Montreal, Canada - Outremont

I just recently came back from my fifth trip to Montreal. That's a lot of frequent flyer points right there! Montreal is Silent Diner's hometown and so scuttling back and forth is kind of a necessity. I've decided to break this post into parts in fairness to the City as there is so much to see, to do, and more importantly to eat, I don't want to leave anything worthy out. Also, the seasons change Montreal so drastically that it is really almost like being in a different City from Summer to Winter.

My first trip to Montreal was in April 2012. I was told "it's getting warmer but bring a jacket just in case". It snowed. I remember going for a run to Mont-Royal and seeing a light falling of (what looked to be) leaves - but for all my ignorance were actually snowflakes. One day it was like 2 degrees. I said to Silent Diner "This is the coldest I have ever been" he replied "Think about the difference between this and plus 30 degrees and that is how much worse you are going to feel when it's minus 25 degrees".

Fast forward to December 2012 and the Super snowstorm. The single biggest dump of snow to hit the North East since 1973. Let's just say I would rather engage in blood sport than have to shovel a car out of snow with a sand spade again.

And in the most severe form of animal cruelty (dressing a pet up in human-like clothing) even the dogs were forced to wear jackets outdoors.

Silent diner lives in Outremont. Aside from young professionals and trendy types, there is a densely Hasidic Jewish population which makes up a large part of the demographic and the area is rich and vibrant with restaurants, bakeries and coffee shops. It is around a 50 minute walk into the downtown area or a short bus ride along the North-South running Avenue Parc, aptly named because it runs alongside Parc Mont-Royal (for reference the Number 80 bus stops outside the YMCA on the corner of Parc and St Viateur). A walk down Avenue Parc reveals a number of fruiteries. My favourite is the Mile-end fruiterie. They stock their fruit and vegetables outside in the Summer months, and keep everything indoors when the temperatures plummet. They also stock my favourite smoked Chipotle tabasco (I could drink this stuff).

The first real food stop in Montreal has to be St Viateur bagels. It is a Montreal institution alongside smoked meats and poutine. Of course there are other bagel houses around, but I love going to St Viateur as they always grab bagels from the fresh baked batch at the back, and there is nothing, nothing, like a fresh baked and piping hot bagel with a slightly crispy exterior and soft chewy inside to keep your heart more aflutter.

Just down the road from St Viateur bagels is one of the best (if not only) Peruvian sandwich shops in Montreal (if not the world). Called Rotisserie Serrano BBQ they roast their chickens whole in house and lay whole potatoes underneath to soak up all the drippings and fat from the chickens as they cook. They do a mean pork sandwich replete with crackling (I defy you not to go back for another) and I have been there so many times now, I know just how I like my sandwich. Of course you can get either the chicken or pork all dressed (they will cut the chicken right off the bone in front of you) but I have decided the pork and crackling sandwich with hot gravy, lettuce, tomato, coleslaw and hot sauce is the best and to mess with otherwise would be a sacrilege.

Across from Serrano Rotisserie BBQ there is a small chocolate shop, Chocolats Genevieve Grandbois who hand-make all their chocolates in-house. You must try the bacon and pretzel balls, which aside from the novelty factor, the crunchy salty pretzel balances well off the sweet white chocolate and the smoked bacon gives that smoked and salty finish to your palate that confirms that everything does in fact taste better with bacon. The dark chocolate orange balls are also smack bang full of rich chocolatey goodness too.

If you are in the market for some high quality aged beef (at least you should be) you must try Chez Latina. They stock everything from fruit and vegetables to pantry items to ready-to-go meals. For Christmas, Silent diner and I bought a 40-day dry-aged beef fillet which the butcher tied, and I seasoned it with rosemary and sea salt and pepper and baked it according to Adrian Richardsons tips on how to cook the perfect roast beef.

Take home goods from Chez Latina

As you can probably see, I spend a bit of time in St Viateur. I tend to do a little circuit which usually starts with a bagel and ends with a coffee. The best coffee in the street has to be Cafe Olimpico, and no matter the time, night or day, it is always bustling with caffeine addicts. There is always a line-up, and sometimes if I can't be bothered to wait I head to Club Social which is just up from Cafe Olimpico. Italian-run the coffee is still good, but Olimpico has a cool buzz to it and the barista's employ a certain theatrical flair in their coffee making.

If you are not a coffee drinker (and for that I have genuine sorrow for you) and tea is more your thing, then you are in luck. Davids Tea is a Montreal originated tea-house which has branched out across Canada and Stateside too. You can find them next to St Viateur bagels. They do all manner of herbal teas, both caffeinated and non-caffeinated, and the versatile thing is you can enjoy an iced tea in Summer, and wrap your woolly mittens around a hot brew in the death of Winter. Their tea blends are also very good quality.

