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I've been a fan of Montreal since my first trip there a decade ago. That time, I made the mistake of going in November - which is really winter there. I got there just in time for a two day snowstorm that left a couple feet of accumulation on the ground. Lesson learned, I made a point of going earlier in the year on subsequent trips, but I never made it there during the summer.

Going in June this time, I got the brand new experience of being immersed in crowds of Montrealers walking through the street festivals and block parties that make up for all the forced indoor time from November to April.

Continue reading "Montreal: Plateau Mont Royal" »

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The culinary highpoint in a trip full of amazing food has to be the dinner Tammi and I had on my birthday at Joe Beef. A month after our trip to Montreal, I'm still drooling over the extreme and delicious meal we had there.

Rather than attempt to narrate the meal, I'm just going to give a visual recap of the spectacle after the jump. Enjoy!

Continue reading "Montreal: Birthday Dinner at Joe Beef" »

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I wasn't messing around when I planned out our recent trip to Montreal. From a month before, I made reservations for our first night at the legendary Au Pied du Cochon. No relation to the Parisian home of cheesy onion soup and pork spread, the Montreal restaurant is often seen as the flagship for Quebec's special brand of rich, hearty, foie gras-laden cuisine.

It's where Hugue Dufour of M Wells got his start and has, until recently, been THE destination restaurant in Montreal. These days, Joe Beef probably puts up a pretty good fight for that title, but more on that later.

For now, you can see our amazing meal after the jump...

Continue reading "Montreal: Dinner at Au Pied du Cochon" »

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To celebrate my 35th Birthday, Tammi and I just spent a long weekend in Montreal. I've been a longtime fan of the city, but Tammi had never been. We spent five days partaking in all sorts of deliciousness. Much of this has already been documented via Twitter and Instagram, but rest assured there's more to come.

You can see my set of phone photos on my Montreal by Phone Flickr set. Stay tuned.

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If you've been following Analog UltraClay, you may have already seen some of the recent photos I posted from Charcuterie Hongroise. While walking up St Laurent toward Schwartz's on my last day in Montreal, I passed a few old school butcher shops that caught my attention.

It was the sausages hanging in the window that drew me in to boucherie hongroise. Montreal still has some of the old European style butcher shops that are quickly disappearing in New York.

See inside after the jump.

Continue reading "Analog Montreal: Charcuterie Hongroise" »

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If there was any one food I absolutely had to eat in Montreal, it was the smoked meat sandwich at Schwartz's. Viande fumee was a revelation for me on my last trip there and Schwartz's topped the list.

Here in Brooklyn, we've got Mile End's excellent version, but I couldn't pass up an opportunity to go to the source.

So, on our last day in town, when my friends were brunching at the hotel and heading to the airport, I ditched everyone and made my way to St. Laurent to experience it again.

Continue reading "Analog Montreal: Schwartz's Smoked Meat" »

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A month before wandering through the woods in North Carolina with my aunt, I was hiking up the trails of Mount Royal in Montreal. The park, designed by the man who designed Central Park reminds me of our big parks stacked on top of each other. Being built on a mountain literally adds another dimension to exploring the park. I walked down memory lane and got lost in the trees and the hills.

I don't do nature and scenery often, so take it all in after the jump.

Continue reading "Montreal: Mount Royal" »

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When I asked around about places to go with my group of friends in Montreal, Zach from Midtown Lunch emailed me right away to direct me to his findings that he posted on Serious Eats a while back.

Only being there for a weekend, I didn't get to check out a whole lot of it, but we did hit L'Express, on St. Denis in the French district for brunch our first morning there.

Continue reading "Montreal: Brunch at L'Express" »

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Hey, remember that time I went to Montreal? Right, the time I didn't blog about...

Yeh, I'm catching up. Really.

My friends and I were up there for Seagram's bachelor party a month before his wedding to Kelly in Daytona Beach. The weekend was quick, but a great time and I managed to get away from the group here and there to wander and explore.

I'll be posting about it for the next couple days here and I'll be posting film photos from the trip on Analog UltraClay. Stay tuned.

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Tomorrow, I'm heading out to Montreal for the weekend for a friend's bachelor party. Expect posts on smoked meat, poutine and awesome beer when I get back.

It's been seven years since I've been, but I've been dying to go back every since. I don't expect a weekend - especially one with a dozen other guys to coordinate with - will give me the time to see, eat and drink all I want to, but I plan to pack as much in as I can.

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I've been waiting so long to put together a post on Vancouver's Granville Island Market, that I'm just about out of anything to say about it besides that it was a lovely time wandering through it.

We took one of those tiny boats there and walked around and ogled the food, particularly the meat, on display.

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One of the striking things about Vancouver to me was how much homelessness there is. Like my first visit to San Francisco, it was a stark reminder of how much less drug abuse and poverty we see in New York these days. Even now, recession and all, the presence of homelessness is nothing like it was when I was growing up.

So, seeing so many panhandlers out and about, not to mention the sketchy scene in Chinatown was jarring.

I hear that many groups are up in arms about the money going to Winter Olympics. It's said that that money could be used to ensure that no one would have to sleep on the streets again.

I have no idea. As a U.S. citizen, I'm certainly in no position to call out Canada on its funding of social programs.

