Why no posting during the trip this year? Well, we were busy. It was interesting – this was one of the most relaxing of the Montreal trips, even though we did more things, and we had four friends along for the ride. Here’s why:

We didn’t go shopping. In years past, we’ve spent at least a few hours on St. Catherine, scoping out things to buy. It’s fun, but everyone in Montreal is there, doing the same thing. The result is an experience, that – even at its best – is stressful. We didn’t have to drop all shopping from the itinerary, it’s just the way it worked out. But it meant we didn’t have to brave the crowds.

Fewer activities. We’ve never stuck to a firm schedule for anything in Montreal, except dinner. But we’ve had a stable of activities, some of which have been “traditional” or considered obligatory, and for this trip, we cleared the schedule of those activities, too, primarily because we had others along for the ride. This, combined with the general ethic do what you feel like doing, led to an enjoyable vacation.

Our friends. They were so much fun, that the prospect of spending next year in Montreal without them seems kind of boring.

More specific posts are on the way, but in general, this was a great trip.

We’ll rendezvous in Toronto on December 20th with Bob and Michael, and they’ll join us on the train to Montreal on 12/21. When we arrive in Montreal, we’ll meet up with Howard and Donovan. They be with us until Christmas Eve; Bob and Michael will return home the day after Christmas.

As I’ve noted before, the presence of others has caused us to shift our approach to dining plans. Both couples have been in Montreal before, but not during the holidays. What we’re aiming to give them is a small taste of the city, knowing that we can’t begin to show everything we’ve discovered about Montreal, much less the vastness of the city we haven’t yet discovered.

Here’s how things are shaping up:

Toronto
12/20: Rain – the Rubinos are celebrities, and their restaurant gets some backlash because of it, but over multiple visits, we’ve loved the experience. Guy Rubino creates some really amazing dishes; we like the design of the space; Robert Gonsalves is one of the best pastry chefs around. I still remember a food and wine pairing from a tasting menu two years ago that was the most seamless expression of a pairing that I’ve ever had. Toronto has some good restaurants; in the “great” category, there’s Susur and we must break old habits to visit it soon. But sometimes it fun to drop in on an old friend, after nearly two years to the day since our last visit to Rain, we’re looking forward to it.

Montreal
12/21: Toque – this restaurant regularly surfaces in the “top restaurants” lists, and it has a solid reputation. We’ve never been, so I’ll have more to say in about a month. Chuck chose it because it’s likely to be a perfect “first night” restaurant, one of those places you choose to go because you’re in a celebratory mood and you want a crowd around you. I think it’s a great choice.

12/22: Pintxo – this was to be our night at Brunoise, which closed about a week ago. Forced to make another choice, we went with another restaurant we’ve not visited, but one that lets us focus on the smaller neighborhood bistro, which, despite the loss of Brunoise and Anise, seems to flourish in Montreal. Pinxto has a solid reputation; again, we’ll have more to say after we’ve been there.

12/23: Au Pied de Cochon – Martin Picard’s restaurant hits several buttons at once: quintessential Montreal, neighborhood establishment, solid reputation, den of decadence. Where else should one worship foie gras than in a loud restaurant, packed to the gills with diners who can’t get enough of it? Chuck and I ate here for the first time last year, and it’s been on every version of this list we’ve made since then.

12/24, 12/25 and 12/26 are still up in the air. I have a soft spot for Bonaparte on Christmas Eve; it’s traditional French/Quebecois, a little frumpy – it just feels right for Christmas Eve, where the stately meal is followed by bedtime viewing of “Scrooge” on CBC. Chuck, however, notes that the menu hasn’t changed in three years. This is largely true. So Bonaparte maybe out this year – at least for Christmas Eve. Christmas night, it’s hard to find much open, so it might turn out to be our lifesaver that night. Last year, we noticed that Gandhi had a special meal for Christmas Eve – we hadn’t noticed this in previous years. That’s tempting, if they’re planning it again for this year.

Lunch: I expect we’ll visit the usual suspects: Olive et Gourmando, Titanic, Holder, Cluny.

More updates as we nail it down.

It’s a different trip this year, in a couple ways. First, we’ll have two great friends joining us for the days leading up to Christmas Eve. I wouldn’t say we’ve tried to over-script those 3 days, but we have rearranged our plans somewhat to give them what we hope will be an enjoyable snapshot of the city. This means plenty of downtime, but also a few focus destinations – probably Musee d’art contemporain and the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts; perhaps a visit to Notre Dame Basilica. Up to now, we’ve avoided Schwartz’s, but we might make our first visit this year, using our friends as a good excuse.

Because Chuck and I are foodies, we’ve also started rearranging our restaurant plans to highlight particular favorite restaurants while they’re with us. The leading candidates for “Dinners for Four” are Au Pied de Cochon, BAZaAR Anise, Brunoise, and Bonaparte.

I would hesitate to portray these choices as quintessential. I think that’s a mistake a lot of people make when they visit a place – they either have a list set in stone that “represents” a city, or they become overwhelmed trying to create that kind of list. We won’t play that game, but we do have a rationale for our choices, which takes into account the menu, the chef, the reviews, the patron buzz (Chowhound and elsewhere), proximity to our hotel or accessibility via Metro, previous experience, etc.

“Cochon” isn’t a restaurant that “represents all of Montreal” but it certainly represents the vision of Chef Martin Picard, and there’s something about that place that makes you think it would be hard to locate elsewhere. Bonaparte very nicely executes the French/Quebec theme and the ambience is quiet and restrained. As neighborhood bistros, Brunoise and BAZaAR Anise might offer an experience no different than you’d find in any other bistro, but again, it’s the menu, flavors and execution that make these restaurants shine.

Then there’s lunch! Frankly, I could have lunch every day at Olive et Gourmando and never be unhappy, but I expect Chuck will expand the lunch choices.

So that’s where we are now. This list will change, I’m certain.

Dinner
Friday 12/21 – Holder???
Saturday 12/22 – Brunoise???
Sunday 12/23 – Anise???
Christmas Eve 12/24 – Gandhi
Christmas Night 12/25 – Niu Kee
Wednesday 12/26 – Au Pied du Cochon

Montreal Bagels
Tokyo Sushi on St. Paul

Lunch
Olive et Gourmando
Pho Bang New York
Au Petit Express
Cluny
Titanic

* One lunch plus one dinner in Chinatown

After lunch, it was time to head for the airport. We took a cab, so we had the most flexibility in departure time. It takes about 25 minutes or thereabouts from the Old City to the airport. We arrive about 2 hours before departure, which is generally absorbed by customs, folks gazing uncomprehendingly at the Northwest Airlines self-check-in terminals, etc.

We’re not exactly travel nerds, but I spent a few minutes constructing a list of things we’ll do differently next year when we return, and I thought I’d share it.

* Pack more wisely – over time, we’ve done well at honing our packing list to the essentials for the Montreal trip. But it can still use some work. I came with four button-down shirts – and wore only one of them to dinner. The rest of them, we were too casual to bother with them. I came with heavy mittens; two years ago, I needed them. This year, not so much. A second pair of lighter gloves would have been a nice addition in the suitcase. There’s always the shoe question. I brought casual black loafers, nice for all those button-down shirts, but not really the shoe for long (or even short walks) to restaurants. They got used once. My sturdy everyday shoes and my more rugged black boots were exactly what I needed.

* Wine – You’re allowed to bring up to two bottles of wine per person into Canada, provided it’s for personal consumption. Twice now, we’ve not brought wine, hoping we could get lucky at SAQ, the provincial alcohol stores. Twice, we’ve been disappointed. Wine selection isn’t that great off-the-shelf in Quebec, or so we’ve found. SAQ operates a number of different stores, and we’re told that SAQ Selection has the best variety of wine. But even then, you won’t find the variety you’d find in many wine stores in the US.

* More independent restaurants, fewer hotel restaurants. This is a standard rule of thumb if you’d like to save money. We booked this year with the intent of trying specific restaurants, as well as revisiting a few old favorites, and it so happened that we visited 3 hotel restaurants. They were somewhat more expensive, but each was one we sought out, and each was one we enjoyed. Next year, we’ve decided to try staying away from them as much as possible and explore more of the small, but celebrated, restaurants of Montreal. Either way, you can get a great meal, but at a hotel, the price for two climbs to $200 or more ($300 at Cube), whereas a restaurant like Brunoise or Cochon costs around $150, depending on your beverage choice. I also think we feel more comfortable with our (still very basic) knowledge of the city, and we’re more familiar with the Metro than before. So there’s every reason for us to explore the scene in The Plateau more than we have, for instance. That goes beyond restaurants, to shops, as well.

* Chinatown – we’ve walked through Chinatown often, but explored it little. I think 2007 will be the year that we change that. We’ve set a working goal of having one lunch and one dinner in Chinatown next year – that’s a lot given the limited number of days (and meals) available. Here’s an easy one: Christmas night. Most restaurants are closed, but many Chinese restaurants aren’t.

* Getting There. We continue to debate the best way to get to Montreal. There’s no doubt we love taking the train from Toronto to Montreal, however when you include the flight time to Toronto, that’s a lot of travel, and you inevitably arrive in Montreal in the evening, unless you’ve set aside a separate day to get to Toronto and stay overnight there. This is what we did in 2005, and that was a lot of fun. So the 2005 itinerary still resonates with us. But we’ve also considered flying directly from our home city to Montreal. There’s a connecting flight involved, but if we leave first thing in the morning, we can land in Montreal around 1pm, which gives us half the first day to enjoy the city.

I think what this comes down to is the value of “being there” versus the value of “getting there.” We like both experiences, so we’ll be weighing the method of transport this year, too.

A few things to think about, but all in all, a tremendous experience yet again in Montreal. Friendly people who enjoy life, and the spirit of Canada, which is truly a welcoming country. If you’ve not made the trip to Montreal, I highly recommend it, and I hope you’ll share your experiences!

Bon Chance!