identifiler

When I had an office in the IBM tower, I used to park beside a bunch of humvies. The parking valet told me it was the owner of Moe's deli and bar and that he was also behind queue de cheval, is that correct ?

Dave, I'm going through my third pregancy, well not me but my girlfriend. We are two workaholics, if everything goes to plan, you should be able to do all sorts of stuff in the first weeks. We actually never went out more to restaurants during those first few weeks, it's just a tube that you keep feeding and it sleeps all the time mouhahahaha. Anyways, words of wisdom... don't say a word during labor... not a word. You should also bring a recorder, store the tape in a safe, it might come handy down the road... Best small store to buy baby accessories: Le caroussel du Parc, they have the finest peg perego strollers. A great investment. The lady there is a real sweetie. We are going to try Holder before we head to senor coconut on Saturday night.

Da Pizzetaro, Just wanted to say that I went there on Staurday before seeing Invasions Barbare. A quick fix deal. The pizza was under par and so were the salads... Too bad, the place was qute empty. I had the pizza Pizzetaro which is kind of a meat lover pizz... The meat used for the pizza is sub par to what is expected of a good Italian spot, there was simply too much on the pizz. The salads, although had some great dressing, the quality of the leaves were not very high. A bit above that pre washed type green but still incredibly rougn and chewy. It looks like the potential is good but only the ingredients failed me. The deserts were very good (and not in house). The coffee was excellent. We concluded by wondering why not go back to the original spots that never really screw up... Pizzaiolle was mention a few times. It was pizza or Rosalie... Quite suprised to see Rosalie packed between 8:00h and 10:00h on a week end.

This was described to me by an asian restaurant owner on St Denis Street after inquiring why they were not listed in the Voir guide. She told me that they charged some kind of flat fee to have your restaurant be part of the next tour of reviews. Again, I would qualify this as uncertain since I am using this forum to confirm this or not. Some kind of flat administrative fee could be much more ethicaly correct than a free meal IMHO. When I look at the descriptions of even the worst spots, even then, the review is never really harsh. Also, some important restaurants never got reviewed before this year (Kaizen comes to mind).

Lesley, sorry for the wait on the reply (been busy like a crazy fool in the garden). But yeah, I believe Beauchemin will be basically the food specialist of Actuel section. This contains some review of restaurants but presented in a much more liberal way than what Kayler does. I am not certain if this stops the affiliation with Voir... I believe those small star reviews in la presse (the ones not done by Kayler) may be a spin of the Voir Resto guide... but I may be wrong. Did anyone know that the Voir Resto guide asks for a ristourne to have a restaurant reviewed ? Sounds kind of odd to me.

I had this very argument last week, I believe that salted butter may overshadow the subtelty of a great bread... The census is that the butter is usually unsalted but I always crave it when I realise it is salted. Reguarding Voir, the lady before might have been just a temp (pigiste) because of Beauchemin's departure. He had just entered new job functions today at la Presse, he will comment in the Actuel section about food and style (as in the past done by many including Mr. Martha Stewart himself, Ricardo...) The coincidence is that Beauchemin's firts spread is on SALT... how ironic is that !

BTW, maybe I didn't get to see that menu long enough but I did not see any KID (babe goat) on the menu, there was foie gras (it was duck) which is highly recommended but was unavailable lat in the night, a fish and a organic pintade for game.

Jersey, Soy is more a mix of chin/philipino type food. It's quite nice, cramalised salmon in rice paper, ginger pork dumplings... etc... The menu is set up so you can pick a main dish, add a soup, veggie and steamed rice to it. Add a tsin tao for lunch... maybe not under 15$ but around that. I second la rotisserie italienne, altougha bit getto in looks, it truly is one of my best cheap eats stop when in the Ouest. I remember also some pasta house on Mont Royal, looks more like a market than a restaurant. One of those places where the sauce and the pasta are individualy served.. something like "la maison de la pasta" or other...

it's not a cheap eat per say, but I am always amazed at the work and the final tab of a lunch at Soy on St-Laurent street. They have a great lunch package. That's a pretty good thread to consider.

That's a great review, truly describes the essence of the kitchen... it also is a good indication of the revolving flavors around a shifting menu. My pasta did not contain the same garnish, the asparagus crepes had a compote d'onion confit. I can't believe you did not touch those cheese ! I was strictly prohibited from having them at the table under my pregnant friend's warnings... It truly is a wonderful food experience. I was also very impressed with the sommelier's choices in wine, it is not an easy menu to pair with, especially the first time, since it's with complete mystery and anxiousness that you wonder which of the wonderfull ingredient in your plate will dictate the flavours. I'm going back there a soon as I have free time, plus weeknight... weeknight is always better to appreciate a restaurant (thursday my choice). The tasting menu had a variable tomatoe plate, curious to find out of you had that and what kind of tomatoes were served.

