docsconz

What is the number for reservations?

Great website. Thanks for the link. I especially like the visuals on the tasting notes timeline. Yes, it is great juice. I have some that I'm holding onto for a special birthday for my son who was born in 1989.

Thanks for the info. I previously must have found the cafe and this time the original bakery. It is nice to know that my mind is not yet completely gone.

We had a fresh ham tonight roasted with sage and garlic. It ws accompanied by roasted squash mashed potatoes with garam masala, green beans with lemon grass and ginger, apple, rhubarb onion sauce and Z-H gewurtztraminer Turkheim 1992. What was interesting about the meal was that the ham was from a heritage breed - Gloucester Old Spot, obtained from a local pig farm dedicated to raising and preserving heritage breed pigs. I took a trip out there yesterday to pick the pork up (Flying Pigs Farm - Shushan, N.Y.). The farmers and the pigs are very sociable. The meat itself was rather tasty and much leaner than I expected. It was cooked to 151 degrees internal temperature and still remained moist and flavorful. These pigs are on the verge of extinction. Their future depends on the market for them. If this ham was any indication, they deserve a market and therefore a future as a breed.

My first encounter with Montreal bagels (about 12 years ago) were from someplace other than St. Viateur. I was less than impressed. It wasn't until I tried the bagels from St. Viateur that I understood what all the fuss was about.

I cannot provide any information for this thread, however, I would further the enquiry to include techniques for making posole. Are there any special techniques? I bought some in New Mexico and so far I haven't figureed out what to do with it :

Please forgive my spelling if it is incorrect. Is there mor than one bagel bakery on St. Viateur? I had previously been to a bagel shop there that also by memory appeared to be a small cafe, however, when I was directed back this past week it was to a bakery that was only a bagel bakery. Is my memory confused or are there several different bagel bakeries on St. Viateur billing themselves as St. Viateur? Is it the same bakery with different locations. The pure bakery also had another name that I unfortunately do not specifically recall. Who makes the best Montreal style bagel and what are the best accompaniments with it?

Michel Bras sounds like a restaurant I must get to, seeing how much I enjoy witty presentation

There are two things that make Chez L'Epicier special to me. First and foremost, the food is well prepared and delicious. Second is the charm and wit with which the food is presented at each course. Does that mean that each dish is the absolute invention of the chef. Obviously not. Nevertheless the approach is presenting delicious food with a fun style. There are at least a couple of dishes that I see as "signature" dishes for Chez L'Epicier. As far as I know they are Chef Godbout's inventions. The first is his escargot Shepard's Pie. The second and particularly fun is his "Club Sandwich" dessert. This is a cake served looking literally like a club sandwich (but much more delicious ) with a side of "fries" (fried pineapple sticks) and "cole slaw" (shredded melon with if I remember correctly a vanilla sauce "mayonnaise"). If he occassionally borrows items to complement his style, I see nothing wrong with that. If everything was copied, the restaurant would still be good and worth going to since it is done well, but it wouldn't be quite as much fun as knowing you were eating the art of a creative master.

Another interesting producer is Sunrise Mountain Buffalo Farm in Cambridge, N.Y. They have fine quality buffalo meat, albeit a bit pricey.

No doubt for an American who has never been to Montreal before that publicity may cause them to think twice. That is one reason why I emphasized in my posts how well I was treated as an obvious American in Montreal. This way at least any e-gulleteers who may be interested in visiting Montreal can see that a visit should not be avoided because of any misconceived notions of anti-Americanism. There has never been a better time for Americans to visit Canada in general and Montreal specifically given the favorable exchange and the availability of cuisine as fine as David McMillan's and others.

One point I should probably emphasize is that the Bloody Caeser amuse was not one served routinely at the restaurant. It was served only to us as part of a meal in which I asked the Chef to make us whatever he wanted. I do not believe that it is something he serves on a regular basis. His usual amuse bouche is the tartare and sour cream ice cream cone, which apparently has roots with Thomas Keller. It is certainly not unusual for chefs to "borrow" ideas from each other (e.g. the now ubiquitous, but still delicious molten chocolate cake that I believe came from Jean-George). While Chef Godbout may borrow from time to time, it has been my experience that he has more than enough creativity of his own to "lend" ideas to other chefs as well. Borrowed or original, his food remains expertly crafted.

We were very warmly received everywhere in Montreal. I don't believe the emotional reactions of a few should color the image of the majority. I found no evidence of anti-Americanism. In fact, I found the contrary.

Interesting article. Thanks. I am certainly all for getting rid of cork taint.

I still want to hear about other favorite restaurants and food producers in the North Country. There must be some fans of Anthony's in Plattsburgh, the restaurant that spawned Gary Danko of San Francisco restaurant fame? I haven't been there in years, although I hear that it is still quite good.

I ate at Susur's for my first and so far only time about one year ago. It was simply the most enjoyable meal I've ever had. I was on vacation with my family. My wife and I took our then 12y/o son (our then 10y/o son didn't want to go so we left him and our then 2y/o back at the hotel with a sitter) on a Monday evening and ordered the 7 course tasting menu for each of us. The highlight was when Susur came over and explained to my son how to eat aa complicated beef tenderloin dish. A susequent tour of the kitchen with photos left a lasting impression for all of us. I look forward to returning. I've been trying to put together a trip incorporating Susur and Eigensinn Farm, but have so far been unsuccessful in scheduling the latter. On a separate note, my favorite Ontario winery is Thirty Bench. Their Icewines are killer and IMO blow away the vaunted Inniskillin.

They charged us $75pp, which was an absolute bargain even before taking the exchange rate into consideration. The Bloody Caeser certainly was very similar to what you described with some minor variations.

Great report. I haven't eaten at any of the places you mentioned other than Ping's. I find the dim sum there to be very inconsistent. I've been there when it has been wonderful and other times when it has been merely ok. The dinner at March sounds absolutely fabulous. I have to put that high on my list for my next visit to NYC.

Just returned from a wonderful, albeit short culinary jaunt to Montreal. I stayed at The Hotel Nelligan, a wonderful new boutique hotel in Vieux Montreal. I provided a report on lunch at Rosalie on it's thread, but now wish to report on a fabulous dinner at one of my all-time favorite restaurants - Chez L'Epicier. It is one thing for food to be created with wit and style and it is another thing for combinations of ingredients to coalesce into a mouth-stimulating force. It is yet another, when the above events coincide in a synergy to dazzle the senses and the mind. Such are the meals that I have had from the kitchen of Laurent Godbout at Chez L'Epicier. Last night, not only was not an exception to the above, it was the exclamation point to the rule. My brother and I had a late reservation (9PM), which turned out fabulously. Rather than order from the menu, I asked if it would be possible to have the chef create a dinner for us. We were in luck as Chef Godbout agreed to do so for us. The first course of the dinner was an amuse bouche of a cleverly deconstructed "Bloody Caeser". This consisted of a line of chopped dried tomato adjacent to a linee of chopped celery adjacent to a line of sour cream adjacent to a steamed clam adjacent to a line of pepper adjacent to worcestire gelee. The plate was finished with a spray of vodka over all. Mixed together it provided a fun and tasty morsel. I ws then served the parsnip pureee with beurre noisette, orange caramel, string beans and ginger chips, while my brother was served the spicy vegetable broth, shrimp croquette and saffron rouille. Both were excellent. The first entree was the snail shepard's pie for my brother and the beef tartare with wild mushroom marmelade and truffle flavored sauce.. Once again, both superb in presentation and taste. The second entrees were the quail glazed with mole for my brother (an absolutely spectacular theatrical presentation) and the foie gras with sweet potato tempura, duck confit tandoori sauce and pineapple for me. Both were exquisite. The main courses were piglet with wild mushrooms, lardoons and fresh peas with a hint of mint for me and roasted Chilean Sea bass with Hawaiian sea salt, fresh herb broth and rice cake for my brother. My piglet was absolutely delightful, however, the chilean sea bass was the one relatively sour note of the evening. This wasn't because it didn't taste good or wasn't well presented. I would have just preferred it if it were not served at the restaurant due to it's endangered status. In the meantime, we met Chef Godbout and even had a tour of his kitchen. He is a very charming man with an incredible amount of creativity. Our main course was followed by a "cheese" course. Not a simple slab of epoisse herer! No, we each had a platter with a brioche of goat cheese (that while good was outdistanced by the other occupants of the platter), shredded apple with fresh rosemary, a parfait of mashed prunes with blue cheese and walnut foam and a drizzle of amazing truffled honey with an olive. The truffled honey had the most intense truffle flavor (with a mild sweetness) that I have ever had the pleasure of tasting. The wine of the vening was a 1999 Savigny Sepentieres, whose versatility worked very well with each course at a very reasonable price. The dessert platter wass also astounding. My brother and I were each served a signature "club sandwich". In addition, I was served grand marnier creme brulee, chocolate cake with whiskey sauce and raisin ice cream and a marvellous "melontini", which was fresh honeydew juice with cinammon gelee and honeydew "olives". Throughout the course of the evening the service was stellar. I love Montreal! Thank you Chef Godbout and staff for a marvellous evening.

