The Mane Event: A Bucket-List Dinner

 I don't think it's really any secret that I'm a huge fan of Anthony Bourdain, his show Parts Unknown, and really, really excellent food. So, when we decided we were heading to Montréal, we decided to re-watch his episode on Quebec and were reminded of a place we absolutely had to try--Joe Beef. This Little Burgundy masterpiece was opened in 2005 by three of Canada's finest (and coolest) chefs and culinary geniuses, Allison Cunningham, Frédéric Morin and David McMillan. 

Joe Beef takes its name from the proprietor of a tavern which once stood on the site. The neighborhood is still a little rough-looking, which lets the restaurant stand out as even more of an unusual gem. 

When you enter, you're greeted by really friendly servers dressed in flannel shirts, in keeping with the warm, rustic, and classy nature of the establishment. We had a 9:15 reservation (you'll definitely want to make one--the place is usually PACKED!), but by some stroke of luck, there was a table ready for us more than a half hour early. 

 Our table was basically a dream--cosy and gorgeously stocked, warmly lit, and attired with vintage plates and napkins that I hope I'll be able to find for my kitchen. 

A facet of JB that I really love is its menu--all in French, all written daily on chalkboards that line the walls. Our amazing waitress helped us a lot in deciding what to order (although I was already partial to a particular dish you'll see later), and gave us some wonderful recommendations for drinks and appetizers. 

In light of what I had in mind for dinner, I started off with some absolutely delicious Canadian sparkling wine, and D started off with an Oatmeal Stout from Le Castor. The wine was wonderful, but the Stout was definitely something to write home about. It was rich, malty, smoky, earthy, and musky, with a caramel smell that turned into a cocoa aftertaste without any loss of its maltiness. 

To start, we ordered some of JB's famous croquettes, which, for the evening, drew inspiration from Chicken Pot Pie. They were absolutely wonderful, if not quite as earth-shattering as what we ordered next.

D ordered the Monsieur Diane, a 16-ounce steak topped with mushrooms, gravy, and spinach, and accompanied by an onion chutney.

I decided to try Cheval á la Stroganoff, a deliciously tangy, rich, and tender filet served with wonderfully meaty mushrooms, marvellous pearl onions, and buttered Papardelle. This might just have been my favorite meat ever... And despite the fact that I love horses and have been riding since I was very little, I would love to have this again.

Everything was incredibly fresh and local, and our food was an absolute culinary masterpiece. Joe Beef is a place for the gourmand and man's man alike, a place where you'll want to savor absolutely everything you order and you'll be unable to stop raving about the food as you eat because it's just that good. 

If there's one place to visit in Montréal when you're hungry and really want to dig into some delicious, unpretentious, and generously-sized food, this is it. It is a little pricey to visit frequently, but given the chance, do--this may be the best meal you'll ever have. 

(P.S. If you can't visit Joe Beef in Montréal, get their cookbook. It's wonderfully clever and well-written, very eclectic in its style, and has absolutely amazing recipes. Definitely a great one to have in your collection or to give as a gift to your favorite foodie.)

Montréal Brews

     Among the items on our Montréal agenda were a handful of brewery visits. The cold, snowy, icy first Sunday of our trip seemed like a great day to find somewhere cosy for a bite and a brew, so we headed over to Brasserie Dieu du Ciel.
     We hadn't thought we'd need the Métro, but because we didn't quite feel safe getting to the Plateau district skateless, we caved. It took us quite a while to find Dieu du Ciel once we disembarked at Laurier Station, but eventually we turned a corner and found ourselves in a small, warmly-lit brewpub. 

On most days, Dieu du Ciel is a notoriously difficult place to find a seat. However, in light of the nasty weather, we were lucky and found a table right away.

Our copper-topped table gave us a great view of Dieu du Ciel's extensive beer list, and it wasn't long at all before we were able to order four six-ounce beers to taste and a cheese plate to nibble on. 

Among the brews we decided to taste were, from left to right, Aphrodisiaque, Premiere Neige, Solstice d'Hiver, and Peches Mortel.
Here's what we thought:

Aphrodisiaque

Deliciously chocolatey but a little too heavy. Bitterness balances out the sweetness of the chocolate and vanilla, though. A little like drinking a 99% cacao bar.

Prémiere Neige

Delicate anise flavor. Light, sweet but not sugary, warm and complex, anise at the floor point. Most of the flavor on the next breath. Our top pick, excellent with a baguette and Brie, or with green olives.

Solstice d'Hiver
Barley wine. Excellent with pungent cheeses and onion chutney. Dark, fragrant, reminiscent of wine or brandy, but with an inner heat.

Péché Mortel
A Coffee-infused Imperial Stout. Intriguing on the first sip, but entirely too heavy for continued enjoyment. Pretty good with nuts.

To accompany our beers, we ordered this big beauty. 

