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saw pichlines olives (bottled) and lobster mushroom (dried) at Latina corner of st viateur and esplanade.

Yes, Chevres has also released their asparagus crepe recipee... That mushroom menu is very very attractive... Trompette des morts, crosnes et gnocci en civet. Chocolat mi amer et jus de racine de persil... Hello ! Je n'ai pas besoin de Mr. Michelin !

I share your frustrations, there are some good reasons why some of these things just don't make it to Montreal, why others do. It seems pretty clear that you have a request for some west coast offering or items that travel more on the west coast. I share your view on asian-pacific/south american influences. This will probably change with time in this city. There are some social and historical reasons for this. For example, in Chicago, the great fires brought in a flood of mexican workers. The west coast is very well equipped in Asian offering for commercial reasons. Also, Montreal does have a strong terroir mentality so local produce are often more exploited than others. The wine, well, we are talking about a pure monopole here... The SAQ does have a very good stocking system and they clearly see what goes out and what doesn't, they have decided to clear out about 1000 offering over the next year or so to trim things down... However, I still remember when there was absolutely zero local presence at the SAQ (icewine, ciders took a while to make it). Real creme you should be able to get with your grocer if you offer to buy it every week from them. La creme d'Antan is available in most serious outlets in Montreal. Dairy production in Quebec is very much different than in the USA. There are still farmers who get paid to dump their milk in the back of the barn... On the other hand, we don't have to make a big Farm Aid party out here. For some people, going to Hamel is not far and I would argue with you that you'll have a challenge finding a real french bagette outside of large cities in the states... But I agree with you, you have made a very good list of things missing out here. Did you pick the Quartiers Gourmand Guide ? You will probably find some address in there that will offer some of these items. Fruit, shrooms and olive: Try CHEZ LOUIS at Marche Jean Talon (import fruit and shroom) and try fruiterie MUSCAT, 5000 St Denis (corner st-Joseph), you may have the french olive there...

As an avid reader of La Presse, Voir and a Voir Guide user/owner. I am happy that this is cleared up, I had been misslead and wanted to get an answer on this. I have always respected the folks that I read and always fascinated by the travelling memories and cultural references of Robert. Today's article in La Presse is a fine example of that. The mere fact that this thread died before it began was enough of answer for me that the comments had no foundations. From the get go, I had been told of a inscription fee, no one ever mentionned people getting paid to give a good review !!!! (this is where some scenesters start getting nutty). And as much as a confused comment doesn't do anyone justice, the unwelcomed drama that pushes statements across the limit of psychosis isn't any better either. I believe some folks need to get a lay. Fast... Again, just an opinion.

Hi Amy, well I still have on my desk, "the lost week end" article because I laugh so hard every time I read it... BTW I had to take a quicky to TO, got my hands on en route, and for those of you who mention brunoise and Rosalie, they are actually mentionned and listed in En Route, I am guessing everyone knows that, there is a second article attached to the one that throws so much DRAMA on here. The second piece is actually even more refreshing as it shows some nice regional trends. Brunoise is noted for their intelligent amuse bouche, Rosalie for it's nice drinks (the orange drink is mentionned, had it and it is sure good) and the torsos of it's male staff (a given). Reservoir, Time Supper club and Mile End bar (go Tiga go!) also on there.

merlin, my point being that folks who just describe Sobo as a camper cantine without having been there should maybe try it. I'm not dissing places that I have never been before, it doesn't make sense. As far as the en route, for crying out loud, keep your panties on folks and start cooking already. Who gives a crap's ass, if someone's dining research is based on En Route magazine, then I feel sorry for them...

I have never confirmed this but just wanted to say what I had been told by a restaurator. When I went to this asian restaurant on St Denis, I was told that it had been around for ages and asked the owner why I hadn't read about their place in the Voir guide... and this is basically what I was told. So the lady owner might be totally out of wack, especially if no other retaurant owners (and the guide lists 100s of them) had confirmed this on the board. My guess would be that she spoke through her arss and therefore maybe so have I...

The day Mr. Beauchemin reviewed your restaurant, I was there for lunch, there's nothing scathing about it, did you actually see this: http://www.voir.ca/restos/chronique.aspx?i...IDArticle=25745 Off topic: Dave, did Rosalie make any arrangements for minors in the restaurant ? I'm making a go or no go list for baby/kids spots, I remember reading about a law problem and minors taped on the door. I'm taking a few weeks off on paternity break and that means we are going to eat out a lot.

Oninonbreath, I have always been impressed with the coffee at Lemeac (it is true it is expensive). They use Illy, this must have been a one time miss from the coffee/bar. I wouldn't think this is normal for Lemeac unless it has changed the coffee set up or that a tune up is required on the machine...

there is only one solution for you then: total office mutiny.

