Au Pied de Cochon --Website problems

[Vinfidel]

great site? there is no menu wine list. or am i missed somethings?

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The old site had no wine list and a menu that they never, ever updated. My guess is that they favor a low maintenance site that still gives people a good idea of the ambiance and the food served.

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what a joke. this is not a web site this is a brochure scanned and put on the internet. this kind of lazy approach remind me of the lazy service in the resto and the poor quality of cosistentsy. if brunoise can have a good web site then apdc can do it they are too lazy or cheap or dont care

[rcianci]

I started this thread by saying that I missed APDC website because it would remind me of the good times I had at the restaurant. This new site fullfills that function for me. While I agree that web sites should first and foremost inform, I find myself more charmed than annoyed by this particular site. I'm tickled by the eccentricity and the photos tell me what kind of food is served as well as something about the atmosphere. But, this subjective reaction aside, I do agree that a menu with prices is what's needed. Finally, I would like to point out to those are a little too free and easy with their perjoratives, that most brochures are expensive to produce and that cheap shots are often a sign of lazy thinking.

[Vinfidel]

most people do not use a resto web site to remember their good times there. a better thing for this is a photo. a web site must have updated menus. a resto does not usually make brochures in case you dont know that, and beleive me apdc has enough business to afford a good web site. if they are too cheap to post the season menu then at least post menus typiques so that a coustoumer can know what to expect

i guess you defend them because you ate there a long time ago but for peoples who eats out often you like to know what is being served. for this, brunoise wins in montreal

[carswell]

While I agree that web sites should first and foremost inform, I find myself more charmed than annoyed by this particular site. I'm tickled by the eccentricity and the photos tell me what kind of food is served as well as something about the atmosphere.

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Yet the site isn't very informative. Only a few dishes are mentioned in the text and several of the pictures (the magret with mushrooms, for example) are decipherable only if you already know what they are. I also wonder how many visitors to the site are going to put up with the long download (for non-broadbanders), the jerky scrolling (one of the side effects of all those videos and animations), the unadjustable "text" (it's really graphics, so you have to resize your browser window to fit it, not the othe way around), the unprintability, the impossibility of viewing the phone number, address and opening hours on a single screen, the lack of a map and bus/metro and parking info, and the pompous, fawning, poorly translated prose in order to read vague descriptions of a very few dishes that may not even be on the menu when they visit.

I will concede that the site's visual chaos conveys something of the resto's atmosphere.

Upthread you argued that the site's quirkiness was appropriate for such a quirky chef and restaurant. Yet one of the things that has made APDC so popular is its user-friendliness, and that's exactly what's lacking with the site.

Edited December 16, 2005 by carswell (log)

[carswell]

Hey, it was fun last time, so let's play another round of The Top Ten Translation Gems from Au Pied de Cochon's Website! Here's my pick (though I can't whittle it down further than 14, and even then I'm leaving many, many gems behind):

14. "Since its opening in November 2001, the Pied de Cochon never stopped evolving..."

Note to translator: Time to bone up on the present perfect.

13. "Anti-conformist and a tad rebel, Martin Picard..."

Note to translator: rebel = noun, rebellious = adjective.

12. "We thus go to the Pied de Cochon for the comforting pleasures of a meaty and generous cuisine, with roots deep down in our land."

With roots deep down in your land how thus do you go?

11. "Martin Picard is a being of lavishness..."

10. "For him, to eat is not a matter of decorum. The pleasure is the key."

Where's my red pencil?

9. "...a prejudice in favour of quality in the plate..."

8. "classical Italian cuisine"

Oh, kewl! When was the classical era in Italian cooking? The late 18th and early 19th centuries, like in music? Like what Mozart ate when he visited Milan? Hey, do you know Marcella Hazan's book Classical Italian Cooking?

7. "...in the summer, when the 35 degrees in the shade dictate something lighter..."

Each and every one of them dictates? Wow!

6. "Following the weather, the Pied de cochon menu goes from one extreme to the other."

Note to translator: In English, similes are usually introduced with like or as. Unless you're following the French text, that is.

5. "It is then not unlikely to find in one's plate a fish who, the day before, was still swimming in the high sea."

Note to translator: It's usually high seas except when used as an adjective ("high sea navigation"). And the phrase is on the high seas. Back to the drawing board!