I was just there on Friday. It started off as a shopping night, some nice drinks at Rosalie (boy that evening office crowd gets pretty gino"esque" during happy hour). The drinks are great however. We the had a huge craving and headed out to Chevres with reservations. I'm gonna keep it simple: The food was amazing, the service was atrocious. No arm intented, I will go back many times but sometimes, setting proper expectations with customers is much better than trying to justify errors. Location: When we walked in, we were quite impressed to see how the place turned out, the wall treatment, the light neon colors just in time with the right palette (but not for long), that cheese counter is to die for... that cheese counter is criminal ! The dessert area for dressing, it's all pretty good. Couple of physical points that I wasn't a fan with: The tables are to long, I was closer to my neighbor than my girlfriend, plus it gives all the reason in the world to hear annoying Outremont patrons to talk about cars, houses and retirement plans to the rest of the crowd... The menus are set up in what I described as my personnal tables of commandments, do the exercise, the thing just flings everywhere, you cannot hold the menu and a glass of water... Finally, those yellow tinted treatments on the top windows show a lot of grime probably from the glue, they should be shinning. I aslo think that you should use the bar area as the entrance and bring people over to the main room, not the other way around. Service: It started with our entry, Mr Beausoleil showed up at the reservations area, jovial as always. He was looking for his maitreD "Y'est ou mon petit bonhomme?" "Suivez moi on va le trouver", I was under the impression he would seat us but it seemed some other guy was doing that. Turns out we walked all the way around, once the maitre D was found, without a hint of awarness, he pointed the table that we could sit at, never budged one second from his discussion with his friends (sorry, he was having wine with some guest). Give me a break, how in the world does a kid like that actually tell Beausoleil what to do... get that sorry ass MaitreD out of there, he obvioulsy didn't even bother look around for the best table, he nudged us 5 inches away from another couple, just enough space to let the waiter wiggle his bum on our table to serve the other table. Then we got the waiter who just started, fresh... lesson one: learn to set proper expectations with your customers. Please let us know that you are starting... It's OK, it's not a crime, everybody needs a start. There was back up but back up seemed to be quick to point out his collegue was a junior and that we would be in good hands with him... I've seen that game to often in the corporate world... I am suprised Mr Beausoleil did not notice all this, we had to ask for the menu, no water was brought... Our menues were taken but not the order, we were starting to laugh pretty hard... While the MaitreD was sipping wine away with his friends... That bread girl is so cute and efficient, she simply needs to smile a little bit more. BTW, the new waiter was very nice with us, he was just so green and it seems no one was out the babysit him... this is really not the best way to start someone out. Food: Well what can I say, Chevres' energy is all in the kitchen and the type of food presented. We started off with more drinks (after we had caramelised pineapples on bread with fresh tomatoe juice), my drink was delicious fresh grpaefruit squeeze, campari, white porto. I decided to go with the artichoke/tomatoe/olive cake that was very, very good. I am guessing some oil of truffe. I thaught there was to much olive guarnish, the strong taste kind of took over the artichokes, but really I was impressed with the dish, the sommelier (who is quite the character) had a pefect selection for this dish. How do you do these olives guarnish ? We had an argument about it, I settled for a kalamata puree, mixed up with japanese tempura mix and then dried up in an oven or fried and granulated ? My friend had the potage the topinambour...that was also very awsome... vive la creme d'antan a 42%. For main, I had the betacarde ravioli (little gems), I'm gonna say Shitake (but they were small) and grilled fenouille....mmmm that was good, offically beats my favorites ravioli dish at Area. My friend had some kind of crepes with compotte d'ognion, asperges... but I concentrated on my plate the most. I am suspecting a good amount of butter in that betacarde ravioli, the betacrade could be lifted from a tiny squeeze of organic blood oranges or something as such, especially with the fenouille. One plate got my liver really going. I think Les Chevres are on to a very nice approach on food. It would be however nice to see that staff take in as much of the concept than the chefs. These folks need to go out and weed a couple of organic farm for a day, get there hands dirty. In August, you need to ask your producer to take in those city slicking hands of theirs for a good week end in the fields. It may not be obvious for everyone that it was the second week of the local asparagus offering, sometimes I read the menu, I read a certain tomatoe genus on a plate. I sware to god, I have a catalogue of about 200 heirloom seeds and I have never heard that name before. The whole approach to vegetables, where they are coming from, how they are grown, why some should be consumed as organic while it may not matter for other types. All that information should be part of the philosophy and should transcend from the kitchen to the maitreD. It may be too simple to tell a mere Bernard street mortal that he is eating organic, others might want to understand why, others may not care one bit. I think all angles need to be looked at, but the produce never lie, I want to have more appreciation for the produce and every step should be taken to focus on that without having to be preachy or educational. Finally we get dessert, damn this is the hotest dessert place in town, no question about it. I had a chocolate creme (was there truffle oil and butter in there ?) broiled babana's, my friend had a small almond and orange cup cake with star anise ice cream, super good. We got some nice little peppered pastry at the end, from the kitchen. I asked for an allongee and got a double espresso, that's when we decided to call it a night. As we were leaving, we got another nice little peppered pastry, the guy started talking and I said: "let me guess, gracieusete de la cuisine" The waiter was so happy that I clued in on that, only to see his face drop one more time when I told him the kitchen had already graced us once...