BTW, having a fish Taco outside of the Sobo van before finding out the best tide times for boogie boarding at the Surf shop isn't really unpleasant. Don't diss it if you haven't lived it. I still remember having the absolute best breakfast experience, getting out of my tent 18 years ago to see naked scandanavain women testing the cold waters of Long Beach. Walking back to the highway through the rainforest, thumbing my way to the village with a salmon fisherman. Having the best huevo rancho at the Alleyway before going out sea kayaking with a school of killer whale. I'm sorry but that beats any of my last dinner experience by a mile (maybe Tofino has changed a bit since then...) but I'll take that 1000 times before many Montreal resto's... that's just me and it's just an opinion.

I can't speak for en route. But again, the same reason why someone would rate a restaurant because of how sexy patrons look, the same reason this list was put together. Like I said, Uber, minimal, cyber, geeky, concrete and Prada shoes might make as much points as a roast sandwich... I think En route is more of a livestyle listing than a food magazine, but that is just my opininon and I may be wrong. One could make the same model for the travel industry. It may be considered chick and nouveau to be sipping Campari in Montenegro just as it would be to wonder around the scariest part of Tijuana on designer mountain bikes. It might be fun to be overlooking Vatican city from the highest terrasse in Atlantico hotel just like I know CEO's who pay huge lumps of money to find out what it is like to become a homeless hobbo for a week...(I'm not kidding) So this is how I read En Route's choices... add in there the fact that it must represent Air Canada and as such, the cheapest fair, the highest fair and the ever political correctness to show a winner in every part of the country...This is why Resto's not making the list should read absolutely nothing in En Route's selection. Folks can be critical of the potential lack of basic judging practice just like others, I'm sure, are positively suprised at the ecclectic choices.

Apparently the place is doing quite well and the service is now stable (much like the food). So I will also return soon. The menu simply has to get smaller I think, but there is definitely the possibility of having a very nice dinner to a quick lunch fix there. I think this is why it works out for them. Last review I saw described the fries as perfect and below, readers comments describe the as mediocre. Same thing for the duck magret, some days dried up, some days perfect...

Try l'Express for breakfast. It's not bad. I'm sure they have good french toast.

Let's face it, this is nowhere near the optimal way of judging for restaurants. They are tons of factors that can make these choices. First of all, this is enroute magazine, a private zine with for rent journalists with a agenda (fly more people)... Congrats to Les Chevres. Dave, I'm suprised at your comment on Beauchemin, he raved Rosalie when he was at Voir. From reading so many En route magazines, it's pretty clear that food is one part of the equation when they make their choices, even the press release describes that. It's basically similar to PAPER magazine making a top ten, there would be more to it than food. And I didn't want to underestimate the great work of Chevres by saying that. The chocolate mousse at Cluny is not bad but it's basically like being in a Caban store. I guess it's one of those "living" type judging or some kind of UBER-restaurant listing hahahaha. Yes, UBER !

I'm not a US basher but I'll be damned if they can laugh at a truck take out spot when they have some serious social issues with fast food invasion and obesity... Don't want to get socio-political about food but i don't give a rat's ass about the U.S. when it comes time to food, other than the best of their offers. And don't give me examples about great restaurants in New York or other cities, that is not typical US. I've been spending enough time lining up buffet tables in five star hotels with bad burrito preparations...

it's funny because some of these choices make sense in an ecclectic way, if you want cluny there for the experience of being in a techno world industrial young people setting, great... but if you loook at the top choices... it's all about refined high end stuff... the list is simply not consistent from top to bottom. Cluny is a great spot but it's a sandwicherie with good chocolate mousse... nothing more... Maybe they have huge point factor for location ? McEwan, this is the guy from North 44 ?

Don't waste a minute at Piment rouge. The prices are wrong and the vibe is pretty much as they show on their tv infomercial like commercial... Week ends are not very active in that area. The menus have some hits and miss, dumplings for example are hits, the genreral Tsao @ 20$ doesn't even compare to other spots at half that price. Service is pretty anonymous and unequal. For that vibe of menu and prices, I'd rather go to Souvenir d'Indochine before Piment rouge. If you have a perfectly controlled evening at Piment, I'm sure it can be pleasant because the potential is there and the chef is respected but many other factors will take over, such as the service, the timing of the plates and the lukewarm dishes... The last month or so, I have been taking out food at Soy in the Mile End. I salivate just thinking about firday night Soy take out and Manny is such a sweet guy. The prices are obscene and my kids just can't hold back on those chicken basilic rolls and ginger dumplings.

