On our roam around Montreal, one of the goals was to buy a selection of local gift food that we could bring as a Christmas present to the BF’s parents in New Hampshire. We planned to add to the basket already started with two of the classics of Pike Place Market, smoked salmon and chocolate covered Chukar Cherries. We scanned all of the shops as we made our way to poutine at La Banquise, and through Parc La Fontaine that you see here at left, picturesque with the all the snow and skaters on the frozen pond. We thought that we might have to resort to something acquired at an Esso station on our drive south –which actually wouldn’t be so bad if the selection was anything like the local jerky that you can get in gas station mini marts in towns like Ellensburg and Moses Lake – but we lucked out by stumbling on Marché St-Jacques on our way back to the hotel. It’s all indoors and less rustic than Pike Place or my new favorite, London’s Borough Market, but it was absolutely the perfect solution to our gift food needs. Fresh fruit and vegetables, meets, cheeses, pasta, sweets, coffee, and tea – and plenty of it locally made.

You’ll see in the Google map mentioned in the previous post that we had done a bit of research on where to go for dinner the second night, as we’d decided that Au Pied de Cochon was the must-do and the other dinner slot was up for discussion. There seemed to be a fair number of good options, but the list narrowed significantly once we started calling around for reservations on Christmas Eve. As these things go, it turned out that the restaurant originally lower on our list because the photos on the website seemed to show food too perfectly plated, too precious, was the one open on Christmas Eve and with room for us. It also turned out that the food gods knew better than we did, because this was one of the best meals I’ve ever had. I should probably say “meal experiences,” though, because of course the time of year, outstanding company, warm interior, and the superb service all had something to do with that assessment.

Chez L’Épicier is in Old Montreal, around the corner from this twinkly square and just off the waterfront. From the street we walked up the short flight of stairs into white tablecloths, dark wood chairs and floors, cylindrical mesh-covered light fixtures, and a tremendous amount of exposed brick and rough stone and masonry. The two bright blue walls, one in each of the two large rooms, added a terrific punch of color to the cozy space.

While Au Pied de Cochon was all bustle and noise and big, saucy plates, Chez L’Épicier was much more restrained in interior and food. What we originally thought might be food that was too fussy, turned out to be beautifully constructed and intricately flavored dishes, one course after another. I’m including a photo of the menu – prix fixe in honor of the holiday – because it’s too fabulous not to share. The only item not listed is the amuse bouche of beet-flavored macaroon with goat cheese, absolutely tiny and perfect.

One of the best parts about travel is happening upon the unexpected, and it was just that when we stumbled across the Sphères Polaires on our walk from dinner to a late Christmas Eve service at Christ Church Cathedral. They were enormous – you get a sense of the scale from the people standing next to them – and emitted all sorts of sounds and flashing lights. No doubt, the perfect otherworldly follow-up to our magical meal.

Chez L’Épicier:

Apparently this is what happens when two food-oriented people travel together: Much research into new and interesting places to eat, and from there the creation of a Google map to chart a narrowed-down list of possibilities. Voilà!

We started by asking different friends for recommendations of what to check out in Montreal, then did a bit more reconnaissance online to see what might fit into our two nights in the city. I have to give credit to the BF, because once we really sat down together in front of the laptop with our research overlayed on to a (virtual) map of the city, it was his brilliant idea to push-pin all of the locations on the Google map. Thus, we could see where everything was and track all of the restaurant options. The really crazy thing, though, was that we left the map public – viewable by anyone out there in the big world – and when we came back to the map a couple of days later there had already been some 75 views. The version you see now has been updated post-trip with a couple of comments and who knows, maybe others will find this useful in their own pre-trip research.

The top of our list, and a bit of a scramble with a reservation coming up very shortly after landing in Montreal, was dinner at Au Pied de Cochon. APDC showed up in every list of restaurants recommended by friends, on Urbanspoon, and on Chowhound. Clearly somewhere not to be missed! Not a huge place, it’s busy and bustle-y, warmed by an interior of wood wood everywhere: tables, floors, walls, bar. Seated across from the open kitchen, what we noticed most was that the tiny space was packed, and much more vocal and physical than what we had experienced in other restaurants. Shouting, laughing, a bit of good-natured shoving.

First for the evening was the salad special for the night, greens topped with egg, a substantial bit of goat cheese, veal, and the thinnest potato crisps. Next we had the Tarragon Bison Tongue, rare and fall-apart tender, with a delicious swipe of mustard tarragon sauce and the tiniest pickle rounds for accent.

It’s good that we chose two small plates to start, because our final selection of the evening erased any possibility for additional sampling. Our server didn’t say a peep when we asked if these three dishes were the right amount for two of us, because when the last platter arrived we saw that there was actually enough to serve several of our fellow diners. The Pied de Cochon stuffed with foie gras was over the top decadent, with that enormous leg of pig on the fatty side, stuffed with an even more rich foie gras and served with bitter greens, mashed potatoes, and mushrooms. It’s hard to tell the scale of this dish from the photo, but consider that the platter nearly spans two large dinner plates, and the spoon and fork you see here are of considerable serving size. If this last selection hadn’t been so massive we might have tried one of the other signature menu items which seems to come highly recommended – the Canard en Conserve (basically, duck in a can) – but as it was we had quite the experience at one of the best known restaurants in Montreal.

Speaking of best known… We couldn’t leave Montreal without sampling poutine, so after our stomachs had recovered from dinner the night before and we’d had a long walk through snowy streets and park, we beelined for La Banquise. With its mismatched painted tabletops and 24-hour schedule, La Banquise is the sort of casual diner-y spot you can easily drop in and out of, or hang out for a while. We sampled two different versions of the fresh cheese curd and brown gravy-topped plate of french fries, the Poutine Matty with bacon, yellow peppers, and green peppers and the Poutine Classique with just the basics, all washed down with a Cheval Blanc Blanche (a witbier). I’m told that the best poutine has cheese curds that are audibly squeaky and those at La Banquise definitely filled the bill.

Au Pied de Cochon:

La Banquise: