Feasting in Montreal

MONTREAL -- Our trip to this cosmopolitan city that serves as the cultural center of French-speaking Canada didn't get off to the best start.

We spent the first night at the Hampton Inn next to the Atlanta airport, grounded by thunderstorms. And on arrival to our Montreal hotel the next day, we discovered that the airline had left our suitcases out in one of those thunderstorms -- everything was wet.

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Montreal

Montreal is a city for foodies. Perhaps that's because the second largest predominately French-speaking city in the world has culturally diverse neighborhoods and restaurants. A walking tour through some of those neighborhoods, with stops along the way for tastes of the varied food offerings, provides a good feel for the city.

For a couple of minutes, I ranted and raved over the mess, threatening to call the airline and demand pickup and return dry-cleaning. Fortunately, my wife's cooler head prevailed. "It's just water," she said calmly. "Let's hang the clothes around the room to dry, forget about it and go have dinner."

Montreal, the second largest primarily French-speaking city in the world (the first is Paris), has become known as a city for foodies, in part because of its diverse population.

With that thought in mind, my wife's reasoning won me over. I began hanging clothes over everything in the room, while Judy focused on selecting a place for dinner.

She turned to the restaurant section of our Fodor's travel guide. We don't always agree with Fodor's "Choice" picks, but we've found that its selections are good and provide a convenient guideline to narrow down choices, especially in a city such as Montreal, where every block seems to have a couple of restaurants. Indeed, that vast selection must be one of the reasons Montreal consistently ranks among the world's most livable cities (They must not be counting winter time, when everybody in Montreal vacations in Charleston.)

Comfort food

Judy and I were in the mood for a restaurant with wonderful food, an easy feel and a taste of Montreal. We hadn't eaten anything but airport food for almost two days and wanted upscale comfort food. We decided against a fine dining restaurant because all of our clothes were wet except what we had on.

Judy recommended Le Paris, a country French restaurant described as a family-owned establishment that had been around for decades, basically unchanged. We figured that since we were in a French-speaking city and this restaurant had lasted so long, it must attract a faithful clientele with consistently good, basic French cooking.

We were right. I went straight for the most comforting comfort food on the menu: Boeuf Bourguignon, that rich, brothy and ever-so-satisfying stew of beef, red wine and vegetables -- perfect. Judy took a bit more adventurous route and ordered seared salmon with diced shallots and tomatoes with a reduced balsamic vinegar, lemon and white wine sauce. We finished it off by sharing a lemon tart with strawberry coulis and whipped cream.

Rejuvenated, and a bit on the full side, we decided to walk the mile or so back to our hotel along the bustling street, where the parade of passers-by had entertained us out the window as we dined. We didn't realize it at the time, but the street we picked, Rue Ste.-Catherine, is one of the liveliest in Montreal. People of all sorts filled the sidewalks scampering among the restaurants and trendy stores, although the stores degenerated to strip clubs as the street neared our centrally located hotel, the Hyatt Regency.

Day Two

We decided that we enjoyed that dinner and stroll so much that we'd expand it the next day into a daylong food tour. We'd walk through some of the city's more interesting neighborhoods and catch a bite to eat at various restaurants, delis and bakeries.

We basically used a route offered in our tour book, changing it to meet our food tastes and tourist interests.

We began, as the book suggested, with brunch at Maison Kam Fung, a popular dim sum restaurant in the heart of Chinatown, just a block from our hotel. The brief wait to be seated in the busy restaurant was worth the experience of watching the incredible efficiency with which the restaurant moved customers in and out.

When we sat down, we learned one of the reasons. We barely had time to place napkins on our laps before three different waitresses descended on us with carts carrying an array of dumplings stuffed with everything you can imagine. We were full before we had a chance to sample the wide variety of dim sum wheeling around on numerous carts.

We would have been far wiser to have been more selective from the beginning. But it's easy to get caught up in the high-energy operation, and it was an experience. And at $21.50, it was the least expensive meal we had in Montreal.

Stuffed, we definitely needed a walk and headed to the Latin Quarter along colorful Rue St.-Denis with its heavy student population from the University of Quebec at Monteal. The Quarter and the nearby Village, with its large gay population, offer a stunning variety of stores, restaurants, bookstores, nightclubs and shops.

Montreal is not high on must-see tourist destinations, with the possible exception of Mount Royal, the 764-foot-high hill for which the city is named. What makes it so much fun to visit are the numerous neighborhoods with their varied feels and food. The food tour was designed to do just that.

For those who don't speak French, it's easy to get by in most any neighborhood with a polite apology and the liberal use of "merci" and "pardon." Everyone seems to know English, and if you ask if they do, they almost always reply with a simple "sure!"

More destinations

In the Latin Quarter, we visited bistro Brioche Lyonnaise for coffee and the most amazing brioche you could imagine. Each taste was as if eating nothing except a heavenly touch of light sweetness that tamed our hearty brunch.