4. "Many vivariums are set up in the dining room, thus transforming the restaurant's settings."

"Waiter! I want a knife, fork and plate instead of this crab tank!"

"Sorry, sir. They've been transformed."

3. "You'll be as happy as the fish in the proverbial sea!"

It's a fish in water, bubuleh. And it's the fish that's proverbial, not the water.

2. "...the feel of a young sprout of lettuce between your teeth, even the best sprout, would yield as much pleasure as the taste of a piece of meat perfectly cooked in your mouth, liberating its fats and sugars, filling the body with instant warmth..."

Mmmm. Lettuce sprouts! And who would have guessed you could cook meat perfectly in your mouth?

And the Number One Translation Gem from the New APDC Website is...

1. "Toqué!, the first Montreal establishment of international statute"

As legislated and enforced by the U.N.

Well, at least they've stopped talking about china pie...

Edited December 16, 2005 by carswell (log)

[Lesley C]

Boy, that web site is a mess. I can't even read the English text because I find that kind of sloppy translation completely offensive. Thing is, it would be so simple for them to clean that up, which makes me wonder whether they even care.

Considering all the American media attention they are getting of late (thanks mostly to Mr. Bourdain), you think they would clean up their act.

My suggestion: Carswell or Sensorial (or anyone else who loves the place) why not offer to correct the English text in exchange for a meal or two (or three!).

They might not even know how terrible that text is.

I would offer to do it, but ever since my last negative review of the place, I'm persona non grata with Picard et co.

Edited December 16, 2005 by Lesley C (log)

[Mr. Fagioli]

I happen to visit a lot of Quebec-based tourism & hospitality industry sites. The sad truth is that the English versions are very often unprofessional.

I'm just speculating, but I think it may be deliberate in many cases: people trying to appeal to American tourists probably want to emphasize the foreignness of their little slice of Quebec, and having English that's "too good" could undermine that goal. The obvious way to achieve the requisite foreignness is not to ask a pro to do a deliberately bad job, but to hire an amateur (bonus points for a francophone amateur).

Although I've reached the conclusion that some people consciously adopt this strategy, I don't think it's a good idea. There are any number of ways to communicate our province's charm without resorting to broken English.

Now, in this specific case the translation is so terrible that you could say APDC has set a new standard to which the rest of the industry can aspire.

Disclaimer: I'm not saying my speculation & hypothesis necessarily apply to Au Pied de Cochon. It may simply be about pinching pennies.

Edited December 16, 2005 by Mr. Fagioli (log)

[Lesley C]

“when we do things, we do them right.”

Sadly, this is far from the moto at APdC. Can you imagine how great this restaurant would be if they did focus on getting everything right all the time and for everyone?

[SobaAddict70]

Folks,

I just had to remove a couple of posts in this thread since they violated the Society's Member Agreement. I understand that some of you are quite passionate about this subject, but I would like to ask everyone to please keep things civil.

Thanks in advance,

Soba

[Vinfidel]

fagioli - you have a good idea that it is better for quebeckers to keep it more franco since the tourists like this. it is good for the image. even if you see the tourism publicite BONJOUR QUEBEC! they have in the USA to bring toursts to quebec it is very funny like an old publicite from 1970s, very low budget and like a petite village.

stiill the resto web site must have a menu and a wine list. this is important since for wine lover in the usa with big $ to spend, apdc has a nice list to go with their not unconsitent food and bads service. this is the best thing about the resto as well as big man picard who make it a fun time and distract from the bad service and unstable foods. many times i had oysters and they did not clean them well. but wash this with raveneau and it put a smile back.

[Mr. Fagioli]

fagioli - you have a good idea that it is better for quebeckers to keep it more franco since the tourists like this. it is good for the image. even if you see the tourism publicite BONJOUR QUEBEC! they have in the USA to bring toursts to quebec it is very funny like an old publicite from 1970s, very low budget and like a petite village.

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Actually, I said I believe it's a bad communication/marketing strategy, whether it's deliberate or de facto. APDC would be better off with well-written English. And a more accessible site. And more useful information. Or even no site at all.

Somehow I doubt you'd argue that French-language tourism marketing copy should be sloppy and uncorrected, because in France they like to think of us as simple coureurs de bois. Yet that is exactly what is being done, deliberately or not, with all kinds of English copy: we are putting a demeaning stereotype on ourselves.