Best Vacation Bites - Montreal

This June I took my good friends up on the chance to visit the beautiful city of Montreal. The guys were planning to attend the Montreal Grand Prix so my girlfriend and I were eager to hit the streets, pretend not to be tourists, and see what Montreal had to offer.

Now for those of you who haven't been to Montreal, it is usually referred to as the Paris of North America - largely for it's francophone population and Parisian influence. I would largely agree with that generalization, but emphasize that Montreal is definitely an AMERICAN city. Yes, everyone speaks Francais, but they also speak PERFECT English, drive around in Fords, and wear American Apparel. While parts of the city, like Old Montreal felt distinctly Parisian, student filled areas like Rue St. Denis near UQAM's campus felt distinctly more like Baltimore.

Our amazing home in Montreal!

Right off the bat, I realized that our plan to blend in as locals was shot to hell. Every morning we started strong, stepping out of our beautiful flat onto the bustling Rue Sherbrooke in our trendy-casual threads and bright colored Toms without hesitation. After careful planning, courteusy of the wi-fi connection in our rented rooms, we knew which way to go - NO LOOKING LOST FOR US! 


But, the minute we walked into a shop and responded to the first bonjour, the jig was up. No matter how hard we tried to say bohn-jur! or allo! like a local, we were pegged for English speaking tourists. Surprisingly, this wasn't such a bad thing. Unlike it snooty France (I've never been) the fact that we didn't speak French was not the end of the world and people didn't even assume we were from the U.S.! In one trendy shop a very cool girl asked, "So you are from Toronto, yeah?" - a question that we assumed meant 1) Toronto is a cool city and 2) We're cool too!

Each of my three full days in Montreal was wonderful. With no real obligations we spent the day doing the kinds of things that for me equal a dream holiday - wandering, shopping, people watching, sitting in parks, and of course eating. Like most cities worth visiting,  Montreal's cuisine not just about one signature style or flavor profile - it's about the wide variety of tastes brought over by its numerous immigrant communities. While founded by the French, and largely influenced by it's British/Canadian history, Montreal is home to large numbers of immigrants from all over Europe, Latin America, Asia and Africa.

CHINATOWN (Photo courtesy of Dan Proudfoot)

One of the best places to see this wealth of cultural cuisine is Montreal's small Chinatown, equipped with authentic Chinese gates and all of the tchotchke shops and yummy restaurants your heart could desire. It also has a great location - walking distance for us and close to Old Montreal and the Place des Arts - home to regular festivals and concerts (and to the Francofolies Festival while we were there). While in Chinatown, we visited Restaurant Beijing, a street stand for Dragon Beard Candy, and Patisserie Harmonie for Chinese pastries to enjoy the next day (Pork Buns for breakfast - Yum!). 
While "Restaurant Beijing" was no different from the American style Chinese restaurants in DC, it was fun to see the specials posted in French as well as Chinese and English. In an attempt to be somewhat adventurous in our order (no poulet orange, si vous plait!) we learned that chow mein are crispy pan fried noodles and "Beijing style" means with a white sauce and chocked full of every kind of seafood imaginable. While maybe not what we expected, it was still good and ridiculously filling as always. As for the candy, if you every get the chance to have Dragonbeard candy - go for it! It has the texture of a super light shredded weight and an ridiculously sweet nutty flavor. Messy and delicious.

I think my two favorite food moments while in Montreal were surprisingly courteously of chain restaurants (gasp!). The moment we discovered Au Pain Dore, with its window full of fresh French pastries and bread, I knew we'd be back before I trip was through (I returned two more times). Among the variety of choices of chocolate and fruit filled confections, I wanted nothing but the simple and crunchy palmiers. Also known as "elephant ears", these treats are so crunchy, one can only image the amount of butter in them. I ate mine as slow as I could, and immediately yearned for more. My other favorite moment was standing in the street on Rue St. Denis, the four of us sharing a decadent BBQ pork Poutine from Frite Alors. Frite Alors is the kind of place I would kill for in DC - a simple burger and fries spot, but with poutine to die for. Who knew that cheese curd and gravy could make life so wonderful!

Poutine - mon dieu!

So I think it goes without saying that I really liked Montreal! It's a beautiful city, not too far away that feels like a vacation, but not culture shock invoking enough to scare the faint-of-heart. It has great food, cool people, and everyone's friendly and willing to help. I highly recommend it and I'm looking forward to my next trip! Here are a few other places I loved:

Photo from of myneworleans.com

1. Jean Talon Market - the best place to spend a Sunday afternoon. Sample fruits, cheese, and charcuterie, stay for lunch and enjoy the people, smells and sunshine!

2. St-Viateur Bagels - a must for anyone visiting Montreal, this bagel shop sells what I think are now my all-time favorite bagels. They're thin so it's like having a scooped out bagel - all toasted-crunchy outside and less of the doughy filling. Get a sandwich and side salad and you have a meal you won't forget.

Photo from midnightpoutine.ca

3. Le Saint-Elisabeth - order a couple beers and enjoy the sights and sounds in the prettiest terrace/beer garden I've ever seen. You can even bring in your own food (poutine, duh!)

I Truckeroo'd! You should too.

Friday night was amazing. Estelle and I arrived at Truckeroo around 6 and found a moderate crowd gathered at Das Bullpen. The lines were manageable, except for the ultra popular TaKorean and Red Hook Lobster trucks. We were able to get our first round of margaritas, play a few rounds of corn hole, mull around, and then get some beers before we even decided what to eat. But I'm glad we got food when we did because by 7:30 when we found a comfy spot under the tent to perch and gorge, the place was jumpin' and the lines were super long. My friend Kelly waited in line for 45 minutes to choose from the 2 things left on the BBQ Bus menu! She opted for ribs that did not meet her Texan expectations (or my lowly Northerner ones either!)