There is also some great shopping around Outremont. One of my favorites is Francois Beauregard on Laurier Ave. What I like about this boutique is the garments are all made in Montreal, so it's keeping the manufacturing industry in Quebec alive by keeping it local. Laurier has a number of sheeshy boutiques particularly West of Avenue Parc so hopefully your credit card is of the gold kind. There are some other great finds, Charlotte Hosten on Bernard Avenue for hand-made jewellery (find her here) and a great gift store also on Bernard which has some interesting finds is Kokoon. Of course if you really want to shop then the boutique lined streets of St Denis, St Laurent and Sherbrooke have some of the best shopping in Montreal - but that's for another post.

Back on Avenue Parc you can find all sorts of gems. Cafes such as Navarino (directly opposite the YMCA on Parc) who bake pastries in-house but also offer healthy salad choices - great for a quick bite without any attached guilt. Now I wouldn't be honoring my fellow countrymen if I didn't pay homage to the Tourtiere Australienne (or "Ta") further down towards Mont Royal. An Australian pie shop owned and run by a French-Quebecer and her Kiwi husband (even the Kiwi's want to claim Australian lineage). During Hugh Jackman's filming the X-Men in and around Montreal during the Summer of 2013 - he paid the pie shop a visit and ordered pies for the cast and crew. Newspapers reported he is a genuinely nice guy. Why not, he is Australian after all.

If you like Mexican then you have to try Ta Chido snack-bar Mexicain also on Avenue Parc, they do really tasty taco fillings and have some good lunch specials. Find them on their facebook page. Silent diner and I tried another Mexican restaurant called Tamalera on Fairmount when Ta Chido was closed over Christmas, and the food just didn't take the train to flavortown like Ta Chido's does.

Of course Outremont also does upmarket. Try Lemeac on Laurier who do a 10pm Fin de Soiree menu which is like 2 courses for $27.00. Pretty good value for an upscale restaurant, that is, if your stomach will forgive you at midnight.

The beef tartare at Lemeac 10pm sitting. 

This past trip the Silent diner and I found ourselves at "Le Deux Singes de Montarvie" which translates to "The two monkeys of Montarvie"...whoever they are. The restaurant is nestled between Chocolats Genevieve Grandbois and Cafe Olimpico on St Viateur and if you blinked as you walked past you might miss it. It is a very intimate and cosy setting, and for a local eatery the food is very good. In fact, and this is a big call for me, I ate one of the single most best mains of my life to date; Quebec lamb shank braised with lebanese spices, served over a saute of brown rice, swiss chard, and smoked bacon, with a garnish of mint pesto and candied pumpkin. Eating candied pumpkin is like one of those a-ha moments in life. You know nothing ever really existed before it, and life won't ever be the same again after it. The candied pumpkin is a recipe closely guarded by the owner, but on the night we were there the owners parents were also there. The owner's mother who is from Lebanon told me she would give me a jar next time I came in. Pity I was flying out the next day. However I have ascertained from certain Lebanese sources that the process of making candied pumpkin involves the use of limestone. I will not rest in my life's quest to find out more.

Now there is a bit of debate as to where Outremont ends and the Plateau starts. Because I want to include Wilensky's in this post, and strictly speaking Fairmount Street east of Avenue Parc could be considered the Plateau and not Outremont. I'm willing to risk being admonished by Montrealers.

I cannot of course talk about smoked meats without some considerable dialogue about Schwartz's on Boulevard St Laurent. But that of course is in the Plateau and I can't be too irreverent. Wilensky's is what's known as a "casse-croute" or snack-bar. Open since 1932 the shop inside is much the same as it probably was back and still run by the same family. I think it could be a cardinal sin to visit Montreal and not go to Wilensky's. Famous for the "Wilensky special" which is a beef salami and bologna sandwich with mustard and grilled on a flat roll similar to an English muffin. You can also get the special with cheese, but don't even think about getting anymore creative. Silent diner also enjoys the old fashion cherry-cola from the original soda fountain. Aah there is nothing like old-time nostalgia to feel all is well in the world right?

So if we are going to talk about Montreal Jewish institutions like St Viateur bagels and Wilensky's do we dare to venture into Mont-Royal territory and also give an honorable mention to Beautys Luncheonette? I dined at Beautys and personally couldn't see what all the hype is about, that is, with the exception of owner Hymie's flagrant disregard of La charte de la langue francaise, and his ability to work the young and out of shape employee Julius to the bone. They are renowned for their mish-mash (a glorified union of egg, potato, peppers and hot-dog or salami) and their bagel and lox.

Beautys included (if only to watch Hymie at work on Julius), Montreal has a lot to thank the Jewish community for, but no more so than for Cheskies Hamishe bakery at 359 Bernard Avenue Outremont. After trying many of Cheskies baked goods, there is no dispute that the Russian Chocolate babka is the go-to choice. Baked fresh daily, the babka is a flaked pastry that is densely layered with gooey rich chocolate, and quite frankly I would shank you with a home-made shiv for it if I had to. But if chocolate ain't your thing you could get an opium-high from the poppy seed rich rugelach which is also pretty special.

 

Chocolate babka glory

So right on so many levels

poppy seed rugelach

Keeping with Jewish tradition, a little further up the road on Avenue Bernard is Lester's Deli, which has been serving smoked meat sandwiches for over 50 years. Having also tried Schwartz's and Snowden's Deli, I must say I was not blown away by Lester's, however it is good to have the option of a local deli which serves smoked meat sandwiches, pickles, and fries without having to wait your life away in a line-up.

If all the rich food is getting too much for you, then try a healthy option like Maiko Sushi. Not only is the food good, but their plating could be considered edible art. The sushi is very fresh, and the place is frequently busy and most often full.

Maiko sushi on the corner Bernard and Hutchison, Outremont

Artfully plated

This past trip Silent Diner and I had dinner at Les Enfants Terrible on Avenue Bernard. It is a very popular spot for breakfast, lunch and dinner. The vibe is young and hip, and I really like how they bring their shop front alive for different festive occasions. During Halloween they go all out with a ghoulish display including a headless diner and carved pumpkins, and at Christmas they have wooden reindeer manning the windows.

Les Enfants Terrible is the kind of place that ticks a lot of boxes. Ambience is good, wait staff attractive, wine list reasonable, food on trend. You know what I mean. If I only had a week in Montreal, there are definitely other restaurants I would find myself in before this one - but as a local, it works.

Just up from Les Enfants Terrible at 1311 Avenue Bernard is Le Glacier Bilboquet. In Summertime the line winds its way down the street with couples and families with children yearning for the sweet delectable ice-cream and sorbet treats Bilboquet offers. In maple syrup harvesting season (April-May) they offer a Tire d'erable which is a maple syrup ice-cream with maple taffy chunks. If you ate a triple scoop of this stuff you might be right to feel you could now die complete. Ironically, in the middle of Winter the place looks like a Western movie after a shoot-out and actually closes for a time during December and January. Although don't fret, the Deppaneur on the corner still stocks Bilboquet tubs of ice-cream if Cheskies doesn't manage to satiate your sweet cravings.

Outremont is bounded in the north-west by one of the most special places in all of Montreal, Parc Mont Royal. Majestic in every season for different reasons, you can run, hike, cross-country ski, snow-shoe, toboggan, skate and just have plain old fun no matter what the weather. Parc Mont Royal is the jewel in Montreal's crown and the place I look forward to spending time in every time I am in Montreal. You can head to Beaver Lake in Summer and feed the ducks, or in Winter hire a pair of skates and get your Torvill and Dean on. There are tonnes of trails, and you can literally get lost if you are not careful.

There is always a road less travelled

In the Summertime every Sunday afternoon hundreds of urban hippies gather around the monument to listen to the beating tam-tams. A colorful collection of  dancers, drummers and vendors selling all sorts of legal and illegal fare. Just follow your nose to work out which is which.

In the Winter time, if you want to know how it feels to have your sartorius muscles being ripped off of your hips as you propel yourself up the mountain, and then find terminal velocity just trying to avoid falling off the mountain, then cross country skiing is for you. Don't be fooled by the various skiers who make it look easy, you WILL look and behave like an out of control banshee and vow never to participate in this ludicrous activity people call leisure sport, again. 

But to appear so negative is unbecoming. There is definitely something magical about Mont Royal in Winter, and Montrealers certainly have intestinal fortitude when it comes to enduring cold harsh weather. The average Montrealer just says "Screw you Mr Polar Vortex, because I am gettin' out and livin' my life!!" and they do. Two classic scenarios I have witnessed with my own eyes, a guy jogging in shorts in -14 on Mont Royal and a couple cross-country skiing down Avenue Bernard during the Super snowstorm of Christmas 2012. Just don't get me started on the potholes.

Blistery conditions don't stop Montrealers

The Cross at the top of Mont Royal

There ain't a better way to navigate these mean Winter streets