jokhm

I'm also a recent graduate from St. Pius as of February this past year. Definitely some amazing times mixed with a few major criticisms. All in all I'm quite happy I did it. Considering the short length of the program, if you are deeply interested in professional cooking, starting with this and moving onto a more advanced program later on is a great idea. The way the program here is oriented is much more towards giving you a large kitchen workplace experience. It excels at that. What it falls flat with is structure, organization and facilities. Besides that, the teachers (a majority) are absolutely fantastic. Some may not seem like teachers, but they just require students that can learn to take knowledge from bits and pieces. Everyone there can teach you quite a bit, some are just far better at it in a traditional teaching sense. So, I suppose my 10 months had a good deal of intense learning and fun mixed with a few periods of frustration with the non-linear and completely unstructured way that the program sometimes progresses. Take a tour, meet some of the teachers and then see what you think. For the time and price, I say it is worth it. Joel

You should get some arguments like these published in the gazette! :))

I notice that the place I seem to find myself in quite frequently serves a thali with a main choice of either Bhaturas or Chapatis. What would be the difference between the Bhatura and the Poori? Joel

Maybe that phrase sounds a bit misplaced. No I do not eat restaurants.

Prasad, I love the look of the restaurant! The dishes as well, looks fantastic!! I am a frequent Indian restaurant eater in Montreal and I have yet to go to any restaurant that includes traditional Indian food presented in a modern restaurant look; specifically in the plate preparation. I always imagined that for this to be done, the traditional food would have to be dropped in favour of something that combines a north american/european look and taste. Maybe someone here has been to such a place around my area and could direct me.... otherwise I'll have to remember next time I take a trip nearby. Joel

I have gone through all the different threads on all Indian breads located on the eGullet forums, but I have yet to find anything that simply discusses the whole scope of bread names and terminology. As one who is familiar with eating many breads but hearing several different possible names attached to them, there is no clear idea in my mind that separates each one. I'll just name a few things and maybe everyone can help expand the list and elaborate: Poori Bhatura Dosa Chapati Paratha Thanks a lot! Joel

hmm Jolee... I pick up all my indian produce and spices at their adjacent grocery place. Only ate there once and came away with a terrible stomach ache. Maybe I wasn't used to their food, but I do eat Indian all the time. I'll have to go back... see what happens this time. If you are looking for cheap Indian.. by far the most authentic is Pushap on Paré and Mountain-sights. I think the family owns another one in Dollard. This place is vegetarian, family owned and you could not feel more welcome here. Expect to pay about $8-9 for a full meal with Chana samosas/pakoras dessert and tea... after tax and tip. I'm there all the time. Also next to the Jolee place on Victoria is one of the greatest all around traditional Vietnamese places I've been to called Hoai Huong. Excellent soups (although maybe not as good as Pho Bac on St. Laurent) and beautiful full platters. Very cheap as well. Joel

One of my favourites is Mon Nan (sometimes referred to Mon Nan Village..). Its a small and unoriginal looking Cantonese place in Chinatown on Clark, just above La Gauchetiere. If you are a fan of this kind of food, you cannot beat the value, and the quality is great too. I've sampled so many of these places, usually the places are super dirty a la VIP, which happens to be right across the street). Another bonus is that I can easily head there after 1am, which is often quite convenient. They have a mixed sea-food platter with cuttlefish, squid and shrimp in a salt and pepper batter; quite tasty. Also try their honey-spicy beef. Good stuff. Not always consistent however. Most of those I know from Hong kong who know their food seem to prefer this place, and I think I understand now too. Joel

Sorry, I just noticed this thread and my comments on the restaurant are probably outdated within the context of the current conversation. Nevertheless..... towards the end of 2002, I played out a stage from my culinary school at Chez L'epicier. Having barely any experience with French cuisine or much fine dining in general, it was a bit difficult to relate to all the food heading out of the kitchen. One might consider that odd coming from an individual studying cooking, however, my concentration for some reason has always evolved out of far east and south asian cuisine. I only spent a few weeks in the restaurant but it was quite an interesting time. People seem to have opposing ideas of what a Chef like Laurent probably does within the kitchen. throughout all of December, he was always there once a day. Most of the time he'd be in and out, talking to some of the other kitchen staff and organizing certain deliveries for the sous-chef. Very often (perhaps even twice a week) he was involved with bringing in some new dishware purchases; some of the most interesting designs I've ever seen. During the odd lunch or dinner service (especially on a weekend) he'd be there doing the cooking next to the regulars. I am not trying to 'expose' anything here. This all just served to constantly amaze me. Whatever creations in flavours or plate presentation he had already designed appeared to be well-imprinted in each of the kitchen staffs' memories. These people were machines; in the good sense of the word. In fact, for the first week it was actually very difficult for me to determine the amount of patrons from the kitchen's view. Granted I was not doing to much beyond prep in that short time, but I honestly had the impression that maybe five to ten people had shown up throughout the lunch service. In reality the restaurant was fairly busy, yet this kitchen seemed far off from the vision that I had in my mind. Not loud, not claustrophobic, barely even hot. Things just worked, and it looked like it didn't take much to do that either. Anyhow, with regards to my constant amazement with the plates going out of the kitchen, nearly everything impressed me. The far greater majority of them only being appealing by eye; obviously tasting was not an option for each item. What I was never able to understand was the simplicity of each recipe lending itself to create a full $50+ meal. I can comprehend the cost of the ingredients, and the often lovely or at least very interesting presentation, but it never felt like that much special preparations or odd seasonings had gone into the creation of each dish. As I mentioned before, I do not have much experience with French cuisine, but I would love for someone to explain a few of these ideas to me. Just in case this tiny inversed review comes across as a little convoluted with my main thoughts even more incomprehensible, here's a summary of my current opinion: 1. The food is always put together in a clean and efficient fashion 2. The food always leaves looking consistent - usually quite unbelievable in plate design too 3. Dishes and especially appetizers are incredibly innovative, exhibiting a flair for Asian influences 4. The kitchen staff are amazing and the ideal supporters to a great chef 5. The apparent simplicity for food preparation shocked me. The variety of spices and general flavouring ingredients beyond garlic, salt and pepper appeared extremely limited and barely noticeable during the cooking process. This is getting too long and I can't think what else I had originally wanted to say. Overall, I was very impressed with what I saw. However, I simply do not understand it enough. That hopefully makes sense. Maybe I didn't get to see the right things while I was there. Maybe I am looking for the wrong elements altogether. Joel

I probably consume it just over twice a week out of the house at my two favorite Indian restaurants and cook at home about 3+ times a week. I am a nut for the stuff... Especially, now that I got my hands on a 20 pound granite Thai mortar and pestle, I have built a large inventory of fresh spices and I can play forever with the stuff. Just haven't found any reading material on good, set spice blend recipes. I can figure out a lot by myself but I there is so much in the restaurants that I can't comprehend. The subtleties of each dish's flavours at the local traditional Indian places cannot be matched. However, I am new to this forum, and I am completely blown away by the localized sections for my favorite cuisines and my city (Montreal). I hope to learn much here, and offer what I can in return. I'll start with this site, I am sure many of you may have already come across it: Gernot Katzer's Spice Page Regards, Joel