Leslie, I would have to add Les Ramparts and Il Cortile as nice terrasse. Not truly a terrasse, but the upscale cafe on the last floor of the Musee de Pointe a Calliere is not bad on nice day overlooking the port.

I have, I think they always served a great pizza... Another OK spot is on crescent, on the corner of Maisonneuve, can't remember the name, one of those Crescent spots... There was a review of Napolitana in La Presse today. They put down the quality of the ingredient, the crust of course is reguarded as the best. I have to agree with the review, I never expect top notch ingredients there but playing the tradionnal vibe and not offering 1% of what is done in Italy for the same price is a problem... Like the reviewer said, you can never get away from that spot, even with these let down's. That's the problem I guess, they are now so packed, they totally forgotten how to respect the "caprese", plus the prices are not getto cheap... Seems to me anything truly regional and ethnic in Montreal is always a challenge...

God chopper, GOOD point ! I totally forgotten about electra, I didn't even realised it closed until I was looking for it during lunch time... oh well, I ended up at reservoir for a nice potage de betterave with goat cheese bits in it... good stuff.

BTW, my girlfriend told me that there are now Krispe Kream like installations in most club price/costco in Quebec (she confirms the one in St Hubert). Exact same real time equipment as krispy kream, apparently they taste exactly the same... Of course, the kids were sampling big time, she said she had to tie them to the cart just to keep moving, while everyone was crying for more...

I personnally cannot stand them. I hate when large corporations take over food industries... I think it was a couple of months back I was reading the latest release from Macdonald's... how they were planning on creating a one dollar meal very soon... can anyone imagine the processing ???? I wouldn't be suprised if Krispy offers those great vietnam beans that have almost killed the coffee market. Last year I drove to North Carolina with the family, in the smallest and larger towns, I could not find any (and I mean any) stores that offered anything better than krispy kream and fast food joints. That, is truly a sing of the declining empire.

Champignon, no question about it. Saltiness there is. If I go to Napolitana, I have to bring a picther of water in the bedroom that night and chug it around 2:00AM hahahaha, but I like it like that. The service has always been bad there, it's almost a signature and it is 80 $ for a family of four. I just enjoy that getto Italian feeling, make sure you have a couple of Italian smart ass comments in your head, scream them out as the waiter passes by and you'll get some respect. Italians are weird that way. Bring a group of 16 in there with 10 kids...those waiters are just gonna scrap the floor for ages and I don't feel guilty one bit about it.

We often do them for the kids. First I make the doe from the basic doe recipe in the Kitchen aid mixer book, you can also by the frozen pizza doe at Pain dore. It's not bad. Then I have two square plates with holes in them, I bought them at Dante quincaillerie, sometimes I'l line it up with foil sometimes not. My pizza are roundish rectangular...HAHAHA I usually roll it thin, then I lift the doe in front of me in sunlinght and stretch it using the top of my hands, I stretch it until I can see some light going through the do, I do this all around the do, stretch, find another spot, stretch, next spot and so on. The tomatoe sauce consists of my own summer prep from the garden, organic san marzano, genovese basil and some coriander, I like the zesty tatse the coriander adds to the pizz (I vacuum pack it). EVERY SINGLE INGREDIENT IN USED IN MINUTE AMOUNT. Thin coat of tomatoe sauce, I may add on one open mergez saucages from queue de cochon. A couple of dabs (like ink blots) of grinded dried tomatoes in olive oil. Cheese usually a mix of 3-1-.5 Moza, parmesan, cheddar. Again, just a light sprinkle. Sometimes I get my hands on vacuum sealed, oiled goat feta made in Quebec or I'll cut couple of blobs of buffalo boconcini. The pizza is cooked regurlarly until there is a small lift in the crust, then I chop up some parma prosciuoto and get fresh rocket from the garden, chopped, dump a couple of handfull and broil it at the last minute. You want that proscuoto/rocket to be very green and soft still (like in an omelette). A nice stream of oil from my brother's San Michelano orchids tops it off.... summer here I come.

