The Food Section

Fin

When planning our visit to Montreal, I found that the Internet was indispensable. I've put together a list of useful Web sites that have a focus on food and dining in Montreal (if I'm missing anything, please let me know):

» From the Montreal suburbs comes Banlieusardises, Martine's French language site on food and other diversions (there's also an English language counterpart, Suburblicious).
» While not strictly a food blog, per se, blork blog frequently turns its attention to matters of cooking and dining in Montreal.
» The official site for Montreal's public markets provides detailed information on Atwater Market and Jean Talon Market.
» Montreal Food publishes restaurant reviews and other insights into Montreal's food scene.
» Les meilleurs cafés à Montréal offers a short round up of the best cafés in the city.
» montrealplus.ca offers Montreal restaurant reviews as well as additional pages with travel-related information.
» fodors.com provides a handy guide to Montreal's restaurants.

As this Moveable Feast comes to a close, here's a look back at all of the posts on Montreal food -- from "happy pig chops" to crunchy bagels to rousse beer:

» Destination: Montreal, Canada
» Montreal, Where the Pig Chops Are Happy
» To Market, To Market on Two Wheels
» Source: From Bagels to Baluchons
» La Petite Italie
» Reach for la Rousse

Reach for la Rousse

Wherever we went to out to eat in Montreal, we found that the domestic beer landscape was divided between la blonde and la rousse.

We kept going back for la rousse -- slightly nutty, deep reddish brown beer with the subtle flavor of caramel. I love dark beers, but these were different. Not too bitter or malty, Canadian red beer is robust and full-flavored, yet as thirst-quenching as a lighter beer.

My favorite was probably Le Cheval Blanc Rousse, which I had on draught at Bières et Compagnie, but other red beers we came across include Griffon Rousse, Belle Gueule Rousse, Boréale Rousse, and Rickard's Red.

On our last day, we stopped at the Super C across from Atwater Market and grabbed a couple of cases as a liquid souvenir of our trip. I am sad to say that like the fresh bagels and baluchons we took home with us, those bottles are just a memory now.

La Petite Italie

The French influence on Montreal is palpable, but that doesn’t mean it’s monolithic. Montreal is, in fact, a diverse, multiethnic city, and I was surprised to learn that Italian-Canadians, who immigrated during two waves at the end of the 19th Century and after World War II, are considered its largest ethnic group.

The cultural and commercial center of the Italian community is located in Montreal’s Little Italy, or La Petite Italie, as it is more properly known. Located northeast of the city’s center, the district’s main drag is St. Laurent Boulevard, which is lined with Italian groceries, cafes, restaurants, and gelateria. While walking St. Laurent Boulevard, the cultural contrast is striking -- while all of the signage is in French, the red, green, and white colors of the Italian flag are everywhere.

One of the best places to shop is Milano (6882 Saint-Laurent Boulevard, 514.273.8558), a large Italian supermarket which sells a wide selection of imported Italian products -- from olive oils and pastas to rows and rows of canned tomatoes, not to mention a huge selection of passata di pomodori. The store also features a butcher, fresh pasta, and a large cheese selection.

Off on a side street, Quincaillerie Dante (6851 St. Dominique, 514.271.2057), which opened in 1956 as a hardware store, is now a destination for its large selection of cooking supplies. Navigating the narrow aisles, one can peruse a range of moka and espresso coffee makers, pasta machines, cooking appliances, and specialty gadgets. The store is a family business, and the owner told me that when she inherited the store from her father, she turned it into a cookware shop due to her interest in cooking. A corner of the store is given over to her brother, an avid hunter, who sells guns and hunting supplies.

At the heart of the district is the Jean-Talon Market, an immense farmers market featuring a large selection of fruits and vegetables sold at outdoor stalls. Under tents, rows and rows of fresh tomatoes, cauliflower, radishes, and figs compete with succulent peaches and plums for the attention of shoppers. The market is surrounded by even more gustatory possibilities -- specialty purveyors of cheese, bread, and coffee ring the perimeter.