Hi Cassady, I am a regular at Kaizen, both upstairs and down. Will the St-Laurent venu be more like Kaizen downsatirs or will the presentation be more like Tri house ? I'm going to guess more like upstairs. Will you take this opportunity to make a few changes to the menu ? Finally, will you offer take out at this location and will large orders of take out be accepted on credit cards. Sorry for all the questions, inquiring minds want to know.

hahaha, asking for cash only is a sure sign, especially when you leave the drawer open between transactions (the good ol corner shop approach). The no names cash machines have also been linked to laundering groups in North America, great way to recycle money...

Good point indeed... try sushi volant instead but you'll need to know 24 hours ahead of time. I've always wondered about that cash only policy... is it because it's pretty common for Montreal pick pockets to head out to Kaizen with stolen credit cards for a sushi meal ??? Real odd.

This is a bit off topic but has anyone bought the "Quartier Gourmand guide". I'm told for 5 dollars, it is very nice and gives a complete market review of Montreal areas. This is not restaurant oriented like Lesley's book (a great buy also) but I am told some are mentionned. Apparently it is more of a regional buying guide. I'd like to know if anyone got their hands on it and were I can get it ? Thanks.

I was there this week end. I'm kind of mixed about this place but it mostly shined for us. The place seems to have taken a bit of a turn, the new menu hasn't really changed but the overlay is telling. The cover mentions the new fame of the pied de cochon dish which has been served 1000 time last week, it also mentions the Distasio appearance and the Jean Talon reality show appearance... I suggest this should be toned down a little... The service was excellent, the dish were ordered in unusuall sequences and the complied very well. This is truly a success since the kitchen is badly designed (space wise) and probably the culprit of many timing flaws that I have seen in the past. Sitting litteraly on the street in October in the evening with doors all wide open is really a great way to start the night. The temperature was purfect. The kids had gigantic grill cheese (a nice suggestion from the kitchen) with Pied de Vent slices, a great way to introduce new cheese to kids, "smells funny but tatses great". They had fries with that (the fries were lukewarm as usual, a good lamp would fix that). My freind had the gravelax that is still served on a very thick pancake like slice, tasted pretty good. I had the rasberry point oysters that are always great, hpwever, prepping was not perfect since I had way too many chinks of "nacre" on the bottom scoop, as I was visiting the kitchen with the kids I noticed a lot of bottom scrapping from the prep man... be gentle, he should get himslef a dozen and test drive his ways. As main, I had the magret the canard with wild mushroom and my friend had the wild mushroom risotto. The both were set up on the same mushroom samples, the rizotto had a beautiful tangy aftertaste while my dish was a lot more muscular in taste. The duck had a perfect texture, wild/raised taste, not too strong and not too weak (Hmmm lake brome...not). The bread, I am not certain if made on the spot was atisanal but lacked a slow cold raise and a good levin taste. For desert, the tarte au sucre was way more impressive during the maple season, it was also more pleasing to the eyes on a prior evening. This time, the crust was very tame and ridgid, the filling very good and topped with cream. Last time we had something similar excepot the pie seemed boosted with more maple syrup and the crust was a work of art, it was lifted very tall on each side and served outside of its mold, giving it an uneven, manual look to it, it was alo cooked more. I had the creme brulee which tasted great but had coagulated a bit too much and served to cold in my opinion. The coffee was one of the best allongees I did not have in ages ! Impressive. The agneau de l'isle vertes or salt marsh lamb was on the menu for 48 hours some weeks back, only five animals made it to Montreal, two at PDC... I guess we were lucky last year. We bought some yellow and red tomato sauce that we will compare to ours soon. The wine suggestions were excellent. Pricing was acceptable, very good produce have a price on the other hand, they could be matched too slightly more refined details. I'm not talking about taking away from the whole big meal big meat approach but maybe a bit more attention to bread desserts preps and sauces would make the perfect meal. This is a challenge in such a small kitchen, it's a challenge to predict the unpredictable. Also, I think the space is not used to the maximum, seeing the oyster man prepping in a small small area over a counter that is empty inside may not be the best use of space, this is especially important if you plan on making a long term effect to the Montreal landscape of restaurant.

OK, is it the fact that they ask for cash only ? With the usual mafia like cash machine ? Other than that I don't see any real difference between what they have at the tables and what is in my bag (and I am not talking about the take weird menus for lunch, I'm talking the usual stuff). Love it or hate it, I don't where is the problem with the take out (apart from the cash request which doesn't make a lot of sense but is minor in my mind).

Although you'll notice upstream my comments on cafe Italia, who makes a mean espresso. It is true that it is more liquidy and lacks love. I still think the espresso there is "mean" in cafeine content and boost but it is true that it tastes a bit watery some times. I can only explain by the fact that the water used is not filtered and that the bean grinding might be uneven with time. The ambiance, on it's own, does give a boost to the coffee. If you are lucky to have the mother in charge of the coffee, then it does have a bit more love to it.