• December 19:
• December 20: DNA
• December 21: au Pied de Cochon
• December 22: Laloux
• December 23: Le Local
• December 24: Bronte
• December 25:
• December 26: au Pied de Cochon

I noted earlier this year that we couldn’t resist dining at APDC twice on this trip, but we reserve the right to restrain our foies gras desires, should reason prevail.

We’re happy with this list because, with the exception of APDC, every restaurant is a new experience for us. December 25th is a big uncertainty. On Christmas night, very little is open except for hotel restaurants. For the past four years, we’ve had Christmas night dinner at Otto in the W Hotel. That’s a perfectly acceptable choice for this year, too, but we’re keeping our options open – perhaps the restaurant at Le Germain or the St. James or the St Paul. Or there’s Niu Kee, which is usually open on Christmas night.

This weekend, he’ll be calling restaurants to line up reservations, while I choose a handful of things we might do while we’re there.

We’ve been to Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal before, but there’s an exhibition on rock and roll that could be fun. There’s also a Warhol exhibit at the Museum of Fine Arts that looks good. As far as historic tours go, we’ve had Chateau Ramezay on the list for a couple of years, but at the top of my personal list is the Margeuerite Bourgeoys Museum at Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secoures Chapel. There have been some amazing archeological finds underneath the church and you can walk amongst them. After touring Pointe-à-Callière Museum last year, which has excellent walking tour of some of the oldest ruins of Montreal in the basement, I’m excited to see what’s beneath the chapel.

We’re firmly of the opinion that one planned activity (besides dinner) is plenty, so a couple museum visits over 8 days seems a good balance.

We eliminated shopping from last year’s trip – the first time we’d done that. But I think we’ll spend a couple hours scouting for bargains here and there, and doing so is even easier now that many stores and chains roll out “Boxing Week” rather than “Boxing Day” sales.

We’re coffee people, all four of us on this year’s trip, so there will be at least a couple stops at Cafe Myriade to sample what locals have been raving about in the weeks since it opened. Cafe Veritas is near the auberge where we stay, so we’ll go there, as well.

Three weeks out, that’s the extent of our planning. Our transportation to Montreal is the cheapest it’s been in at least 3 years; the Loonie will possibly give us our best value in 3 years; and the weather – well who the heck knows? Regardless, as the Thanksgiving holiday becomes history, we have Montreal on our minds.

Nota Bene in Toronto takes the #1 spot, but right behind is a new Montreal restaurant that we’ve mentioned a few times: Le Local on William in Old Montreal.

enRoute describes the restaurant as a little baffling:

First there’s the location, somewhere between Old Montreal and an expressway on-ramp. Then there’s the fact that the floors are concrete and the walls are hardwood. Angled mirrors reflect not the diners but the buzz of the open kitchen. The staff can seem rude one minute, gracious the next. Don’t look to the menu for any help; it offers a cochonnailles plate with “a mixture of interesting things,” cassolette d’escargots and deer tartar with pickle cream. The butternut squash soup and chestnut purée is served with what resembles a baby spoon.

In a less food-savvy city, such a scene might detract from the food or cause the kitchen to get lazy. Not here.

Chowhounders have not been uniformly happy with the service here, but from the chatter, it’s clear they’re paying attention. So are we.

Also of note: Liverpool House (from the people who brought us Joe Beef) also represents Montreal on the list. (2501 rue Notre Dame O.)

We haven’t seen an exchange rate of about 78 cents to the US Dollar (as of Friday 10/24) in more than three years. Getting into all of the ramifications of this shift is beyond my understanding, but here are a couple ways in which it’s not a bad thing: first, all things being equal, it can help the competitiveness of Canadian commodities on the world market by making them more affordable; second, for those of us traveling from the US to Canada right now, we get a more favorable exchange rate, with meals, hotels, and many other goods (not all, however) available at a “discount.”

Speaking for myself, I spent a lot of money in Montreal last year, when the Loonie was at parity with the US Dollar. If the rate holds, I look forward to saving some money and also spending some more at the businesses I patronize in the city.

This is the first list we’ve created to roughly approximate the number of dinners we’ll have in Montreal. I wish I could say it represents the results of exhaustive research, but it doesn’t. However, Chuck and I have been reading menus for the past few days.

• Dinner 1: Laloux
• Dinner 2: Au Pied du Cochon
• Dinner 3: DNA
• Dinner 4: Le Club Chasse et Pesce
• Dinner 5: Bonaparte
• Dinner 6: Le Germain: Laurie Raphael
• Dinner 7: Yoyo
• Dinner 8: Au Pied du Cochon

This order isn’t exact – we need to rationalize it with the restaurant holiday schedules, but it’s a good start. There are several first-time visits: Laloux, DNA, Chasse et Pesce, Laurie Raphael, Yoyo; only two repeats – Bonaparte and APDC.

Why in heaven’s name would we visit APDC twice in one trip? Despite the caloric burden, Chuck has repeatedly suggested this since our last visit in December 07. Well, while we’ve eaten better food elsewhere, our experiences at APDC – the ambiance, food, service, conviviality – have been unforgettable. (Our friend Howard sums it up beautifully here.) I hesitate to refer to any one restaurant as the quintessence of Quebecois dining; no single place captures that. But for us, it’s come to represent this city that celebrates pleasure.

What about Gandhi? Holder? Well, there’s always lunch, and thus, the planning continues.

We had some wild evenings… drinks before dinner at the W Hotel and the Ritz-Carlton, followed by not-to-be-forgotten dinners at Toque, Pintxo and Au Pied de Cochon. And this doesn’t include brunches at Olive et Gourmando, coffee at Cafe Veritas, and walks around Old Montreal.

Even after Howard and Donovan returned to the US for the holiday, we were pleased to have Bob and Michael with us for dinners at Otto and Gandhi, and a performance by Cirque du Soleil.

Now, Michael and Bob tell us they might join us in Montreal again for a few days. We’re pretty happy about this, not only because we greatly enjoy their company, but we have a few new restaurants we’d like to explore. It’s also a city best shared with friends.

I like the idea of a solitary vacation in Montreal, but it’s not as easy as it used to be. The Old City is changing every year, and even though my first holiday there was in 2004, I’ve noticed each year that, not only are there more businesses and boutiques in Old Montreal, there are more people there around the holidays, or so it seems. I’m sure part of it was the romance of the Old City, but on Christmas Eve 2004, I felt like we were the only ones there. It was a great experience that I’ve sought since then without achieving it.

After all that stuff about solitary vacations, I also like having friends around. I went in 2004 at the invitation of friends, participating in their annual Montreal tradition. As they moved on, I revived the tradition for myself, and I’ve found that I enjoy it more each year, especially as we’ve been able to welcome other friends to the tradition.

It’s hard to predict the impact of having friends with us again this year. I expect us to continue and expand our exploration of bistro food in Montreal. But we might do some touristy things this year – like going to Schwartz’s, for instance, or making the bagel tour of St. Viateur and Fairmount that we’ve always talked about. We’ve not trekked up Mont Royal since Christmas 2005. That was an invigorating, enjoyable walk for Christmas Day; perhaps it will return.

Montreal is a wonderful city. It represents all that’s best about the people and culture of Canada, with a Francophone joie de vivre that exists nowhere else.

This blog has chronicled our restaurant thinking and planning since 2006, and you can see the 2006 redux, as well as the 2007 discussion and a review of some of the 2007 restaurants from the inimitable Howard Schaefer. It’s chronicled restaurants that closed before we got to them (Anise, Bazaar Anise, Chevre) and some that closed after one visit (Cube, Brunoise) when we would have liked a second opportunity to dine there.

Truth be told, I’m more into this thing about making a list 120 days out from a trip than Chuck is, but from our previous visits, here are the prime candidates for a repeat visit.