Montrealers have the good fortune of actually being able to taste the produce they are buying since nearly all of the vendors provide freshly cut slices of their offerings on plates in front of their stalls. We were quickly sold on some delicious peaches brought in from Ontario and some slices of juicy Quebec tomatoes sprinkled with salt. If only we had a kitchen in our hotel room, we would have bought a couple of the Quebec tomatoes, basil, and some fresh mozzarella cheese from Milano and made ourselves a homemade insalata caprese.

Click below for a photo essay on Jean-Talon Market, which includes a number of photographs taken by our friend Val Junker, who visited the market just a few weeks after our trip:

» Launch Photo Gallery of Jean-Talon Market

Source: From Bagels to Baluchons

Although a case could be made that one could exist solely upon the edible bounty of Montreal's public markets, the city also has its fair share of wonderful specialty food shops, a number of which maintain a singular culinary focus -- be it olive oil, tomatoes, or even salmon. All of the stores listed below are conveniently located in the Plateau district, though the bakery Première Moisson has branches throughout the city. A word of advice: beware exploring these shops on Mondays, when many are closed for business. A quick call in advance to check store hours will be worth your time.

New York bagels are legendary, but so too are Montreal’s. Smaller and sweeter (they are boiled in water with honey and made without any salt), Montreal’s bagels are a fit challenger to their bulkier Gotham brethren. At St. Viateur Bagel & Café (www.stviateurbagel.com, 1127 Mont. Royal Est, H2V 1X9, 514.528-636), sesame seed covered bagels – the most popular – are constantly being shaped by hand, lined up on wooden palates, and loaded in and out of a huge wood burning oven -- so you’re nearly always guaranteed of getting a hot bagel. We bought two dozen on our way home, and the steam emanating from the bagels nearly soaked the paper bag they were in. The deep, nutty aroma of the toasted sesame seeds was potent, filling our car for the first hour of our ride home (or at least until we got used to it).

Who knew a chain bakery could be so good? Montreal’s Boulangerie Première Moisson (www.premieremoisson.com, multiple locations) sells a range of mouthwatering breads and pastries, as well as charcuterie and cheeses. The bakery also offers its own line of fruit preserves, as well as a large selection of Canadian and imported fruit preserves, including The Food Section favorite, Favols Brut de Fruits.

Les Petits Plaisirs D’Andrea (www.lespetitsplasirs.com, 273 rue Laurier Ouest [the shop has since moved to a new, expanded location at 5235 St Laurent Boulevard], 514.495.3999) sells preserves and compotes, chutneys, mustards, homemade ice cream and sorbet, and a line of “eau-de-fruit,” bottles containing dried fruits and flowers that may be mixed with water, wine, or spirits to make a thirst-quenching drink. On the recommendation of Martine at Banlieusardises, we purchased some noix du périgord au cacao, plump walnuts from southwest France covered with chocolate and dusted with cocoa.

Roughly translated as “the wheat-producing one,” Le Fromentier (1375 rue Laurier Est, H2J 1H6, 514.527.3327) an atelier de boulangerie (bakery workshop) creates masterful breads and pastries using organic flours. Hidden from the street -- an iron gate on the sidewalk leads to an entrance down an alley, a few steps down -- light floods from above into the clean, bright space. There are rows and rows of breads and pastries, including beautiful fougasse, some with black olives and thyme. The baluchons de fromentier, small stuffed breads, were amazing. We shared a one filled with artichoke, feta, and dried tomatoes. For ease of one-stop shopping, the bakery shares its space with Le Maitre Corbeau, a cheese store, and La Queue de Cochon, a charcuterie.

Olive & Olives (1389 av. Laurier est, 514.526.8689), is devoted exclusively to olive oil, bottles of which are arranged along the wall by geographical origin, similar to a wine shop. The store also sells olives, olive oil pourers, carafes, and other accessories.