I tried two new food trucks and loved everything I ate. Eat Wonky has hot dogs, grilled cheese and whoopie pies, but the "wonky" is poutine - a French dish that consists of fries, covered in cheese and gravy (in Jersey its called Disco fries). Estelle and I shared the "Wonky Dog" which is a hot dog topped with poutine. While fresh cheese curd and brown gravy doesn't make the most appetizing looking meal, it was delicious. Salty, fattening and very satisfying, especially with a cold beer.


Dessert was a slice of the Baltimore Bomb pie from the Dangerously Delicious Pies truck. The creepy all-black truck with its lazily scribbled menu screams Bal-ti-mo with a capital "TI" and the pie went right along with the image. It was a scary thugged out slice of pie - all rough around the edges and perilously unrecognizable - but just like Omar from the Wire when his lover was killed, it turned out to be sweet and lovely. I want to marry that pie. The main ingredient in the Bomb is Baltimore's "famous" Berger cookies that I somehow missed when I was living there. These chocolate covered sugar cookies were crushed and mixed with custard and then baked in an insanely moist and buttery pie crust.


Trust me, that was not my last encounter with the Baltimore Bomb, so help me God.

So...
- you need to go to the next Truckeroo
- get there early so you can actually eat
- wear sunscreen
- try some disco fries - Churchkey near Logan Circle has them on their bar menu as does the Black Squirrel in Adams Mo.
- RUN to your nearest DD Pies and get a slice of the Baltimore Bomb. Heck, buy a whole pie and then invite me over for some. Or else...

The bar, and the talented Tico from White Loafer who had everyone shakin it to the beat.

I had to stop and say hi to those crazy kids at Merlindia.

Reeeeeed Velvet!

Red Velvet - a cake that has puzzled me since the famous bleeding armadillo groom's cake in the 1989 movie Steel Magnolias. What is it exactly? Why is it red? And why is it so darn good?!

Well it's red because of the heaps of food coloring added to the batter and the addition of cocoa powder to a basic cake recipe means that red velvet is actually a chocolate cake, but as for its popularity - I can't explain it. Maybe it has to do with the 1 1/2 cups of oil in the batter that leads to a decadently moist (and fattening) cake. Or the heavy handed application of cream cheese frosting that perfectly compliments each bite with a bit of creaminess. Or it may be that having a dessert so unnaturally red is just cool.

This morning I decided to try out Paula Dean's recipe for Red Velvet Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting (who else to go to for something so quintessentially southern?) which calls for heaps of oil, butter, and everything else that makes me feel guilty enough to do an extra 30 minutes on the elliptical. I went with cupcakes instead of a layered cake to make them easier to carry (and eat) on the way to the Cape.

Paula Dean's Red Velvet Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

TIP: I suggest you wear an apron or a long shirt you don't mind getting dirty because you could possible end up with red food coloring and/or powdered sugar all over your front.

The recipe was very straight forward: sift dry ingredients together in one bowl and mix wet ingredients in another. Then gradually add the dry to the wet. If you do not have a sifter (like me) then just use a whisk to combine the flour, sugar, salt, etc to get rid of any clumps. Once your batter is together, simply ladle it into cupcake cups and bake at 350 for about 20 minutes, rotating the pan after 10 minutes.

The frosting was even simpler... whisk together the cream cheese, butter, and vanilla until smooth, then add the powdered sugar gradually. TIP: Set the packets of butter and cream cheese on the stove while the oven is heating to soften them - this will make whisking a lot easier.

Spread the cream cheese frosting generously on the cupcakes and maybe top with some chopped walnuts or other nuts you like.

YUM!!

CoolDown 101

I hope everyone had a great 4th weekend... I know I did! The peaches came out great - juicy and not too sweet with that creamy feta adding something great! The sangria was delicious, although it was definitely upstaged by some real Jamaican Rum Punch (I gotta get that recipe). Here's a pic of how they turned out:

Grilled Peaches with Feta

This week is gonna be a scorcher here in the DMV so I'm sure alot of you won't be leaving your house unless it is ABSOLUTELY necessary. One great way to get out and cool off- Go get Frozen Yogurt! There are tons of places in the city and the surrounding area. Here are my favorites!

Yogen Fruz - what I love about this place is you can get your yogurt one of two ways: the usual soft serve with a selection of toppings OR with the fruit blended in. Delish! Located at 14th and I St and in Pentagon City's food court with more locations to coming soon.

Mr. Yogato - on 17th street between P and Church Streets. Amazingly tangy yogurt, fresh toppings (ask for the banana and granola) AND fun trivia questions can earn you 10% off! *helpful hit - get your dry toppings like nuts and granola on the bottom so they don't fall off!

FroZenYo - this self-serve yogurt shop, with locations downtown by H&M, in Columbia Heights, and Friendship Heights, is great because it has 16 rotating flavors, no restrictions on the number of toppings, and everyone gets to live out their childhood fantasy of creating that perfect DairyQueen swirl themselves - which is way harder than you'd think! Just don't fill up your cup - you'll regret it when you hit the register - and when you can't resist eating it all.

Yogiberry - self serve, 8 flavors, many interesting toppings and with locations in Gaithersburg Square and Olney Town Center its perfect for my MoCo people! There's also a location in College Park! Can you guess where I'll be getting dessert when I'm home?

Stay cool and Eat well!