Travel Thursday: Montreal's Au Pied de Cochon

I keep meaning to get back on writing about Costa Rica and LA, but due to the seasonality of the meal we had at Au Pied de Cochon in Montreal a couple weeks ago I just had to jump the line with it.

When the Boy and I planned out a long weekend in Montreal we knew we had to hit Au Pied de Cochon, Chef Martin Picard's place.  From what I've seen and read of Chef Picard, he's kind of a King of Quebecoise fare, loves foie gras, uses it as much as possible and made famous cooking duck in can.

Because we only called for a reservation 2 weeks in advance, we had a 10pm reservation on a Saturday night.  For such a popular restaurant, that's not too bad.  The Shack's visited Montreal last summer on their way back to Toronto from our wedding in Rhode Island and had to stay and extra day to get into APDC at 10:45pm!  So we happily took the later reservation.   If you have to dine a bit earlier make sure to plan ahead and give yourself more than a few weeks to make a reservation.

Travel Thursday: Montreal's DNA Restaurant

housemade charcuterie & pickles

I'm in a food coma.

Still.

Even though I've been back in Toronto for 3 days, I'm still feeling the after effect of the this past weekend. The boy took me to Montreal for four days packed full of food and a little bit of touristy stuff.  As I planned the trip I turned to where I often do when looking for suggestions on things to eat or do, Twitter.  I mean who doesn't right?

When I tweeted looking for Montreal suggestions, I instantly got a slew of great ones and started to compile a list of places to research. Then a few hours later, one came through from @dnaderek (Chef Derek Dammann) suggesting I go, where else?  DNA.  Now let me just be clear, DNA had crossed my mind, we had an amazing meal when we stopped through Montreal last summer on our honeymoon.  Why else would I be following the restaurant's chef? We had just wanted to try new spots on this trip. But as we sat there discussing the merits of our last meal at DNA, coupled with the fact that the chef himself essentially asked us to come, we decided we had to do it, new restaurants be damned.

Travel Thursday: Afternoon Tea at the London West Hollywood

my cup of Earl Grey tea

While I was in Los Angeles a few weeks ago I scored an invite to try the new menu for Afternoon Tea at the London Hotel's Boxwood Cafe.  Having an undying love for Afternoon Tea, from the scones to the finger sandwiches to the sweets, I was beyond excited to check it out.  Plus it gave me the opportunity to scope out the swanky London Hotel which opened just after I moved from LA.

My love for tea wasn't something I had as a child.  I wasn't the little girl who would have tea parties with my dolls, in fact I didn't really play with dolls, I was a Barbie and My Little Pony kind of girl.  No, my obsession with the proper tea party came a bit later, after college specifically.  The summer after I graduated I spent a week travelling Europe with a good friend, we flopped in hostels, slept on trains, did it all on a budget and had a great time. At the end of our week she flew home and I flew to London to meet up with my mom.  Still on a student's dime, I took what felt like an endless tube ride to meet up with mom at the Grosvenor Hotel, what a change from the hostels I had been staying in! I happily went up to our room, took a nice hot shower, pulled on a fluffy robe and immediately asked mom if we could get tea, scones and clotted cream.  I had traveled quite a bit at this point in my life, from my student budget travel to more upscale versions with my family but for some reason when mom and I planned our trip to London I became obsessed with the idea of scones and clotted cream.  Luckily mom was willing to indulge. So we ordered tea up to the room, I don't remember any of the specific treat of flavors, I just remember loving every minute of it.  How dainty everything was, how proper, such a change from what I had dined on during my trip up until then. We proceeded to get afternoon each day we were in London.  It was all I had wanted it to be and my love of the afternoon tea was born.

Product Review: Crush Wines

About a month ago a delivery man knocked on my door with a medium sized box addressed to me.  I don't often get much mail, especially of the boxed variety.  It wasn't my birthday, my mom hadn't told me to look out for something, so I was intrigued.  Upon opening the box I saw two bottles of wine.  Two bottle that I had never seen before.  It was then that I found a note from the Andrew Peller Corporation explaining that they are from a new brand they are launching this year, Crush Wines.  Well let me just say, getting two surprise bottles of wine in the mail is never a bad things as far as I'm concerned!