Devoted exclusively to culinary permutations on the tomato as ingredient, La Tomate (www.tomateonline.com, 4347 rue de LaRoche, 514.523.0222), offers more than 40 different kinds of tomato-based gourmet products, from tartinades, sweet breakfast spreads, to gelées, tomato aspics that may be served as a condiment or dissolved to create sauces, ketchup (in a tube), and fresh bottled tomato juice. The staff of the incredibly organized shop are outfitted in red labcoats, giving the unique shop an almost a clinical air.

It’s all salmon all the time at Le SAUM-MOM (www.saum-mom.com, 1318 av. Mont-Royal Est, 514.526.1116), which sells more than 30 varieties of salmon -- fresh, poached, and smoked. Alas, we stopped by this shop on a Monday, when it was closed. More information about Le SAUM-MOM is available on its Web site.

To Market, To Market on Two Wheels

We stayed in Vieux Montreal (old Montreal), the city’s historic core. Dating from Montreal’s founding as a French settlement in the 17th century, old Montreal has been lovingly preserved and restored since the 1960s after years of neglect. Today, the area is a major tourist destination, though a beautiful one (it beats Times Square any day).

Its narrow, cobblestone streets are lined with formidable 18th and 19th century buildings, a number of which have been converted into boutique hotels. Hotel Nelligan, Hotel Place d’Armes, and the St. Paul Hotel (where we stayed) retain their period façades, though their interiors have been largely overhauled with cool modernist design.

Although we spent most of our waking hours away from Vieux Montreal exploring the city’s diverse neighborhoods, one of the best things about the hotel's location was is its proximity to a fantastic bicycle path along the Lachine Canal. Good thing, too, since I needed some exercise to counterbalance all of the great food we were eating.

Completed in 1825, the canal stretches 11.5 kilometers from Vieux Montreal until it empties into Lac Saint-Louis. The bicycle path meanders along the waterway, occasionally criss-crossing the channel on narrow bridges. Montrealers picnic and push strollers along the canal, with groups clustered at several points to see the locks open and close. As I pedaled, the path passed through some industrial areas, as well as what seemed to be many former industrial buildings converted into condominums, not to mention new construction as well.

I followed the path until its end at Parc René-Lévesque, a narrow swath of green dotted with odd and unusual sculptures, and took in the panoramic view of the St. Lawrence River and Lac Saint-Louis.

For the ultimate in trailside refreshment -- albeit perhaps not the safest cycling -- McAuslan Brewery operates a beergarden right along the canal (pictured above, at left). But, for something more nourishing, you could do no better than Atwater Market, which the canal passes about 3 kilometers or so from Vieux Montreal. The bustling market, built in 1933, is part of an extensive public market system in Montreal. Fresh fruit, vegetables, and flowers are trucked in and sold at outdoor stalls that surround the complex. Inside the market, a long hall is flanked on each side with individual shops selling charcuterie, cheese, bread, and coffee, among other specialty food offerings.

I resisted Atwater's temptations, snapped some pictures, and hopped back on my rented bike, saving my appetite for a post-ride visit.

Montreal, Where the Pig Chops Are Happy

There are so many great restaurants to choose from in Montreal that it can be difficult to decide upon where to eat. For the indecisive, the quandry is exacerbated by the fact that making reservations on short notice -- at even the best restaurants -- is a cinch. This is a far cry from New York City, where selecting a restaurant is often a process of elimination dictated by the reservation desk.

The experience of our trip the previous year, plus some online research in advance, helped guide us to some memorable meals. Particularly useful was a June article by Dana Bowen in the New York Times travel section rounding up a number of notable Montreal restaurants led by pioneering young chefs.

It was an easy decision to make a reservation for dinner at L’Express (3927 Saint Denis, 514.845.5333) in the Plateau district, a return engagement from our first trip to Montreal. While the restaurant seems to be written up in every tourist guide to Montreal restaurants, it remains understated -- no sign is visible outside except for the L-E-X-P-R-E-S-S spelled out in tile on the ground in front of the restaurant. With its red walls, mirrors, handwritten menus, and serious wait staff, L’Express evokes the fantasy French bistro, right down to the jar of cornichons plopped down in front of you for snacking on just after you are seated.