The kitchen at Dieu du Ciel treated us well, and gave us an assortment of nuts, crusty bread, green and kalamata olives, onion chutney, Brie, what we're guessing were a type of Porter cheese, and two other pungent and delicious cheeses. 

We also decided to try Dieu du Ciel's Cidre Rosé, and our expectations were far exceeded. 

The cider was absolutely beautiful, with a semisweet, dry fruity palate. It would be wonderful with creamy cheeses, Baked Brie, or Camembert, but alas we didn't save any of the cheeses on our plate to accompany it.

Everything was absolutely delicious, and I don't think we could have ordered anything better for such a cold and dreary day. 

Over the course of our meal, we met some other Americans--a couple who were in Montréal to explore its pub scene. They recommended some other breweries to us, including Le Cheval Blanc, Station HO.ST, and Le Saint Bock--the other brewpub we visited on our last day in Montréal.
  
On Wednesday, we stopped into Le Saint Bock to try their beer and have one last Poutine. 

From bottom to top, we tried RIP Brett (Porter Imperial Russe aux Brettanomyces), Prémiere Dame (Stout Imperial), 666 (Black IPA), Malédiction (Milk Stout), and Sweet Jesus (Scotch Ale). 

RIP Brett Porter 

Cedary, vinegary nose. Thin layer of eggshell foam. Tart, woody, and spicy in flavor, almost like Dijon mustard. Vinegar and smoke aftertaste. Pretty gross, probably would not order again. 

Premiere Dame

Nice layer of foam the color of coffee with milk. Light malty bouquet. Aftertaste like smoked ham; lovely mesquite flavor. Very easy to drink, would pair nicely with a creamy mild soup like Cullen Skink, a nice cold weather beer.

666

Basically no foam at all but a thin, patchy later topping a cola-colored brew. Heady, tropical fruit smell, like Passionfruit. Extremely hoppy, but has a nice fruit base to balance it out. Bitter but not harsh. Hoppy, sour aftertaste. A perfect, sexy summer IPA, and a good party beer. D's favorite. 

Malédiction

Dark Chocolate and smoky smell. A little bit of dark foam that sank down over time. Tastes a lot like semisweet chocolate, with an aftertaste of baking cocoa and hops. My favorite.

Sweet Jesus

Effectively no foam. Deep burgundy wine color. Malty, slightly cocoa-y, clean smell. Musky, earthy, apple-y smell; almost musty but absolutely delicious. Aftertaste like dried fruit and the air in a preserves cellar. Not particularly sweet, but almost like a really dark mulled cider.

Montréal has a really great craft brewery scene, so although we weren't surprised to find so many good places, we were thrilled that they were as wonderful as they were. 
If you're in the area and love a good brew, Montréal is really your oyster. 

Happy exploring!
Xx

L'Ancien Monde et le Nouveau: Day Two in Montréal

    On Saturday morning, the streets of Montréal were cold and icy. We had hoped the weather would be a little better, but we decided to brave the sidewalks and basically skated down Rue Sainte-Catherine, through Chinatown, until we reached the Place-des-Armes. 
Our destination? One of North America's most famous and most beautiful churches--the Basilique Notre-Dame. 

 This Gothic-Revival Basilica, designed by Irish-American architect James O'Donnell, was built between 1824 and 1829 in reaction to Ville-Marie's growing population, which the old chapel (built at the end of the 17th century) could not support. Its famous bell towers, affectionately called La Persévérance and La Témperance, were added later on, making one of Montréal's jewels really resemble its Parisian counterpart. 

Aside from its gorgeous façade, one of the things that really drew us to Notre-Dame was its history. Hundreds of thousands of people have passed through there, many have been baptized, wed, and given funerals there, and people from all over the world have flocked to the Basilica to see this amazing arm of the Catholic Church in New France--now Canada. When I visit churches on my travels, I can never stop myself from thinking about some of the amazing people who might have stood where I stood. In this particular case, when we entered the church, we walked the same path as Luciano Pavarotti (who held at least one concert there), Canada's own Céline Dion (who was married there), and Pope John Paul II (who celebrated mass there).

 One of the things I love most about visiting Basilicas and Cathedrals is the collection of prayer candles scattered around the perimeter of each church. As small as the building might make you feel, the little kneelers and candle-filled trays make the church feel even more peaceful and oddly intimate. And even if you're not religious, they provide a great place for quiet contemplation. 

Time in the Basilica passed quickly as we looked at the beautiful artwork on its walls (and ceiling), and we decided to move on.

Our next stop was in stark contrast to Notre-Dame--as the weather was still snowy and freezing, we decided to head to the Musée d'Arte Contemporain.

I will preface this by saying modern art isn't really my thing. Some pieces I absolutely love, and some just don't speak to me. The MAC was one of those museums where I was crazy about some pieces and bewildered or weirded out by others. However, it is one of the most thought-provoking museums I have ever visited. 

The first piece we saw I absolutely loved. It's a piece you can interact with, one that looks and is physically heavy but, in a fantastical way, seems rather light and airy. 

A piece we saw after that drove me and the man a little crazy, and I couldn't bring myself to take a video. Ann Lislegaard's Time Machine  involves a computer-animated fox which stutters as it tells a hard-to-follow tale of its trip to the future. It's a really cool concept (a talking fox in a mirrored box), and I love that Lislegaard mixed English and Danish to make the fox's story make less sense, but to be honest, the fox's face is haunting... and not necessarily in a good way.

After we decided to escape from the room which housed Time Machine, we happened upon an installation which I really loved. Given my passion for Economics, it probably won't be too surprising when I say I totally geeked out when I saw what the installation contained. 

Entitled The Prophets, this piece by Richard Ibghy and Marilou Lemmens embodies what I love so much about my field--the amazing power of models in predicting future events. 

Overall, this was probably our favorite part of the MAC, but we saw some other weird and cool things on our way out, including some unexpected taxonomy (a deer and a fox, seemingly sleeping, on the floor of two different rooms), some sort of arctic sled, and lot of heartbreaking videos. 

We went for lunch at Eggspectation (which seriously has the best omelettes I've ever had) and learned that there would be a huge snow storm that night. Because we knew we probably couldn't eat out, we made our second venture into the RESO to pick up some groceries--emergency food if you will. The result? 

Butter Chicken, Wilted Garlic Spinach, and Naan, which we prepared in our room's kitchenette. Not super fancy, but not too shabby in light of the heavy snow outside.
 We paired this with Revolution White Wine (Rev Vineyards, Napa, CA), a Colombard-Chardonnay blend. (For those who are wondering, it's very fruit-forward, floral, and tropical with a medium body and finish.) While the wine wasn't quite dry enough for our tastes, we were still impressed with how well our IGA run turned out.

As Saturday night drew to a close, we were absolutely exhausted. So, we cleaned up, turned on Clint Eastwood's Jersey Boys (excellent, by the way), and turned in on the early side as we waited out the snowstorm. 

A Snowy Retreat: January in Montréal

      For Christmas this year, rather than giving each other physical presents, my boyfriend and I decided to do something a little different--we took each other to Montreal for a week of exploring and relaxing. 
      In grand American tradition, we took an overnight Greyhound bus up from New York City (after an absolutely wonderful New Year's Eve spent with friends) and arrived in the early morning. Because we had several hours to explore before we were allowed to check into our room at the wonderful Hotel Le Roberval, we decided to take a walk down Boulevard René-Levesque (and initially intended to see some art museums).

Montréal has a noticeable Catholic influence, so on our way through the Quartier Latin (home to the École Polytechnique de Montréal, the Université de Montréal, and the Université de Quebec á Montreal), we passed beautiful old buildings and many, many churches. 

Although we never made it inside (as apparently they no longer give tours), we saw our first Montréal landmark: the Molson Brewery.

  

Having dropped our bags at the hotel, and having realized that we were heading in a completely different direction than we intended, we decided to to scrap our original plans and head instead towards Old Montreal. 

Across the way from the our ultimate destination--the Chateau Ramezay (which was obscured by a lot of cold-weather additions, so I won't picture it here)-- stood Montreal's City Hall, one of the most gorgeous government buildings I've ever seen.

  We then spent a few hours exploring the Chateau and headed to the gorgeous Old Port, where we stepped into the Héritage Gallery to look at some Inuit art. This particular gallery is partly a showcase of the work of some really great Inuit artists and partly a fur shop. Most of their wares were, as expected, just a tad out of our price range, but we still took a look.
  

  Among the things we saw and really, really wanted to take home was this polar bear. We were this close to adopting it for my new apartment--a total bear necessity if you ask me--, but we didn't think the folks at Greyhound would appreciate us bringing home an extra passenger. 

    Having sated our curiosity about this (pretty magical) Inuit gallery, we made our way to the Old Port and stopped into Montreal Poutine for a bite and a brew. MP is admittedly very touristy and a little spartan--if you're looking for a fancy, boutiquey gastropub, this is not it. When you enter, you'll walk up a set of stone steps that lead to an attic, where the menu and beer list are short and the wooden tables are mostly full.  But don't be discouraged--if you're looking for a low-key place with good food and a lot of attention to detail where food and drink are concerned, MP is just the place to go. We ordered Poutine with Montréal Smoked Meat and Rickard's White Ale, and though we'd been a little skeptical, I'm pleased to say Montreal Poutine was well worth it!
      
    Anywho, that's enough for today, but be sure to stay tuned for more of our Montreal adventures! On the docket for tomorrow's post: some of the other sites we visited and one of my absolute favorite art installations (you'll see why). 

A domani,

Caroline 
Xx