soupnancy

Cookbook picks for cooks or serious ‘foodies’, à la Jeffrey Steingarden, whom I love

http://www.vogue.com/culture/article/books-holiday-feast/

Champagne from 19^th century recovered from shipwreck miraculously intact; experts taste honey and chanterelles..  http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/food-and-wine/worlds-oldest-champagne-uncorked-after-rescue-from-shipwreck/article1802779/

Eureka Moments: Where Culinary Inspiration Comes From

http://www.theatlantic.com/food/archive/2010/11/eureka-moments-where-culinary-inspiration-comes-from/66597/

Fascinating debate on biotechnology vs. sustainability in agriculture via Marion Nestle  http://www.economist.com/debate/days/view/607

( http://www.foodpolitics.com )

Cuisine Canada Cookbook Award winners http://cuisinecanadascene.com/2010/11/06/2010-canadian-culinary-book-award-winners/

Gold Medal Plates – a roster of top Mtl chefs participate this year; Martin Juneau takes it to go represent Que in Cdn. finals  http://www.goldmedalplates.com/overview.html

A few very subjective resto reviews:

Les Conservent

I loved this restaurant.  I’ve always been a fan of Stelio’s food, and this little neighbourhood restaurant delivers his clean, elegant, savoury style with simple comforting food at a surprisingly small price.  He wasn’t there the night I went and it didn’t matter.  What a luxury too to have a top sommelier on hand to help you with a simple glass of good wine, to see a wine list that is short but heavy on interesting finds, passion behind.  Even if it’s a Wednesday night and you’re not out for a ‘tasting dinner’, it’s nice to sample something different by the glass, to get to know a new producer..  We had green salads and gnocchi, quail and bavette - not an extravangant meal, but top notch nonetheless, because everything was just so, and we sopped up every last bite.  Delicate, understated quality.  A classy everyday bistro meal in a casual setting that qualifies as fine dining.  What everyone else in this goddamn city is trying to do, but not many hit the mark.  

http://lescs.com/restaurant.html

L’Assommoir Notre Dame – Bustling scene, but I don’t recommend it if you care about food

Amateur hour; the menu is a hack job.  Drawn in by the ambiance, I returned a second time.  No more.  Besides some palatable acras de morue (with an overly sweet sauce that I was able to temper with lemon wedges), I have little positive to say.  It’s not even just the lack of food quality, but the pretence of promoting good food and wine that gets me.  Be a bar and that’s fine, but don’t pretend otherwise, even if you have an extensive wine list (however ho hum by the glass).

Dry chicken on a stick (with a lime wedge and grape tomato), accompanied by a soy dipping sauce, way over-cooked shrimp, ribs that don’t want to fall off the bone, but solid mashed potatoes (oh I almost forgot that one delish thing).  I tasted quinoa that was so off and so bitter, I didn’t know what to think.. I was unable to swallow it, my body telling me it was poison before I had time to question.  The weird thing is that I didn’t recognize the unpleasant flavour; it didn’t taste like burnt or sour anything.  As a chef, I am in tune with my tastebuds and know off (and on) flavours, can pinpoint a vegetable that has spent too much time out of the fridge or meat that is ‘aged’, a cheese that is supremely fresh, a wine that has a whiff of cork, that mystery spice in a sauce or whatever.  This was a new taste for me in food– metallic and astringent, like turpentine or mouldy bark, in my quinoa!  The waiter said it must be the coriander.  Hello! I know what coriander tastes like and I love it, I have never ever wanted to spit it out.  Ok, they removed said dish from the bill, but stayed clear from us from then on.  Being in the business, I understand that they thought we were just another couple of fussy chicks who can be a pain in the ass because they don’t like coriander.  But this was bad food being served to people who knew the difference (and who love coriander!).  I never send food back, I never make a deal; I just want to have a good time even if I’m not impressed.  But I do agree with my girlfriend sending it back.  At the end of the day, I cringe at indifferent purveyors of disguised crap.  For the record, I also generally don’t say too much about restaurants unless I have something good to say.  It takes a generous side of attitude and ignorance to change that..

P.S.  It dawned on me later that that awful taste was probably Tequila, cheap ass Tequila poured over our dish (not flambéed), or too much of it half flambéed.  When I told my girlfriend, she said, ‘Oui!! Mais en tous cas, du quinoa au Tequila c’est crissement pas une bonne idée’. No kidding. 

Brasserie T – a welcome addition to the Mtl dining scene; a good all purpose dining option; worth a visit

I was totally charmed by this classic bistro menu and the sleek, modern room and design.  I salivated over the idea of straightforward bistro fare expertly prepared with choice ingredients, thinking I was in for a fine-tuned ‘nouveau’ Express experience.

The service was very enthusiastic, if unpolished - young, which explains that.

There were exceptional sweetbreads, a solid brandade, amazing bread, ultra fresh Village Bay oysters.  There was a dull goat cheese beet gratin starter (although you could tell the goat cheese was ultra fresh, high quality).  And then I got my beef tartare that was heavily doused in Tabasco.  I like heat and I enjoy acidity but this was excessive - so unfortunate to see the perfectly cubed top notch meat opaque with dressing.  The raw quail egg wasn’t enough to save it.  The accompanying salad was also overdressed (same person?). Freshly torn pristine lettuce leaves just about ruined, another example of primo ingredient neglect.  I was inclined to LOVE this restaurant, so with positive momentum and many strong points, drinking champagne in good company, I finished content.  But what was up with that tartare?  There is no way anyone with a palette tasted it before serving.  I wanted to love Brasserie T more than I did; but all round, there was a definite lack of finesse that I don’t associate with the Toque name.  I would go back but with different expectations and order anything but the tartare.  Then again, the tartare might be a fine idea.  I do have confidence in the Toque name.  20 years of avant garde quality on the trickier fine dining front; I’m quite sure they will be able to nail the bistro.

http://brasserie-t.com/