Roasted marrow bones were on the menu, and I thought to myself, if I was ever going to try them, this would be the place to do so. I had been curious about this dish ever since reading article after article about how acclaimed chef Fergus Henderson serves roasted veal marrow bones with parsley salad at his London restaurant, St. John. At L’Express, each of the steaming marrow bones arrived with small rounds of cabbage leaves on top, along with thin slices of toasted bread and a small bowl of gros sel, coarse gray sea salt. You assemble the dish yourself, scooping the marrow from the bone and spreading it on the toast, followed by a sprinkling of the sea salt and then the cabbage. It was delicious. Even Danielle, who was squeamish about the whole enterprise, tasted the marrow and became an immediate convert. We each followed the appetizer with steak-frites -- charred, juicy hangar steaks served with a pile of crunchy fries and aioli.

Dana Bowen’s article tipped us off to Au Pied de Cochon (536 rue Duluth Est, 514.281.1114), a boisterous brasserie, also located in the Plateau and just a short distance away from L’Express. The restaurant's chef, Martin Picard, is acclaimed for his way with hearty roasted meat dishes and foie gras. In fact, there are four foie gras dishes on the menu, from foie gras flan to foie gras poutine, a reinvention of Montreal’s signature french fry/gravy/cheese curd concoction. While we were primed to tear into some of Mr. Picard’s red-blooded offerings, we were distracted by the beautiful fruit de mer platters that were constantly being dispatched from the open kitchen (the plateaus seemed to be a weekend special). We watched as waiters, negotiating the narrow spaces between the tables, hoisted the massive platters piled high with crushed ice and shellfish -- lobsters, oysters, mussels, clams, crabs, and other indiscernible crustaceans. In the background, you could hear the occasional thud of one of the cooks beating lobster meat from its shell.

We shared a medium-sized platter, which was excellent. The cool, crisp seafood was the perfect antidote to the hot August evening, but the carnivore in me felt a little cheated that I failed to taste the pork for which the restaurant is named. So we returned a second night for dinner. For an appetizer, we shared a plate of grilled calamari, tiny whole squid -- maybe two inches long -- that were coated with balsamic vinegar, browned on a griddle and served with garlicky potatoes and caramelized shallots.

The menu has two entries for its pork chops -- the “Happy Pig Chop” and the “Pied de Cochon Cut.” “What’s the difference between the two,” I asked our server? She explained that The Pied de Cochon cut weighed in at a whopping .5 kilograms (1.1 pounds). Grinning, and with a slightly manic delivery, she noted, “You will cry when you see it!” Enticed and interested, but somewhat daunted by the big cut's size, I ultimately went with the smaller, but still Flinstonesque, Happy Pig Chop. Delicious and incredibly juicy, the chop was roasted and served atop a mustardy mess of sauerkraut and mushrooms. Danielle had a dozen plump Cape Breton oysters filled with meat and thirst-quenching brine.

Ms. Bowen’s Montreal restaurant roundup also led us to Brunoise (3807, St. André, 514.523.3885), a smart, stylish new restaurant near Parc La Fontaine.

Opened in May 2003 by chefs Michel Ross and Zach Suhl, Brunoise offers a prix fixe menu, including choice of appetizer, entrée, and dessert (ranging from $32 to $42 depending upon the selection of the main course). Standouts of our meal were a bourride of mussels (a stew of mussels served with a saffron aioli), roasted halibut with a purée of artichoke, and rich and tender braised veal cheeks. Wines are available by the bottle, but not by the glass (though a small selection may ordered by the carafe -- a 250 ml serving equal to a third of a bottle). Upon the recommendation of our server, we shared a carafe of 2001 Paolo Masi “Erta e China,” an excellent rich and full-bodied blend of sangiovese and cabernet sauvignon from Tuscany.