I pulled the bottles out from the box along with their tasting notes and set about to decide who I should have a tasting with.  I tried to coerce my parters in no reEATS crime to escape their families for an afternoon and come over for some wine and cheese, but even baiting them with a bit of vino couldn't pre-empt their mommy responsibilities.  I had even planned on going to visit some friends in the West End who had tried to bribe me with delicious sounding ribs, but then errands, house stuff and my life got in the way so that didn't happen, lucky for me the Boy was getting home from work at a decent hour so I thought I'd start the tasting on my own and if there was any left when he got home he could try it too.

Restaurant Review: Queen Margherita Pizza

panna cotta

This past Saturday night I finally convinced the Boy to check out Queen Margherita Pizza with me.  I had gone a few months ago with my book club and loved it and I just knew the boy would too.  With the holidays and all of the craziness that that entails we didn't get there, but were finally able to this past weekend.

We didn't make a reservation and got there around 7:30ish on Saturday night.  It was busy, but they luckily had two spots at the bar that couldn't have been more perfect for us.  We got to feel like we're in the thick of it and there was a TV with the football game on.

The deal at QMP (as they cheekily have printed on the staff t-shirts) is they do a $25 prix fixe which includes a choice of appetizer, any pizza or dessert all for the low price of $25 per person.  A pretty great deal if you ask me, especially since it's what they always do, not like a special Sunday or Monday thing like so many other restaurants.

Resto Review: Schoolhouse Pizza

Trips back to visit my parents for the holidays generally include little cooking on my part.  My parents are both amazing cooks and take the opportunity of all of us kids being home to feed us well.  That is why this is a restaurant review and it wasn’t even a planned restaurant review.  I flew to Boston on Christmas Day to get to my folks house in time for Christmas dinner and the boy drove down a few days later.  His drive down was less than safe as the car desperately needed new tires.  We made an appointment at a shop in Quincy, MA.  When we dropped off the car we asked the salesperson if they could recommend a good place to grab a bite to eat while we waited.  He pointed across the street and said that Schoolhouse Pizza was really good and that we should try “The Bully”

The name of what he suggested was intriguing enough for me to give it a try, that coupled with the fact that it was a pizza joint and I am basically always in the mood for pizza.  We made our way through the snow banks and across the slush covered street and into Schoolhouse.  Upon first glance it’s pretty standard pizza place, very similar to what most towns in Massachusetts know as their town pizza, like Medfield Town Pizza, Norfolk Town Pizza, etc.  But there was something different about this spot.  From the exposed brick, to the bar that overlooks the kitchen and finally to the chalkboard menus that lined the walls. 

Merry Christmas Week to you and a Giveaway!

Well it is officially Christmas week and what better way to kick it off than with a gift for my readers?  Tetley tea has recently come out with a line of herbal teas called Colour Therapy using specific blends of teas and colours to help enhance or change your mood or well-being.   With the stress that the holidays can bring I figure what better gift to give than teas that can help Soothe (light green; ginger mint with lemongrass), Calm (turquoise chamomile and spearmint) and Cleanse (yellow; lemon balm, honey, nettle and elderflower) in the aftermath of the holiday craziness.

I was sent a sample of the Soothe tea.  It's light green canister is packed full of refreshing ginger and mint aromas with the slightest hint of lemon balm.  The tea itself is lovely and actually is quite effective in it's promise to soothe.  Last week was crazy stressful for me, I was applying for a grant for a short film I am producing, trying to finish Christmas shopping, planning for our annual Christmas party, all while trying to keep the house in order and care for our dogs.   I'd be up super early and not get to bed until super late, so when my container of soothe tea came I decided what better way to put it to the test than trying it when I really needed some soothing.

Celebrating Mexican Cuisine at Frida

Last week I was fortunate enough to be invited to a dinner at Frida Restaurant, here in Toronto, by the Mexico Tourism Board.  The dinner was held to celebrate the first ever gastronomy recognition by UNESCO for Traditional Mexican Cuisine. Acknowledged as an important factor in maintaining cultural diversity in the face of increasing globalization, Traditional Mexican cuisine - ancestral, ongoing community culture, the Michoacán paradigm is now part of UNESCO’s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, an elite list of traditions, practices and rituals that

encourage intercultural dialogue and shared identity. Mexican cuisine is one of the first cuisines or national food offering to be declared a part of UNESCO’s World Heritage and was officially recognized on November 16, 2010 at the Kenyatta International Conference Centre in Nairobi, Kenya.*

