We just got back from an amazing month-long journey down the West Coast. It started at my wife's family's in Vancouver, followed by 2 weeks in Southern California, and finally a week in Mexico. I'll follow up with notes from our most memorable food moments, but for now I wanted to start out with a nod to Montreal, and what we missed the most while on the road.
I think it's fair to say that those who are born and raised in this great city take its culinary culture for granted, and we're tops on that list. Eating in Montreal is nothing short of an art and a pleasure - no matter where you go. Markets overflow with fresh produce, meats, local cheeses and amazing spices. Restaurants almost always offer something for everyone - unless you're a vegetarian who has been painfully misled and ended up at a table at Pied de Cochon. What we missed the most while on the road was this variety and freshness. We ate out often, since we were hotel bound, and as the weeks wore on we became saturated with the the same old deep fried menu options - regardless of which restaurants we chose. When we decided to finally try the salad route, in an attempt to fit back into our clothes, it didn't go much better: most salads, even in relatively high end restaurants, hit the table drenched in prefab dressings and topped with extras like deep fried cheese balls. Don't misunderstand me - there is absolutely nothing wrong with deep fried cheese - but it's bar food, not health food. Add to the mix the overwhelming portion sizes (we finally settled on a winning strategy of ordering 2 appetizer dishes to feed our family of 4), and we were left craving Montreal's bistros, cafes and dives. Believe it or not, we actually lost most of the packed on pounds once we hit Club Med in Mexico. The buffet was piled high with fresh veggies and fruit, amazing salads, and grilled or raw seafood. Within a week we had stuffed ourselves back into our pre-vacation pants, with a huge sigh of relief...
The other, perhaps more surprising thing we missed, was Montreal's perfect balance of friendly but aloof table side service which accompanies our relaxed paced meals. Here waitstaff tend to greet you with a laid back attitude that feels welcoming and relaxing, but never too familiar. They accompany you discreetly through your meal - and give you the space to get in and out the door on your own time - whether it be a half hour or 3 hours. After two weeks of super sunny dispositions from waiters and waitresses who never failed to introduce themselves enthusiastically by first name, before hand-holding us through menu perusals, and ushering us out the door at the speed of light, we were left with indigestion, craving our slower paced service. During one meal at the high-end Liberty Station shopping area in San Diego, our waiter actually visited our table an alarming 18 times before he finally pleaded with us to "Take the rabbit! Just take the rabbit!". We had to explain to him that our plan was to spend the evening enjoying a meal, and that normally would take 2-3 hours. He looked at us in complete shock - though it was unclear if he just couldn't wrap his head around it, or was already lamenting lost tips from the 3 lost sittings he has planned after ours...
I guess the moral of the story is that Montrealers eat differently, and we like it here. We love long meals that go late into the night. We cherish the thought of popping a second bottle of wine during dinner. We love small plates of food, awash in an array of colours provided by fresh produce and amazing flavours. And we don't really want to get to our know our servers intimately, although we have certainly ended up on a first name basis with hundreds over the years, simply because we had been at our table for so long.
