Food in Montreal

I was just reading some posts from my vacation in Madrid last summer. I did a lot of posts and saw a lot of concerts. This trip to Montreal has a quite different feel. I am doing many fewer posts and there are several reasons for that. This trip is much more of a personal one and there is less to share. I'm only going to see one concert, tonight, which I will report on tomorrow. My visits with old friends are not of general interest. That leaves food, and I can share some of those experiences!

Last night I went with an old friend and ex-student to a popular Greek restaurant called "Jardin de Panos." One of the reasons for its popularity is likely that you can bring your own wine. This is a common practice in Montreal, a city of wine aficionados. I brought a cava, a bubbly wine from Spain, which was a rosé. I forgot to write down the name, sorry, but it had a very plain pink label with, I think, a large letter "P" on it. In any case, it was quite nice and a good accompaniment to the Greek salad, fried calamari and moussaka. The dining room was packed and noisy with conversation. As in Europe, diners in Montreal do not want background music and there was none. One aspect of Montreal is the intense conviviality with which Montrealers socialise!

One of the attractions for me here is the great variety of wines available that I can't find in Mexico. Here are three that I picked up and will likely take back home with me.

From left to right is a négotiant's Bourgogne which the fellow in the wine store said was very good, an outstanding California Pinot Noir which he said was intense and chocolatety and a bubbly Vouvray from the Loire valley. He recommended the Chanson Pinot over a number of ones with more impressive labels. In Bordeaux, the more specific the label, the, likely, higher quality of wine. Simple "Bordeaux" is generic wine from anywhere. "Bordeaux Supérieur" is a bit better. Wine from a particular appellation such as "Médoc" is better still and the next level up is a particular village, such as Paulliac, within the Médoc area. Wine from a chateau within a village is better yet and at the top are the "premier cru" or"first growth" from the 1855 classification that included such grand wines as Château Margaux.

But the situation in Bourgogne is different. They have the same kinds of classifications as in Bordeaux, but alongside that are a number of wine merchants or négotiants that buy grapes from various growers and produce their own wines. Years ago I went to a tasting by Chanson and they had some excellent wines. The moral is, while Bordeaux labels can be really confusing, but informative, Bourgogne labels are equally confusing but can be much less informative!

Back to food. Also yesterday I had the worst meal I have had here. I walked over to Schwartz's, home of the best smoked meat, for lunch, but there was a long lineup so I doubled back to some Portuguese restaurants that I had passed on the way. I have never eaten in a Portuguese restaurant so I thought it might be interesting. Alas, it seems I chose the wrong one. On the waiter's recommendation I tried the bacalao. Nope. It was a slab of preserved cod smothered in onions. Salty, fibrous and basically tasteless, but with a variety of unpredictable bones. I gave up after a few bites. I'm sure you will tell me I should give Portuguese cuisine another chance and I'm sure you are right, so I will.

I hit a Five Guys for a hamburger the other day but it didn't seem quite as good as others I have had. The fries were great, though.

Sunday I am going to go to Chinatown for dim sum, one of my favorite Asian dining experiences.

Now what would be a suitable envoi? Obviously, since I have been talking about wine from Bourgogne, we need to hear something from the Burgundian school of composers. This is the chanson "Amours Mercy" by Gilles Binchois: