avoid: three amigos (near guy on st. cat), mexicali rosas, carlos and pepe's (on peel), and la fiesta on c.d.n. i was at la fiesta a week and a half ago, and was apauled. i could not understand how these people could serve this food with straight faces. ...?

oh yeah, and steve, again, it was nice to meet you! it's nice to put a face on an internet name... (my face doesn't always look like <---that, just when i shake it hard!)

it has marscapone...

Lesley, I believe the cheeseburger is on the regular lunch menu now. perhaps it is represented on the lunch menu as "plat a $12." as for the cream topping, perhaps I WILL get in trouble for saying this, but i don't know. I work on the veg station, and rarely get to see the desserts. i try to ask people about their stations as much as possible, but i haven't really had the chance to take it all in yet. and steve, as for the website, don't know that either. you know as much as i do...

cool, i just got in, and remember making your order especially. some good mushrooms on the burger, too, right? and woo hoo, i made those fries, glad you liked them! joey

hey stelio! (guru!) hope it all goes well, with you and patrice there, when are you expecting to open? is it still around early march? (around my birthday!) i was hoping to get back to leméac with my wife to eat before you left, but she will be leaving for the great white north on monday for three weeks... no chance you will still be there in a month still? keep cool, man... and who knows, pat might be back in the neighborhood around that time, i think he is doing some touring with charlie haden in the north east states around then... keep your fingers crossed. joey

to precise, the place is open 11-midnight monday to friday, and sat+sun 5-midnight.

hey patrice, way to go. ill be sure to drop by some time when you open... perhaps around my birthday (march 7)?

the pourcels (only laurent tho) came to school last year (ITHQ) to give a little demo. he made "bonbons de foie gras" which were little balls (a bit smaller than a golf ball) of foie gras wrapped in a potato string, deep fried. it was served on balsamic carmelized onions, pear purée and mache salad. it was kind of funky, but i found the deep fried foie gras was kind of overpowerd by the flavor or friture, like potato chips or fries. secondly, he made langoustine tails wrapped in a brick pastry with a herb (cant remember which one, but it may have been coriander), in a martini glass. in the glass was truffled butternut squash purée (very liquid, almost like a soup) and vanilla. (or was the vanilla in the pear purée of the foie gras dish?). in any case, i very much enjoyed having him come in and show us some new things. i think it was a great idea to have a chef from outside the school come in and show students of the culinary arts a few new ideas and techniques. if ITHQ were to have such demonstrations more often, i think the dedicated students would benefit greatly. i remember a classmate of mine asked mr. pourcel "what would you think of offering the students a course in food chemistry?" to which he replied, "well, sure, but we don't have to go overboard here" or something along those lines. one of my colleagues at school was pressing to get a food chem course offered to use in the cuisine detablissement program...

guru, what happened last night? ill be going home tomorrow morning, if you have a bit of spare time tonight... ribo.

Hey Leslie, well, the waiter said ... the waiter said that the goose foie gras is a new product in quebec, made right here, and so we all ordered the goose foie gars. so, as far as i know, what i ate was goose foie gras. and yes, it was served hot. as for savannah vs. cube: well, im not sure which i like most. it seemed my meal at savannah was more relaxed, easygoing, and leisurely. perhaps it is because the people i was with were in less of a hurry, and we sat there from 7 till 1030, whereas at cube, i was there from 700-830. i think i was a bigger fan of cube for the actual execution of the food. the foie gras was one of my favorite dishes ive had this year, and the menu looked a little more adventurous. the foie gras at savannah was over cooked, and almost tasted meaty. i would say i enjoyed them both equally, but on different levels.

my recommendation for ottawa: ceylonta, something like 400 somerset west. sri lankan food, it won the war on drugs for me. while in ottawa during the last three or four weeks, i had a hard time finding a place that i would call good. i tried mash, maxwells, café paradiso, and empire grill, as well as a few other places, but none really struck me as highest quality. ceylonta was the best for me, speaking of quality vs. price. oh well. theres always montreal... ribo.

looks like i resurrected an old-ish thread. but i found this thread on cube, and since i just got in, i figured i would toss in my two cents worth. well, it was good. not mind blowingly good, but it was good. i really dig the décor of the place, i'd like to have an apartment decorated the same way, but alas, im living with my mom for now, so what can i do?... the acceuil was fine, we got our table for three on time, as soon as we arrived, and the staff was smiling and friendly. a little disappointing for me was the fact that the other two i was with were a bit rushed, so i couldnt really study the menu like i would have liked. i feel like i didnt really get a chance to see what the kitchen was all about. but we all ordered the foie gras d'oie - goose foie gras - prepared the same way as the duck foie gras, apple three ways and muscat wine sauce, probably samos. very good. the apple three ways was, as lesley mentioned, apple julienne, apple compote - sauce - and green apple sorbet. i really like the variable textures and temperatures in the plate. the foie gras was the highlight. i could not see much difference between duck and goose foie gras. both seem equally as luxurious, creamy, and rich. very good, everyone agreed. next came a little amuse bouche of cold roasted redpepper and tomato soup, which was quite refreshing and cleansing. a good transition to the main plate, which was magret de canard for me and my friend, while his wife took the veal sweetbreads-moucheron (what the heck is a moucheron?). when the magret came, i think we all kind of looked and thought, well this is small. it was a bit of a small portion. the veg were cauliflower, rapini, farro, and passion fruit. it was the first time id eaten farro, (which as i understand is spelt?) and i got a kick out of its texture. it was like pure wheat, i guess that what farro basically is. it has what i called a bouncy texture. but the rest of the plate was kind of ordinary. i mean, yeah it was good, but like guru mentioned earlier, "The food itself was everything a good cook can do." my friends said the same thing. i have done several dinner parties with them, and my pal told me kind of with a low voice, "just between you and me, we could do this at home!" and i got the same feeling. and i could not really taste any passion fruit onto the duck. we proceeded with cheese, (well, its cheese, it was served properly, it was standard), and then dessert. the dessert person must have forgotten my friends "grande finale" but somehow remembered to make my marscapone charlotte. strange. anyways, it was okay, nothing to knock your socks off, as both my companions agreed. dessert and coffee were offered, since they forgot to make my friends grande finale. a redemption, of sorts. overall, a good experience. not great. it was a good experience, but i dont know if i would go and do it again. if i want to spend that kind of money, id go to toqué! or try something else like la chronique, club des pins, or ferreira café. btw, lesley, i tried savannah the other night, after reading your article, and got a good kick out of that place. i enjoyed it tons (had the foie gras with apple tarte tatin and wild boar bacon, then the scallops with truffle mash and collard greens). service there was spot on the money. i over tipped because our waited totally wins the war on drugs. ribo.

ill be going to cube tonight. i will get back with a review later on... ribo