eat2much

I would take the results of any Montreal Mirror survey with a grain of salt.... McDonald's? 'nuff said!

If I were a more cynical person I would think that certain real estate developers are behind the plans to remove "unsightly" parking lots and replace them with office buildings and/or condominiums. The city would have us think that they are trying to beautify the downtown core and force people to use mass transit. They are probably more interested ( read "drooling over") in the taxes these new buildings will generate.

Well, the website may have some weaknesses but the food is pretty amazing! After not having been there for over a year I have been back 2x in that last 2 weeks. The summer menu has a number of seafood platters as well as clams and oysters available by the piece. Lobster is available, but at $30 a pound. There is a fresh fish of the day and the full battery of cholesterol classics. Tonight I had a half dozen oysters served with a nice red wine vinegar and shallot mignonette followed by a venison hanger steak and fries. The pouding chaumeur is not to be missed.

Actually, what I meant was, in world populated by foodies, people would get their smoked meat at places exactly like Schwartz's but not at Nickels. There would be lots of great fry joints but fewer La Belle Province outlets. Pizza would taste great instead of just greasy. I had lunch at Romados on Rachel E. yesterday and had b.b.q. chicken and fries which were orgasmically good (all for well under $10) and from a culinary universe light years away from Suisse Chalet. Your point about good tasting food being simple is correct. That is why it is so offensive to pay good money for bad food. When I go out to eat I am not expecting foams and the like. What I am expecting is flavour! And by the way when I use the term "foodie" I mean someone who cares about the food that they eat, both in terms of taste and quality. I don't think of that as elitism. For the record, I eat at Toque about once every year or so, but I can assure you, I eat three really good meals a day.

My point is that if the world were populated solely by "foodies" there would not be so many mediocre restaurants. Most people are willing to settle for less and indeed find a lot of serious food too fussy.

I am willing to give everyone the benefit of the doubt, but at the same time it occured to me that serious "foodies" do not really like the same restaurants as Joe Tourist and Jane Student. While I also hate spending my hard earned dollars on what I consider to be a lousy meal I realize that establishments like Weinstien & Gavinos, Cage Aux Sports, Boccacinos, etc. survive because the "general public" obviously has far different taste and expectations than we do. That being said, it is entirely possible that Joe Tourist and Jane Student, would have the time of their lives at Modavie. It is also possible that Joe and Jane would not like a meal at Toque, La Chronique, or Les Caprices de Nicholas. Who knows, maybe Beezer works at Modavie and is an overzealous employee, but then again, perhaps he works in Old Montreal and eats there because he loves it.

I miss the good old days of places like The Coffee Mill on de la Montagne and the Limelight on Pierce St. etc. where you could go for coffee and dessert and just hang out......

and if "the cheap stuff" was cheap, then perhaps the "expensive stuff" could be a tad less expensive!

The problem is that "the cheap stuff" is actually quite expensive. Nobody would really question the quality if an assorted platter of takeout sushi cost about $20 or $25 for 40 or so pieces. If "the cheap stuff" was actually cheap there would not be a problem.

When a friend of mine moved to Vancouver several years ago he would constantly fax me the sushi menus from the various sushi restaurants in his adopted city. The prices were insanely low in comparison to what we pay here. He was amazed at the freshness and quality of the sushi and blown away by the low prices. One would have thought that with all the competition here the prices would go down. No sign of any decline in prices despite the fact that in certain areas we can't walk a block without seeing a Sushishop, Katsura, or Soto Express. Unless these places start to radically rethink their pricing, methinks the sushi boutiques will go the way of the dinosaur and the cigar lounge....

It seems that Soto is in under bankruptcy protection. Probably not a good idea to have so many "boutique" locations..... infolettre

Just got back from a lovely meal at Brunoise. All in all, I'd rate it as one of the best values in town. I'll most certainly be back.

Welcome to life in the province of Quebec. Not only do we enjoy the highest income tax in north America but the SAQ also has some of the highest markups on wine (along with stiff taxes built in to the pricing). Restaurants for some arcane reason have to pay something like 8% ABOVE retail (no discounts for quantity, etc.). It gets really fun when the restaurant aggressively boosts the price (usually about double their cost (retail + 8%) or more and then we as tax loving citizens get to pay an additional 15% (GST + PST) plus tip.

Without naming names, let's just say that my favourite eatery on de la montagne had noticeably higher pricing than 2 weeks ago. I am sure there were a few others on St. Laurent that might have done the same.

Now that the Grand Prix has come and gone I hope that prices will return to their pre-race levels....

Northern Cookbook by Eleanor A. Ellis has some very intriguing recipes but I find shopping for ingredients to be a real bitch. some examples: Roast Polar Bear Braised sweetgrass buffalo steak carbonade baked stuffed caribou heart sweet pickled beaver baked seal flippers with vegetables seal portugaise

Indeed, he might make a good tenant for Hotel Godin........

The Rosalie Ferrari had Quebec plates......but perhaps there are some Formula 1 egulleters out there!!!! I'm sure that hotel concierges might be responsible for sending downtown guests to Rosalie as a number of smaller downton venues might be overbooked and Rosalie does have a large capacity.

Had a very nice meal at Rosalie last night with friends followed by a walk around downtown. If it is any indication, the Ferrari parked in front of Rosalie was newer and nicer than the old Testarossa in front of Bice.

There is a lovely specialty shop here in Montreal which carries a variety of products from L'ile de Re in France where I gather they have been famous for harvesting sea salt since Roman times. Aside from the obvious sea salt they also sel a number of grilling mixes or rubs made up of sel de l'ile de Re and a variety of dried herbs. They are fantastic and turn a simple grilled veal chop or steak into a thing of beauty. My only complaint is that some of the salt particles are way too large.

They used to park the Humvee right in front of Moe's.... Same people indeed.

I can't honestly say whether I'd enjoy eating the sauce again either. Bear in mind that each of the 3 cooks drank about 6 or 7 ounces of Scotch during the cooking stage so our taste buds were quite pickled.

weka, if memory serves, we used Molson or Labatt (Canadien beers rule, eh?) along with either Cutty Sark or J&B. These days I drink better Scotch but no longer use it in my cooking.....

Back in my bachelor days I rented a country house with two friends and our "specialty" was pasta sauce with Scotch and beer. I honestly cannot remember proportions but seem to recall that between the 3 guys and the pot, a 26 ounce bottle was fully consumed. I remember using lots of meat, tomatoes, onions, peppers, beer, several ounces of Scotch and various herbs and spices. It was pretty good...no indigestion but often a very serious hangover....

While I realize that this is somewhat off topic, it seems that one often has meals that are "well-prepared", "impecably presented", and "interesting". These meals are not bad per se, yet they are not particulary good either. I guess that is why I like Dave's cooking so much because the flavours are always "in your face". For the same price as an "interesting" meal, I would rather have an excellent one. I guess that when we use the word "interesting" it is perhaps a polite way of saying the oposite......