Traditional Mexican cuisine reflects a comprehensive cultural model of farming, community and ancestral practices, and culinary techniques. Native ingredients such as tomatoes, squashes, avocados, cocoa and vanilla make up some of the basic staples of Mexican cuisine and help create many of the States regional and national identities.*

I felt honored to be asked to be a part of such a special celebration and was even happier that it was in honor of Mexican food, one of my favorite types of food.  This recognition of a traditional cuisine on a global level shows even how important food is to culture and how important it is to share these traditions with each generation.  It shows the impact that passing down recipes and stories can have and furthers my believe that food is as much about the story and experience as it is about filling your tummy.

A Culinary Adventure in Buffalo?!

The other night around 11pm, our good friends the Shacks (Mama, Papa, and Little) texted The Boy and I asking if we wanted to go to Buffalo the very next morning.  Papa Shack lured The Boy with promises of Anchor Bar wings.  I was free, as I usually am, but The Boy had to do some juggling with his schedule but  he made it work.  We arranged for care for the pups and set off for that crazy border town of Buffalo.

Growing up in Syracuse with extended family in Westmoreland all I knew of Buffalo was that my mother student taught there when she was in college, and she always said that it was so very far away and even more snowy than Syracuse.  I never thought much of it beyond that.   But moving to Toronto gives Buffalo a whole other meaning and purpose.  Outlets, cheap flights, Niagara Falls and of course the home of Buffalo Wings, most famously from the aforementioned Anchor Bar.  Beyond that I really had no reason or desire to stop in Buffalo.  That being said, the promise of a any kind of spontaneous trip sounds good to me.

We ended up forgoing the Anchor Bar for a recommendation from friends of the Shack's, Kentucky Greg's Hickory Pit, a BBQ joint in Depew not too far from the Buffalo airport.  Location alone may make a person skeptical about the quality of food, but the Shack's and the Hoffelby's (the Boy and I) are willing to try just about anything, anywhere, once especially if it comes on a recommendation.

Review: Laughing Moon Chocolates

October 28 is National Chocolate Day in the US.  It's pretty timely with one of the biggest holiday for chocolate just 3 days later.  Since I've been participating in Unprocessed October I've tried to stay away from the Halloween candy the boy purchased as it is about as far from unprocessed as you can get.  I did make an exception though for some of the delicious chocolates from Laughing Moon Chocolates. Back in August when the boy and I went to an Outstanding in the Field dinner at Pete's Greens in Craftsbury, VT we were fortunate to be sitting at a table with Leigh Williams of Laughing Moon Chocolate, an adorable artisinal chocolate shop in the heart of ski country, Stowe, VT.  We weren't able to visit the shop as we were only in town for the dinner (though we drove by early in the morning on our way out of town and I did peek in the window), but Leigh sent me some goodies to try*. 

I love chocolate, so that was my primary reason for wanting to try Laughin Moon's, but I was really struck by listening to Leigh talk about how she strives to use ingredients that can be locally sourced.  Obviously cacao doesn't grow in Vermont, but everything from the butter and milk  to the oreos she dips in fudge, which she contracted a local baker to make, is sourced locally.  Leigh goes above and beyond to support her community and buy local.  Her passion is for handmade chocolates which also makes them so special.  I mean how gorgeous are their signature chocolate bars?!

I was sent four Signature chocolate bars and a 1/2 pound box of Assorted Handmade Chocolates.  I opened the assorted box first on the off chance that there were some of the amazing sounding Bayley Hazen Blue truffles in it or maybe one of the boozy truffles.   If you don't know what Bayley Hazen Blue is, go to the Jasper Hill Farm website and see if you can buy it nearby.  If not, go to your local cheesemonger and tell them they have to bring it for you.  It is an amazingly special blue cheese, so special that they have to make it 7 days a week to keep up with demand!  But this post isn't about Jasper Hill, it's about Laughing Moon.  In Leigh's quest to use local ingredients she came up with a handmade chocolate truffle using the Bayley Hazen Blue.  I love chocolate and I love blue cheese and really how special and amazing does pairing them together sound?  But alas, there was no Bayley Hazen Truffle.  I'll just have to order some for myself.  The Assorted box is full of all kinds of delicious chocolates but my favorite was a deliciously perfect piece of toffee with milk chocolate.