I am an American who just returned from a quick one-night food jaunt to one of my favorite cities - Montreal. This board alerted me to an exciting restaurant in Montreal - you guessed it - Rosalie! I contacted David via e-mail prior to my visit to let him know that we would be stopping in for lunch as I had previously made reservations for dinner at Chez L'Epicier (more on that later in a separate thread). This ws a good idea. My brother and I were greeted warmly by Denis, the extremely gracious and competent maitre 'd. I explained that I had contacted David with the desire for him to select our lunch for us. David was out of the restaurant upon our arrival, however, Denis contacted him and arranged for a truly outstanding late lunch. We started with a simply outstanding (as in wow!) hot smokeed salmon with crispy pork, asparagus and arugula salad. That was an amazing dish, incredibly well balanced and seasoned. The smokiness of the salmon melded beautifully with the sweet and salt of the pork and the peperiness of the arugula. The asparagus presented a fine contrast to the salmon. The following dish , roasted leg of lamb (looked more like tenderloin) with persillade, roasted fingerlings, green beans and confit tomato and olive oil jus was superb as well, but not quite as high on the wow factor as the salmon. The lamb was very tasty, but had more of a strong lamb flavor than some of the organic lamb I buy in the states. While I happen to like that flavor, others I know would find it less apealing as a result. Nevertheless, it was a delicious preparation. Dessert consisted of caramelized pineapple skewered with vanilla beans that gave it a wonderful depth of flavor, lemon cake and vanilla ice cream. Decaf espresso was perfectly prepared. During the course of the meal David McMillan returned to the restaurant. We introduced ourselves and had a nice chat. He is very engaging and gracious. I always enjoy a restaurant more when I can appreciate the personal involvement of the chef and/or owner. Overall it was a wonderful meal and experience. Do I have criticisms? Yes, but they are not really different to what has already been posted here. Even though it was lunch and relatively uncrowded it was still noisy. It was still smoky even though we were seated in the no-smoking section. While I loved the chairs and banquettes, the rest of the decor didn't do a whole lot for me. Would I return - absolutely! Thank you David and staff for a marvellous lunch.

It is a sign of the economic times. It is no longer difficult to get a high end reservation in NYC.

Yes, I am on their mailing list and look forward to reading their newsletter every Friday. For anyone else interested in it, you can sign up at Chez Sophie. Come to think of it, I'm going to suggest to Paul and Cheryl that they check out eGullet. I think they'd both enjoy it and have much to contribute. I already suggested it!

Might this outfit be related to the Flying Pig Cafe at the (old) train station in Mount Kisco? The FPC specializes in heritage breed pork, and is rooted in locally sourced food products. They specialize in Hudson Valley and NY state products. I don't know. I will be in contact soon, as I expect to be picking up an order. I'll try to remember to ask them.

I consider Albany to be the dividing line between Northeastern and Southeastern New York, but what do I know - I grew up in Brooklyn.

Cheryl and Paul recently had a baby, Nicholas. They and the restaurant haven't missed a beat. Are you on the mailing list for their newsletter. If not, I recommend getting on it, since it is both fun and informative.