This past weekend I had the opportunity to hang out in beautiful Mont-Tremblant. It was the perfect escape seeing as Toronto was going to be hot and humid. Sorry my Toronto friends, but I was wearing long sleeves and pants in Mont Tremblant!!

But enough about the weather, lets talk about the food.

Hee. Hee.

The weekend started off with a trip to a grocery store called S. Bourassa where I picked up a cheese I never had before (Le Samson D’Ici) and some other favourites as well!! #score

Then we went Ben-Venue for poutine and a pogo. I resisted eating the poutine but I couldn’t resist devouring the entire pogo.

Somehow I had the willpower not to indulge in this fabulous poutine.

Here’s two restaurants that I would highly recommend.

1. L’Escalope 597 Rue de Saint Jovite, Mont-Tremblant, QC, Phone:  (819) 425-3354

This restaurant had a prix fixe menu for $26 which included an impressive salad bar, a main course, dessert and coffee. Of course, I was so full from the salad bar that I wrapped up 90 percent of my main course to take home for lunch the next day.

2. Creperie Catherine,  977 Rue Labelle, Mont-Tremblant, QC, Phone:(819) 681-4888

Oh my. What a treat. I ordered the french onion soup which was exactly what I wanted. It was so good that it deserved its own photo on my blog.

The smoked salmon crepe was also outstanding – full of smoked salmon and stuffed with gooey cheese. Was kicking myself that I’m on a no carb diet and could only have a bite!!

I had a fantastic weekend in Mont-Tremblant despite the clouds. The excellent food and the great company made up up for it!!

True Story: Back in June 2009, I found out on Chowhound that Poutinis was opening. Naturally I wanted to avoid line ups and got there as soon as the doors opened. Guess what? I was their second customer.

Fast forward to April 19th, 2016: I woke up and saw the following email in my inbox.

“Hi Vicky!

It looks like we’ll be opening our new location tomorrow evening, we’d love to see you if you felt like coming by! (You’re a good luck charm!!)

Sent by Katie

I wrote back to Katie, saying how kind she was to send this email to me and indeed I would drop by after work. By the way, she also found the first customer from 2009. How cool is that? It’s proof how much she cares about her customers. Don’t you think?

Naturally I ran down to their newest location (617 King St. W) and this time I was their FIRST customer. #hooray #happycustomer

I was given this awesome t-shirt and will wear it proudly!!

As for the space, the King St West location has the same cool vibe as the Queen St. W location.

As for the poutine: it’s perfect. It always is!!

Congratulations to the great team behind this brilliant concept. I only wish them all the best and continued success.

For more information:

Website: www.poutinis.com

Address: 617 King St W or 1112 Queen St. West

Twitter ns Instagram: @poutini

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Poutini

I’ve just returned from a weekend in Mont -Tremblant. I hadn’t been there in over 2 decades so I was ready for a weekend of great food and some R & R as well. (um, mission accomplished!)

Let’s address the ‘eating’ portion of the weekend first! Highlights of my weekend included two meals that consisted of a pogo and poutine (from Patate Ben -Venu and La Roulotte).  I also had escargot for dinner one night along with pate and a duck confit salad (Restaurant Des Petites Ventres). I swear I will be eating a lot of egg whites and kale salad this week to make up for my unhealthy diet over the weekend!

The relaxing portion of my trip included a trip to Scandinave Spa  for a massage and to take advantage of their water therapy. What a treat. Unlike other spas that I’ve been to – this one was the quietest as they really do enforce a “no talking” policy.

Relaxation to me, also means spending a bit of time touring the area! Take a peek at this stunning scenery.

There was one part of the weekend that wasn’t so relaxing, as we woke up at 6 a.m, to watch the athletes commence the swim portion of the Mont -Tremblant IRONMAN. It was incredible to see 2500 bikes parked in the coral, the swim, and watch the first elite athlete get out of the water and run towards his bike. This race includes a: 3.8 km swim, 180 km bike, 42.2 km run and these athletes are in top physical shape to get thru this challenge!

 Sadly there was not enough time to participate in the many activities that Mont -Tremblant has to offer …ie zip lining, going to the top of the mountain, the luge, mountain biking and more.

I guess this means, that we will just have to return to Mont-Tremblant!!

 

 

Here’s a recap of my day:

It started off at Mr. Mike’s Pizza (269 Morningside) so that I could inhale a slice of poutine pizza…

……and it ended off at Brookelynn Bistro (9300 Keele St) to help celebrate World Nutella Day.

In between those two events, I went to the gym and ran on the treadmill (I swear).

Seriously. Life is good. Here’s more information about why I consumed Poutine Pizza and Nutella on the same day!!

a) Poutine Week takes place from Feb 1 – 7th,  at 23 participating restaurants. I love the stuff….I’ve had it in sandwich, for brunch and now on a pizza.

b) World Nutella Day is on Feb 5th. I was happy to celebrate this special day  with Brookelynn Bistro, Fables & Foccaccia in collaboration with Continental Noodles and Wild Burger! The menu included Wild Boar Nutella Sliders, Plantain Nutella Springrolls, Nutella Arancini, a Nutella Spread Station, and a Nutella Dessert Station and more!! I was freaking out with happiness. One item was better than another! Kudos to www.sweetboutique.ca for their delicious nutella creations and Wild Burger too. I’m in a food coma!!

Le Sigh…..

ps many thanks to Fables and Focaccia for inviting me to help celebrate World Nutella Day. You really are Queen of Nutella.

The other night I was on twitter (for a change) and I noticed a lot of buzz about @Poutineville. Naturally I wanted to check it out seeing as I just returned from Montreal and wanted to continue my “Poutine Crawl”!!

I had no idea that Poutineville has 3 locations in Montreal, cause I would have visited them on my recent visit!! However I’m thrilled to announce that they just opened in the Annex and will soon be opening a location in Quebec City too!

The space is super cool and much larger than I thought! It really is a full service sit down restaurant with 130 seats (including the terrace) and a full menu

As for the menu – you get to choose the the potato (4 varieties), cheese (10 varieties), vegetable (13 varieties) meat (14 varieties), and your sauce (6 varieties)! EVERYONE WILL BE HAPPY!! There’s even an option to select ” all-you-can-eat”.

And if you are looking for a salad – they have a few varieties on the menu as well. Trust me – there’s something for everyone!

I am well aware that poutine is not the prettiest dish to photograph so please excuse the less-than-glamourous-photos. But trust me they all tasted fantastic…each and every combo!

Wishing Costa (on the left) and his staff all the very best in Toronto!

PS I have a friend visiting from California next week and think this would be a fun place to visit with an out of towner! Oh how I love introducing friends to the novel restaurants here in Toronto!

For more information:

Poutineville 296 Brunswick (647) 349 2345

Twitter:  @poutineville

Instagram: @poutineville

Disclosure: I was compensated for my meal however all my opinions are my own.

I went to Rock Lobster Food Co. on Ossington back in the winter and was totally blown away by their epic Rock Lobster Caesars. I had read that a second location had opened on Queen W and knew that I wanted to go check it out (like a good foodie) Once I read Abbey’s Kitchen blog post about the Queen W. location,  I knew that I wanted to visit sooner than later.

When I heard my mom was arriving from Ottawa on the 7 pm bus, I mentioned to her that we would be enjoying some Lobster Love for dinner. She was just as eager as I was to head to Rock Lobster Food Co. on Queen W.

Here’s a picture of  us with those epic Rock Lobster Caesars.

The menu includes many other delicious sounding cocktails but I can’t stop ordering the Rock Lobster Caesar.  There’s a part of me that really wants to try the other cocktails and another part of me that just wants to have this lobster caesar each time I visit!! #firstworldproblems

We ordered:

Peel and Eat Shrimp – which were plump, fresh, meaty and served COLD. I’m thrilled I ordered this dish.

We also shared the Lobster Poutine (Nova Scotia Lobster, hand cut fries, Quebec Curds and Lobster Bisque Gravy). I love poutine so this was not hard for me to enjoy!!

Naturally, we ordered  the Lobster Roll as well (Nova Scotia Lobster, Yukon chips and McClure’s Pickle). I will describe this in one word: YUMMY.

Now that I’ve shared with you what we ate I would like to talk about the space. To begin with – it’s a much bigger space than their  Ossington  location. This is great news for those of us who aren’t fond of line ups!!

Here’s a photo of the space (kudos to the designer).

 What appealed to me (besides the food and the cocktails) was the fact that we could take advantage of the summer and sit on the outside patio. Again, whoever designed the space thought of every little detail.

As for the service: our waitress Renee was completely charming and was super friendly and attentive too. She had the type of energy you would like to see in every waitress that serves you.

I’m sure I will be returning to try: more cocktails and the Steam Whistle Steampot. Who want’s to join me?

For more information:

Rock Lobster Food Co

Twitter: @rocklobsterfood

Instagram: Rocklobsterfoodco

Facebook: www.facebook.com/rocklobsterfoodco

118 Ossington Ave, Toronto 416 533 1800

538 Queen St. West Toronto  416 203 6623

ps please note that each location has different hours and different menus too.

My last visit to  Montreal was THREE  years which meant that I was long over due for a trip. Sadly I was only there for 24 hours but I certainly did use that time wisely!!

Naturally I connected with a Montreal Food Blogger (via twitter of course) called Will Travel For Food, who graciously sent me her list of favorites.

Here’s a few places that made my tummy happy:

1. St. Viateur Bagels; Nothing beats breaking a no carb diet with a hot, fresh Montreal bagel. No need to explain, right? I inhaled one before I even had the chance to put my seatbelt on.

2. Patati Patata: Breaking a no carb diet with poutine was a great idea too!! I’m smart eh?

3. Depanneur Le Pick Up: This was my favorite discovery! What a gem of a place. It was perfect – the food, the vibe and the service.

But they are really famous for this sandwich:

5. Patisserie Kouign Amann: The highlight of the weekend was my visit to this bakery. I actually met Will Eat For Food at this bakery and after chatting away over a coffee and a croissant, she suggested that I buy their Kougin Aman. I did (like a good food blogger). It was heaven. I asked her “what is it”…She replied “Pastry. Butter. Sugar. Repeat”. Wish I could find this in Toronto!! Please google “best croissant in Montreal” and guess what will pop up? Plus if you google Kouign Amann you will get a better definition of this pastry.

Next blog post will be: What I Bought in Montreal. Stay tuned.

Kougin Aman: 322 Aveue Du Mont-Royal Est (514) 845 8813

Depanneur Le Pick Up: 7032 Waverly 514 271 8011 (I walked there from Jean Talon Market)

Patati Patata: 4177 Blvd Saint-Laurent 514 844 0216

St. Viateur Bagels: 263 Rue Saint Viateur 514 276 8044