Montreal

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I just returned from a week in Montreal and thought I would share some photos before I resume the normal programming here at Lottie + Doof.  I am really growing to love Montreal and feel a strong connection to it beyond it being Bryan’s home town. It is so vibrant and exciting during the summer months and if you are interested in eating good food, Montreal is the place for you. I am by no means an expert, but in my experience there are three restaurants that have really captured my heart. They are all perfect at what they do and manage to combine outstanding food, beautiful design and some of the best service I have ever experienced. I already raved about Au Pied de Cochon, so I now present Cluny Art Bar and Olive & Gourmando as well as some photos from the rest of the trip:

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Cluny Art Bar. 257 Rue Prince. I am kind of obsessed with this place. I want to live there.

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Olive and Gourmando. 351 St. Paul. Can’t imagine a better place to spend your morning.

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Bryan’s grandmother’s oatmeal cookies. (more on these soon)

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Summer.

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Poutine! Oh happy day.

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A bientôt, Montreal. Thanks for the good times.

23 comments to “Montreal”

  1. Looks like a beautiful and delicious trip! Welcome back to Chicago/home(?)!

  2. i miss you!

  3. i love your blog!!! even though i am vegetarian and many of these recipes contain meat, they sound so good anyway! i am off right now to go make the caramel cake from gourmet you say is your favorite. yum!

  4. It all looks so delicious! I wonder if every city has a Cafe Cluny of some sort? I had one of the most wonderful lunches in the most wonderful setting at Cafe Cluny in Buenos Aires, and although I have less affection for the one in New York, I pass it so often that it does seem a fixture in my day.

  5. Jennifer: Thanks! I am glad to be home.

    Kate: I think I have only posted 3 or 4 recipes with meat! Most of the site is vegetarian-friendly so search around. That caramel cake is so good, enjoy!

  6. Perfect way to spend a week- love the photos (as always).

  7. Lacey Vander Plaats says:

    July 27th, 2009 at 9:33 am

    Oh Poutine, food from the Canadien Gods!!! Orignally for BC, but live in Iowa, I was glad to see that you made time for this glorious food. I have never had it in Montreal though. My French teacher used to tell us that we had no idea how good it was until you had it in Quebec! Although it’s a heart attack on a plate, I hope it was as amazing as it looked…Hmm now that I am hungry, do you think poutine for breakfast is acceptable…LOL

  8. Dawn in CA says:

    July 27th, 2009 at 12:21 pm

    Thanks for the mini-virtual-vacation. And Yay! People photos. ;)

  9. Looks like you had a great time. Thanks for sharing your photos. I love Montreal too.

  10. poutine… love … so long haven’t had it

  11. Love these images… was fascinated with the food on the plate images…Poutine…I do not know this one?
    looks great though!
    Sophie

  12. this post made me so happy!!!

    my husband and i honeymooned in montreal (march ’08) and i inwardly (and possibly outwardly) squealed in delight upon seeing you feature “olive et gourmando”. we fell in love with that place during our visit…ha, spend much time there!

    i also love poutine…where did you get that particular serving of poutine? is it worth my knowing for when we make a return visit? :)

  13. Oh! Montreal, my home town. It’s been years since I lived there, but still has my heart. Your photos make me giddy with job.

  14. Okay, evidently giddy enough for a typo. That was to be “joy” not “job”. I tell you, the thought of Cluny distracted me!

  15. I love Montreal! I am from Ottawa, which is a 2 hour drive to Montreal. My husband and I take frequent weekend trips to Montreal when we are looking for great food and shopping. I just HAVE to give you a couple of recomendations for your next visit…

    -Restaurant Garde-Manger – for amazing food and a casual, hip, loud atmosphere.
    (I believe the chef is Chuck Hughes who has a really fun cooking show on the CDN Food Network which he films in the restaurant on his days off – “Chuck’s Day Off”. Try his recipe for Chorizo bites w/ Arugula Pesto.)

    -Le Locale – for swanky/ industrial atmosphere and great food.

    -Reservoir – for local artisanal beer and suberb pub/snack food.

    Love, love, love your site as usual!
    Oh! And because Ottawa shares a border with Quebec – I am always only a couple of minutes away from amazing poutine!!! Dangereux!!

  16. Hey Jessica: Montreal seems like a great place for a honeymoon! That poutine is from a place in Châteauguay (the suburb where Bryan’s family lives) that I don’t know the name of (sorry). But I don’t know that they were more or less exceptional than any other. I haven’t been brave enough to try it yet, but the fois gras poutine at au pied de cochon is supposed to be outstanding.

  17. Jaime: Thanks so much for the recommendations. I love Reservoir, but have not tried either of the other two. Will add them to our list!

  18. I vacationed in Montreal this summer, too! How I loved the chocolate brioche at Olive + Gourmand! Really enjoyed Resevoir as well. I had a really healthy, organic lunch from locally grown produce at Santripol which had a lovely little garden eating area; I recommend it if you want to take a break from the poutine!

  19. I love your Montreal posts! It’s great to know that other people enjoy my hometown’s food as much as we Montrealers do! I have to completely agree with all of Jaime’s suggestions, but I would add also:
    -L’Orignal, in the Old Port. It’s owned by the same people that run Garde-Manger, and it’s fantastic. It has a great design, and really good food, it’s also a little less loud than GM.
    -And Bistro Bienville, a tiny little restaurant close to Au Pied that has a really lovely menu with no apps or mains – just medium sized dishes and a pretty good wine list. It isn’t very well known yet, but the atmosphere is very comfortable. I split the seafood platter with my boyfriend, it was amazing!

    Finally, my favorite way to spend a Saturday: brunch at Sparrow, on St-Laurent and then coffee at Olimpico on St-Viateur (or possibly at Social Club, depending on where your allegiances lie..). Both are great.

    Glad you had a great time in Montreal! Love your site – come back to our fair city soon!

  20. I will return to Montreal soon! (I am so pleased Bryan’s family is there so we have plenty of excuses to return). I think our allegiances lie with Social Club but I will write the rest of your suggestions in our guide book. Thanks for all of them!

  21. Bryan's Mom says:

    August 26th, 2009 at 8:38 am

    Tim, We’re heading for Boston after visiting you. I remember loving the Italian cuisine when I was there 9 years ago. Do you have any recommendations for restaurants in Boston? Perhaps some of your readers might?

  22. I lived for many years in Montreal (well NDG). Love the pictures – thanks for the memories. And I second Becky’s recommendation of Santropol – had many a lovely lunch in their garden.

  23. I found your blog recently (I think it was through 17 Apart) and for the past few days, I’ve been combing through every single post in your archives – so I have to tell you how delighted I was when I came across this one. I live on the South Shore just outside of Montreal, and I’ve been working in the city for almost 10 years, so it made me so super excited to see it featured on your blog – which is definitely one of my new favourites. Thank you so much for all your beautiful posts and recipes!

    Melissa

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