We then headed north on Rue St.-Denis into The Plateau district, where Montreal's reputation for diversity revealed itself not only in the people on the streets, but in restaurants and shops. We passed one restaurant that showcased a fast-food appeal to both English and French Canadians with signs advertising "Hamburgers, Hot-dogs, Poutines, Frites." Poutine is basically a dish of french fries covered with cheese curds and gravy (something I decided against sampling), and frites are french fries (something I did taste -- Montreal is French after all).

We took our guide book's suggestion and stepped into Schwartz's Delicatessen and shared the recommended smoked-meat sandwich. The deli is not much wider than a hallway, so you share tables with other diners. But as the two ladies from Ottawa next to us agreed, the smoked meat was excellent. And thank heavens Judy and I shared one. It was satisfying but not so filling that we were hesitant to continue our food tour up to Little Italy and a visit to the Marche Jean-Talon, a market the guide book billed as the best in east Canada.

But before heading into the mammoth market, we needed a cold drink. The afternoon had grown uncommonly warm for early June, so we selected a bistro with an outdoor patio with fans across from the market. I downed an ice-cold Moosehead, and Judy cooled off with a gin and tonic.

Refreshed, we headed into the market. Wow! Our eyes feasted on a kaleidoscope of food and flowers. And our taste buds feasted on free samples of virtually everything, luscious blackberries, slices of charcuterie, tomato wedges, bites of cheese and nibbles of mushrooms. All of the vendors patiently explained to us where their produce came from and how it was grown.

Taste of Italy

Fortunately for us, after we left the market and all those free taste samples, we had a fairly long walk to our next destination and dinner in the Outremont neighborhood. You can tell almost immediately when you enter this area by the explosion of parents pushing baby carriages, schoolchildren, Mercedes and BMWs and Hasidic Jews, with their distinctive dress. This is definitely a young professional section of the city.

We selected Le Petit Italien, a cozy Italian restaurant known for its freshly made tomato sauces, which it displays in jars along one wall, and its authentic, reasonably priced cuisine. We picked a table for two on the terrace to enjoy the perfect evening weather and the pedestrian parade on Rue Bernard, the central street through this chic neighborhood.

Judy selected the Bolognese sauce over spaghetti, mainly to see how the version she makes at home compared. She likes hers better, but that's why she never orders Bolognese at any of the Italian restaurants back home in Charleston.

I selected a dish of ravioli with wine, cream, walnuts and olives, a delicious meal I got for free after the young waitress accidentally knocked a glass of chianti across my shirt. After laughing uncontrollably, Judy swore to me that you couldn't see the wine stain on my brown, burgundy and tan shirt.

Full for the third time on our daylong food tour, we decided to take a taxi back to the hotel and diet the next day.

If you go

Montreal is made up of many neighborhoods with different sights and tastes of their own:

--Old Montreal is, well, the oldest part of the city. It hugs the St. Lawrence riverfront, where trade once flourished. There's still a thriving river trade, but in recent years, the district has flourished with nightlife and an abundant restaurant scene.

--Our favorite restaurant here was Chez L'Epicier, which on translation sounds like a grocery you eat in. Indeed, some prepared foods to buy and take with you are displayed on entering this brightly designed restaurant. But it's the dining you come here for. The chef starts with a French base, but displays an eager willingness to mix and match from several cultures, creating exciting taste treats. One appetizer stands out: Coconut ravioli, red sand shrimp and glazed duck with red curry oil and soy peanut puree. Simply fabulous.

--Another favorite dining spot was Le Club Chasse et Peche. The restaurant is a little dark, but the service and food are iridescent. Here we particularly loved the pan-seared halibut with edamame and fine herb oil, not to mention the duck foie gras, pearl barley risotto and veal with miso reduction.

--At night, the streets of downtown Montreal are not at all like many downtowns south of the border with canyons of deserted office buildings. Many of the streets here buzz with nightlife. In particular is Rue Crescent that seems to have back-to-back restaurants, many with sidewalk seating. While the dining here may not be on the level of some other areas of the city, it is a lively place to see and be seen.

And don't forget a couple of easy day trips from Montreal:

--To the north is The Laurentians, a mountain range similar to the Appalachians. This is a ski magnet in the winter, where virtually every village offers slopes. In warm weather, it offers a nice Sunday drive for a picnic, a hike or just a lazy lunch in one of the villages.

--To the south and east is The Eastern Townships, the area south of the St. Lawrence River bordered by the states of New York, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine. The topography is similar to New England, and the region is dotted with many picturesque towns. This area is noted for its wine, maple syrup and duck. Yes, duck farms, so be sure to visit one of the many nice village restaurants and sample the local fare. We particularly enjoyed the village of Magog on the shores of Lac Mempremagog, a lovely lake that extends into Vermont. And be sure to visit the nearby Abbey of St. Benoit du-lac where you can buy the wonderful blue, gruyere and ricotta cheeses the monks produce.

Reach Doug Pardue at 937-5558 or dpardue@postandcourier.com.