2007: Pintxo

In 2007, there were two significant additions to our dining list: Toqué and Pintxo. Toqué was a celebratory event, an evening with all four of our friends for a dinner that would be memorable. Toqué doesn’t disappoint, but I doubt we’ll go back this year because we’ll be alone and less in need of the over-the-top dinner event. Pintxo, on the other hand, is a top candidate for 2008. It was a supremely pleasurable experience, and despite ordering everything on the menu (except the mixed salad), I think there’s more to enjoy there.

2006: Au Pied de Cochon

A significant percentage of web text about Montreal restaurants is devoted to this establishment, and this blog has contributed a fair amount, too, so I’ll spare you an additional review here. But our dinner there in 2006 led to a group celebration in 2007; and following those smashing successes, we’ll be back again this year. We’re spending a record 8 nights in Montreal this holiday, and we’ve talked about going twice, once before Christmas and again after. The caloric weight of two visits in such a short period of time may be more than my body can bear, but I’m willing to put it to the test.

2005: Gandhi

I written alot about Gandhi here; we think they serve some really good Indian food, and we like to visit often when we’re in Montreal. It’s also just steps away from the auberge where we stay, which makes it a convenient stop when we’re hungry and tired after a long day of leisure.

2004: Bato Thai, Bonaparte, Otto

Unless I’ve miscalculated, we’ve not been to Bato Thai since 2005, so I can’t vouch for its current state, but we had three great meals there, we like the Thai food there a lot, and I’ve heard little since then to convince me otherwise. It might be worth another visit. Bonaparte is one of the our most visited restaurants in Montreal, in part because it’s close to the auberge, and it’s a nice “French dining experience.” I enjoyed it most for Christmas Eve, and we kept that tradition until 2007. It could return this year, and so could Otto, which has been the Christmas night restaurant since 2004. It’s just good food, the menu changes regularly, service is good, the wine list is fine. Christmas night choices for dining are limited, naturally, and although we’ve talked about Niu Kee for a couple years, so far we’ve booked at Otto every Christmas.

So to summarize:

Candidates for a repeat visit:

• Pintxo
• APDC
• Gandhi
• Bato Thai
• Bonaparte
• Otto

New Contenders (new to our list, I mean):

• Laloux has actually been on our list for some time, and Chuck is concerned that we make 2008 the year we get there. A search of “Laloux” will bring up enough reviews to confirm that this is a restaurant that deserves to be on the list. It’s been called the best in Montreal by many, and the best in Canada by some. We hope to draw our own conclusion.
• Le Local has generated a fair amount of buzz, not all of it positive, since it opened. I expect Chuck and I will give it some consideration.
• Holder has been around longer, and also receives generally positive reviews. We’ve kept this restaurant as an option for a couple years now… perhaps this year.
• Joe Beef
• Niu Kee: 1163 rue Clark
• Restaurant YoYo

The New Contender list will grow, I’m sure, and I’ll keep you up-to-date.

What about lunch? That’s next.

Cafe Myriade will be located on Mackay, between Ste. Catherine and Maissoneuve, which means it’s pretty close to that weird new Rice Pudding place (try not to confuse the two).

I’m excited because Montreal can use another good place for coffee, and the guy running the place is someone who cares about coffee. The other big thing about Myriade that makes me happy is the attention Anthony promises to give to drip coffee, which is something I care about a lot. You can go to places like Blue Bottle in San Francisco (it springs to mind because we’ll be there next week) and drink drip coffee that tastes, not like what you’d expect, but what you hope, drip coffee would taste like… fresh, rich, free of bitterness.

Even if you don’t get all frothy about drip coffee, you have to be heartened to know that this won’t be another shop with timers sitting on big pots of brew.

And now, a word about our next trip to Montreal. We don’t begin planning our next Christmas holiday in Montreal the day after we get back from the last one; we start the day we leave, when we book for the following year. This year, we’ll be at Auberge Les Passants du Sans Soucy from December 19-27. It will be our longest trip ever, and the best. Today, I bought the airline tickets, and that takes care of the second major element of our planning.

More to come on this, but with 129 days to prepare, we have some time to think about it.