The desserts were amazing. I had a shortbread cookie topped with rhubarb, strawberries, crème patisserie, and caramel ice cream flavored with Minus 8 vinegar (a vinegar made from ice wine). The show-stopper was Danielle's panna cotta -- the best I have ever tasted. The incredibly creamy panna cotta, flavored with vanilla, was served in a ramekin brimming with a refreshing layer of deep green basil coulis punctuated by tart passion fruit seeds.

Restaurants of Note
We only stopped in for some beer and fries this time, but the last time we were in Montreal, we gorged ourselves on mussels at Bières & Compagnie (www.bieresetcompagnie.com, 4350, Saint-Denis, 514.844.0394; 3547 Saint Laurent, 514.288.0210), which serves over 100 different beers and 30 varieties of mussels. Restaurant Chez L’Epicier (www.chezlepicier.com, 311 Saint Paul Est, 514.878.2232) in Vieux Montreal, contains a small shop selling products like house-made maple vinegar and presents a menu blending French cuisine with Asian accents. Also in Vieux Montreal, the outdoor terrace at Boris Bistro (www.borisbistro.com, 465 rue McGill, 514.848.9575) is a wonderful place to dine al fresco on a warm summer day. Montrealophiles Val and Merry, who just returned from a trip to Montreal and the surrounding countryside, recommend La Colombe (554 Duluth Est, 514.849.8844), specializing in “Cuisine du Marché,” and Le P’tit Plateau (330 Marie Anne Est, 514.282.6342), an apportez votre vin (BYOB) restaurant.

Destination: Montreal, Canada

Beginning today (and continuing into next week as well), The Food Section travels to Montreal for the third edition of Moveable Feast. Previously installments of this ongoing feature have taken this site to Florence, Italy, and Washington, DC, for a snapshot of local food culture beyond New York City. While these earlier feasts have been helmed by guest editors, this time I will personally captain the ship as The Food Section ventures north of the border for a taste of Montreal -- from the city's French-influenced restaurants to its bountiful public markets. (A special thanks to Martine of Banlieusardises and Suburblicious for her e-mails guiding us to some of Montreal's best gastronomical offerings).

But first, a few fleeting observations of Montreal, the city.

* * *

The first time I visited Montreal was last summer, when my wife and I went there to celebrate our first wedding anniversary. We had such a wonderful time on that visit that we were determined to travel there again, and we returned for a brief vacation this past August.

Montreal feels at once very familiar and completely foreign. On the one had, the city is only seven hours away from New York. The same amount of driving time could take you from New York City to Cape Cod, but a trip to Montreal puts you in a completely new environment that is linguistically and culturally different than our own. I don’t think I’ll never get over the fact that you can make such a journey in a day’s drive. On the other hand, although there are moments in Montreal when you could mistake yourself for being in Europe, the city is distinctly North American. Take the cars, for example. As my wife likes to point out, the scale of the automobiles in Montreal is the same as what you would find in the United States -- you won’t find any Smart Cars bounding around and SUVs seem to be as popular there as they are here.

And, although French language is on display everywhere -- in shop and street signs, bookstores, and newspapers, nearly everyone we came into contact with was bilingual, slipping easily from French into English, often without any discernable accent.

* * *

While the close quarters of the tightly packed residential streets of Montreal's Plateau district will be familiar to any New Yorker, one key difference is the ubiquitousness of outdoor terraces. It seems as if Montrealers have a constitutional right to a few square feet of outdoor space, as small balconies pop out from the midriff of nearly every rowhouse. Also striking are the exterior wrought iron stairways (often forged with detailed decorative patterns) placed on the outside of the buildings to get second floor dwellers up to their apartments.

* * *

Montreal's built environment maintains a fascinating balance between a modern, if not futuristic, aesthetic and tradition. Portions of Montreal’s underground, a bustling subterranean network of shopping malls and arcades that spreads underneath the city, look like something out of a science fiction film, while above ground, just a few blocks away, is the beautifully preserved V