Cucina is st laurent fairmont/laurier. I haven't been there in ages (almost going back to the years of LUX) used to be a really hot french resto beside that place... I can't comment on recent pizza but they have a good oven (the most important part), it's very casual and the terrasse is a big hit in the summer. Maybe someone who has been there recently can comment.

I am wondering waht is this Montreal style pizza that is refered to. Are we talking america pizza here ? Based on the description, it sounds like it... Leslie must be like me, trying to undersatnd what is that greasy saucy stuff you are talking about. If you are a fan of the pizza, Napolitana is the only spot. I was just there on Saturday... and damn it's very good. My favorite----> Minerva (feta, onions, baked olives, etc...). I have appreciated the pizza at Cuccina for some years but I'm not sure if it has kept up. Leslie, I believe the pizza spot right beside Latini is not bad at all. It actually fairs very well, if only I could remember the name...arrgghh... Da pizzataro, I knew I would remember.

I agree, I was just there yesterday. Great food, my girlfriend had the burger, the fries are divine. The service was quite good and the waiter even notcied my grilfriend's pregnancy and gave her a triple order of small pickles... hey hey hey. I had the toulouse on great mash potatoes (slightly crusted) and rapini, string haricot. I am going to gamble and say the toulouse is from queue de cochon... The menu does not appear excentric, however, once presented, you will see some definite personnal and suprising touches. The biggest plus there is the perfect timing of the plates and the perfect temperature and cooking. The upstairs room seems amazing. Definnitely where I would go and who could go wrong with those smart cocktails. Cube has a room (Bar Cru) that is used in the evening, however, you want have to really rent out that space with tables. I'm sure they would do it, if the price is right. Oups I just read the comments... Bar crue is closed... Oh well, I was there for the opening...

Nice little article in la presse this morning, had no clue it was backed up by the former epicier/citrus owner (Beausoleil). The phone must be ringing like mad. The veggie origins on the menue is definitely top choice if the info on the article is correct. It is true, le bonheur est dans le potager.

Bringing back old thread is a great thing, I now know exactly where the friday night take out is coming from. I'm not on Parc very often, I had completely forgotten about mini milos... Great reminder !

Just wanted to revive this thread because I did go to Thai grill with the kids the other day and many times at Red Thai/ChaoPraya/Phaya Thai (the one on guy). I have to say, I thaught the menu at Thai Grill was great but just how far are we from Thai quality that rivals the quality of the french Bistro scene ? Very far... Every single dish that sat at our table had pounds of sugar loaded into them, sugar everywhere. Granted this may be the best spot, I believe Montreal is dealing with the best of average. I know it's not Thai but I can get away with much nicer flavors and broth with Chef Ha at Souvenir d'Indochine... that's my 2 cents.

Fireweed, that's waht my fodor said while I was there. This is also one of the reasons why coffee is not boiling hot... I believe it is pressed at 120... (I may be wrong) and falls down quickly after going through all that metal. I think the piping hot coffee is an N.A. thing (donuts/coffee at Tim Horton is supposed to be what binds this great coffee together, as Sheila copps would say). I believe the coffee in general in Italy is not served piping hot because it is meant to be drank on the spot immediately. Truckers pulling over their 18 wheelers, walking with work boots and downing doubles before running back to the truck... that kind of thing. However, many will say that during olive harvest season in Tuscany, the weather is as bad as out here. Do you remember that Macdonalds beside tasso doro ? (Some days I would really enjoy that portable sledge hammer I saw in the catalogues). About Illy, I just had one a couple of minutes ago at the Lemeac bar... They have quite a market going, when you look at those coffee grinder adaptors where the large metal cans are attached too, you sort of realise that they seem to have a lock out approach to paractical coffee in a restaurant environment. My coffee was excellent by the way.