Our recent trip to the Eastern Townships of Quebec was to also include a visit to a city that we both love, Montréal , but time, and later, Hurricane Irene, both prevented that part of our journey. We have both visited Montréal twice in the past. I made the obligatory college journey to go to bars before the age of 21, and my husband went on a Montréal road trip with his father and brother for a Formula One race several years back.
Then, three years ago we took the very short flight for a Columbus Day weekend trip filled with walking, food, and wine. October is the perfect time to visit Montréal. We had enough heat and sun during the day to make it more than pleasant to wander the streets for hours, shopping, hiking Mont Royal, visiting the Olympic Park, and taking in the very unique, friendly culture. At night, the temperatures dipped, making it chilly, and perfect to head into a restaurant or pub to warm up and reflect on the day.
We found never ending options for great food. On our first night we ate at Decca 777, a chill, swanky lounge where we spent a long evening sampling their wines, eating gourmet, market-inspired fare, and laughing with our waiter, who was teeming with suggestions for our weekend in Montréal.
And of course, if you are looking for local beer, and I know many of you do so when traveling, Montreal will absolutely delight you with Les Trois Brasseurs, a place to kick back with pub food (you can’t leave without trying poutine), handcrafted beers, and fun beer cocktails.
Tourisme Montréal is a great help when planning a visit to Montréal, and they have kindly offered some insight into the gourmet culture of this magical city. There were just too many restaurant recommendations to share them all, so if you are planning a trip to our very close neighbor to the North, be sure to visit their Cuisine website.
From soul-comforting patates frites to seven sumptuous courses of
cuisine française, good food is in our blood. Maybe because we have the highest concentration of eateries on the continent-nearly
65 restos per km2 in neighbourhoods where tourists go, with 80 countries, regions and types of food represented by over 6,000 restaurants!
And maybe because we attract the best chefs from all over the world. Those who love fine dining will be on culinary cloud nine in Montréal, with renowned chefs such as Normand Laprise at Toqué!, Martin Picard at Au Pied de Cochon and Jérôme Ferrer at Europea. And soon, two internationally famous chefs will be joining Montreal’s elite: Gordon Ramsay and Daniel Boulud!
Each winter brings in even more of the world’s best cooking talents for the MONTRÉAL HIGH LIGHTS Festival. It’s a delicious occasion to chase away the winter blues!Montréal is big on the cuisine terroir movement, which revolves around our abundant local produce that is featured in our famous French cuisine. Everyone can enjoy our outdoor farmer markets: the sight of baskets heaped with brilliant orange peppers, red radishes, ripe raspberries and yellow corn that bring to mind the Québec countryside on a sunny day.
Every Montréal quartier is peppered with fresh-produce stands and charcuteries (delicatessens). Need we mention the ubiquitous fresh baguette?
And for those inspired to take their cooking talent to a new dimension, our schools give lessons. Others may simply wish to take a culinary tour.
Must tries: dining al fresco on a Montréal terrasse, pigging out on the infamous poutine, lunching on smoked meat on rye, biting into Montréal bagels hot from wood ovens, nibbling some sucre d’érable (maple sugar), or sipping a pint of stout at a microbrewery.Montréal is the city for foodies and gourmets alike!
