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Great stuff, we are gonna try Bronte for the night before.

Ya, the ambiance can be really odd in there, I had one of these inverted tables, where you sit besid your love and basically eat facing other tables and talking by the side of your month. Sure it's pretty chilly in there but I have seen some lively nights (more rare than often), it's definitely a challenge and if service was stiff it would be a disaster but he's got some top notch staff in there. Great news for Pelletier. Gonzales does a great job also. I mention Cocagne cause it feels very french to me.

Just want to say that Chevre is really not the vegetarian restaurant you would think of, you don't walk out feeling light my friend. Last time I was there, it was one of the richest tasting menu I had in a while. Cube of course, has a new chef (where is Pelletier ?). I would try Cocagne also. I was there recently and the food is very well prepared, I haven't had such perfectly cooked plate in a long time, perfect timing. The vibe can be good or too subdued some times. The service is excellent. Best rillette in town, better than Cube.

That man is just the best ! A really sweet guy who sure knows how to handle a cleaver. He also has a fine catering business. I am sorry to say that I have stayed clear of the recent constructions (except for a short stop before a dinner at Alep). My butcher also tells me he is opening up (also at Atwater). Boucherie St-Vincent, great organic birds ! An A Boulanger wouldn't be to shabby eaither.

So here I am, getting ready to tour the local circuit again after travelling like a mad man. Inlaws are back from sailing the world, ready to take the kids on a last minute notice. As I look forward to sleeping in for the first time in my life in the last 5 years at Hotel Place D'Armes and tasting the Aix dishes, I am told the chef is on paternity leave ? Will I ever get a lucky break ? Congrats to the chef, I know exactly what you are going through, but please, make it short, I want to see some magic next week end ! Trust me, your man breasts have no chance in the early days.

Also, it would be very nice if Rich Bayless would bring his Mexican Topolobambo to Montreal, we need 5 star mexican in a mucho big way.

Susur told me he would be running the kitchen at Beaver Club (is that really the best spot for him ?). Also, people who like to cook to breakout beats should get tickets to the great Mattew Herbert, who will be constructing music to the sound of food at Club Soda. He will likely deconstruct pop music with sounds of exploding Big Mac's !

It's also one of the rare spots in Montreal where you can have a good late night wine and cheese while listening to lesbian punk music.

The other day I was bicycling with my kids and it dawned on me that Nino was my neighbor, weird to see he lives in the suburb with the white picket fence house...

Nice to see Jacques and Diane back in the stall, for some reason, they were not around for the beginning of the harvest season or maybe they have swicthed spots due to the crazy parking construction they are doing on site... must be hell on week ends. Great shots !

Replacing capers with Nasturium buds ? Anyone have seen nasturium buds sold like capers ? I have tons of them in the backyard but I'd rather let them flower.

I'm going up to Metis sur Mer later so any recommedations are apreciated on the North shore, then we cross over on the south shore. A friend of mine just came back from Ile Verte. I asked him to go steal a lamb for me. I'm in Quebec City for three days next week, half work half vacation with the kids. The new chef at Chateau Bon entente is apparently very good.

http://www.ferme5etoiles.com/ The problem with ferme 5 etoile is that it's inland. For me, that area is about that cold damp smell of the water. I have no clue of pricing, they do seem to have a pretty thick list of extra fees. Last time I went there I stayed at the Tadoussac Hotel. It was pricey but they do have a really nice 5 star restaurant now, that's worth a visit. You also need to find out if you want to see the whales, hotels offer packages for that.

Local Rapinis should be a very good hit right now with the cool spring. My personnal stash is also very mild (because of the weather).

Wow I'm really suprised you saw some meyers at this time... Must be an Australian or Cap offering... North Amercian meyers passed a couple of months ago. One of my detour findings are the (now out of stock) white almond stuffed green olives from Petit Milos, out of this world in your month and on your wallet... This is a good thread, it is currently down time for many local produces. Cold root veggies are still available and quite sweet from the aging process in cold rooms, personnaly, I'm holding off until the cold weather comes back again. It has been a slow spring for many crops. However, it is the time for the best lettuce, I have made mesclun from micro yellow beats, red italian dandelion, micro pack choi and red rustic frisée. Black radish and string thin french haricot making their way also. Be aware than many growers still sell supernatural american strawberries on their counters...cocktail onions, Rapinni heads (which had one the best cold starter year). Garlic flower (that twisted cone shaped bud is delicious and subtle, simply rasp it down). An excellent spring production of spinach also.

There is always a bottle of Chinon in this house. It's our lifesaver for hot afternoons. Restaurant Continental and BU offer some really nice Rosé, I know Continental has a private import (and BU also but I can't confirm). The Continental Rosé is also offered at Olive and Gourmando.

the Roquette era will be very short, he will go back to his real interests.

sure I will reschedule, I'm due in Sherbrooke often in the next month and we have a new expense program, if you stay ata firends pace instead of hotel you take them wherever they want for dinner... I can live with that... Our guest (Mr Tourigny called me back himself) is that there was a liberal celebration in the area tonight... It's that or Frank Dunn is having his last happy meal before jail time...

Well looks like Mr Tourigny is catering out tonight, bad news, hopefully, he's not going to serve all these magog leaches that like to twist around SEC's rules now and then.

Boo, I have not been to Tourigny, I am going there tonight. As afr as other esto's in the magog area. Well... you know, it is difficult to entertain that lovely rotten neighbor's like Sirois,Frank Dunn, Jean Monty cannot bring in more casualo, bistro like food (That is because they cator everything in to make their questionnable deals over cocktails), but I digress. There is two or three acceptable tables in the magog area, that is very low for a place like magog. However, Hatley area is just a short drive and this gives you access to Hovey, North Hathley. Hovey Maor I know will not be an issue with kids. We were at kaizen this week and I wanted to make a couple of comments: First, Tri did not open an extra tri house, he litteraly moved out of Kaizen. Second, it shows he is not around as often... It is true they made our evening enjoyable and everything was very usefull for kids (Mom can I have more Kobe Gyoza ?) but my sushi's were sub par, the tuna tataki, well... it was returned and acknowledged immediatelly by the manager. They basically cut up a piece of tail with all it's great gnarly collagen fibres. The deserts, although quite good, looked like they came out of 1987 circa with unwrapped cerise de terre, prismalcolor lining of creme anglaise and sprinkle me all over the plate bits of dust with a Gascogne cake for 10 or 12$. So everything was cool but everything needs a face lift, seriously...

I'm going there tonight... thanks for the feedback, we'll get some bottled water... All water is pumped in the georgesville area.

I'm going there tonight... thanks for the feedback, we'll get some bottled water... All water is pumped in the georgesville area.

This is a great thread. I very often bring my fauna, which consits of a not so newborn baby and two other boys. The Pied de Cochon is really a great place for high quality and kids. We have alsways been successfull securing tables at the last minute but early in the evening. When we explain to them that we are in and out, they fetch thebest table for us (stroler wise, in the back). There are plenty of other suggestions that escape my mind now but I find kid restaus also mean exotic resto's (ie not french), many nationalities view the bambino as the sacred futur and it reflects in their offering. I suggest any thai resto in Montreal is good. Soy is good but small, Chao Praya and Thai Grill are kid OK and the kids just love the rolls and the satays. Another great hit is the pizza of course, any great thin crust spot is very good with kids in Montreal, the drawback is that we are still looking for that resto... I take the kids at express on early hours, you can go to Lemeac at any time. If your kids are milk, cheese, egg oriented. You can have a nice breakfast lunch at Mylos (Laurier and Fabre), they have lovely rose jam in the monring with feta omelettes, the setting is very relaxed. I'm gonna post some more as I remember them but I wanted to take the opportunity to thank everyone for the suggestions. I'm gonna go to the continental, haven't been there in ages (in fact it was the very first resto I took my GF 15 years ago) and they have a great little private rosé there. We have also taken the to the special evenings at Olive and Gourmando and they just love tasting all the different stuff there. I also like the idea of Kaisen, never really made the association of teriake and kids so that is also a welcomed addition. Haven't been to Paryse since my dead head years of cegep du vieux Montreal... We also go to Resrevoir and Cafe Mieles but the smoking acn be a probleme at reservoir and the limited menu if they are difficult. I don't usually have problem with kids in resto's, worst case scenario, I tell the Maitre that my kids love to drink a lot of wine and they like that and find a nice table. One other places that come to mind: Brasserie Holder (large wide setting, high volume and the Holder harem is usually running around with plenty of kids).

old is new again, white pants are back and I am the new Lou Reed (or the old David Bowie)... arrrgghh I'm all mixed up. Cerise de terre are very common in quebec, you can buy them almost everywhere now. They are very easy to grow. SO easy that my organic farmer keeps giving us a bag and I keep sending it back to him to tell him to use his land for better value. Cerise de terre does have it's place in jam and pies and others. All alone, they are fairly tasteless, in restauarants, many experience the taste of the 100 year old cerise de terre that is unrapped for the eye (and only the eye). And it has been a nice companion to those gross corporate buffet where saturated oils are 90% of the desserts. The problem is with the skin that covers it, it tends to pick up any humidity and transfers to the cherry. So when fresh and ripe, it is a lovely ingredient, when old and badly used it is a disliked product (for me anyways). Let me know if you want to grow them, one plant will give you a good basket. Think of them as incredibly similar to green tomatilloes, they grow in a husk and have this soapy like texture on the skin. In fact, they are similar to tomatilloes in the fact that alone, they are tasteless but no one can call a salsa real without any boiled tomatilloes.

I'm probably there next week so may be able to give you recent update but the direction are basically towards Georgeville. You want to drive on the south shor of Magog lake towards the US lines. A good indicator is that before approaching georgeville, you will croos lake lovering entry, still about 5-8k after that. Lots of cops on that road too, sudden shift in speed limit as you enter city lines. Nice think at work is if I stay at a friends house (in this case my father's place) I get to offer free dinner to my host and in Magog, it's Tourigny or fast food with the bikers.