Further, I think that the argument judges that sports aren't important. I'm not much of a fan myself, but I'd be deluded to say that sport doesn't pull people together in a way few other things can. And I'd be arrogant to decide that my disinterest trumps the overwhelming support sports have worldwide.

As far as homelessness goes, I don't have a solution, but I don't know that throwing money at it necessarily resolves it either.

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New Yorkers take the water for granted. We're a city of islands, but we rarely set foot in the water. Even at our great waterfront views and sightseeing locales, we are looking past beyond it to see our skyscrapers and bridges.

Yes, there is the pollution issue, but that's more a symptom than a cause. Our busy city culture tends to focus getting over, under or through the waters surrounding us.

In Vancouver, I was surprised at how many people were out on the water. Besides those who were fishing or landing planes, there were people rowing crew and kayaking. Instead of the big water taxis and giant circle line boats we have in New York, tiny boats that would fit now more than a dozen people traffic passengers from port to port.

We sat at water level and waved as this lady passed us by. Yes, this totally freaked me out. Don't mistake this for pining. I won't be kayaking around Manhattan any time soon. It's just an observation of something that is seemingly entirely different to me.

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Walking down the waterfront in Vancouver after lunch at Kitaro, I had one 'city-boy' moment after another.

We saw this guy gutting a fish down by the marina. I was annoyed that he was just chucking the bits he didn't want back into the water. With this gorgeous view around me, it ticked me off a bit that this guy was littering like that.

Then I jumped a little when I saw a blur under the water.

He wasn't littering, he was feeding the local wildlife. Apparently, there are tons (literally) of sea lions that live in the area and share the water with all the boats and planes that use it daily.

A crowd had gathered to watch and one of the other tourists tried to get in on the action. That was all well and good until the sea lion got a bit friendlier than expected:

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I'm not so great with the metric system, but I'm pretty sure Vancouver was the closest I've ever been to the North Pole (on the ground).

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Our first stop in Vancouver after checking into the hotel was Kintaro. Guy had read about it and as Asian food is always on the top of my list of things to try while out west, I was more than happy to check it out.

The ramen shop seemed to have quite the following. When we got there, the line ran out the door and that didn't seem to be anything unusual. The neighboring restaurant politely insisted that those in line refrained from blocking their storefront.

Once inside, it was clear that part of the reason for the line was the exceptionally small space. Folks were crammed in pretty tight, but then, pork was involved, so I wasn't surprised.

The specialty of the house is tonkotsu. Not to be mistaken for tonkatsu, this is ramen topped with roast pork and enveloped in a rich, milky pork broth.

We sat at the counter and I watched as huge pork bones were lowered into stockpots and simmered for the next batches of broth. Like most ramen places, there were variations on the basic stock using soy sauce or miso, but they all came from the same porky base.

I can't track down any notes from Kintaro, but I believe I had an order with extra pork because, well, that sounds like me.

One of these days I need to figure out what goes into that base and try to make a batch of my own. I think some research is in order. I'd better go to Manchenko Tei for lunch today to get started...

Kintaro Ramen Noodle,
788 Denman Street, Vancouver, BC, Canada, 604.682.7568‎

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I haven't really been following the Winter Olympics. I rarely do. But reports and discussion tend to be inescapable.

The other day, I saw Brian Williams reporting from Vancouver with the bay behind him and I was brought back to the few days I spent there last year. One of the best things about travel is how it resonates with you long after you've returned. I heard another report on NPR where the correspondent was drowned out momentarily by a landing seaplane. Before he said anything, I knew what that sound and remembered the city-boy awe at airplanes that land on the water!

Over the next couple of days, I'm going to try to catch up on some of the posts I never got around to writing from my trip to Vancouver. Enjoy!

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As if the Seaplanes weren't enough to wow me, I was completely amazed by the idea of a gas station on a river. I mean, it makes sense, right?

Posted by ultraclay at 4:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | |

First off, Vancouver's chinatown is sketchy. Like Bowery in the 80's sketchy, junkies crowded around bars, divey hotels and help centers.

So, it was a little jarring to walk a block away from a major thoroughfare of despair and end up in this gorgeous space. It's a recreation of traditional Chinese garden from the 15th Century.

I skipped the tour in favor of wandering on my own and shooting photos, so I don't have much more to add. My only advice would be to be aware of your surroundings on your want there.

Posted by ultraclay at 12:32 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | |

I have no idea.

Posted by ultraclay at 4:44 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | |

So, the Western notion of a Public Transit system paid for by the honor system is apparently applied to buses as well as the subway in Vancouver. This 3 door boarding process caught my attention when I was out there over the summer. Each of the doors has an automated payment system that riders are trusted to swipe when they board.

Craziness.

Posted by ultraclay at 4:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | |

I have to admit that one of the most exciting things in the Pacific Northwest to me was seeing seaplanes for the first time. I've seen them on TV and in movies and such, but had never seen a plane land on water before. It was really rather cool to watch.

I can't imagine a row of these little planes flying out from under the Brooklyn Bridge. In fact, given the poor track record small planes flying around New York, I'm pretty glad about that. Either way, more than the gorgeous scenery off in the distance, just seeing these things in action really impressed me.

Posted by ultraclay at 4:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | |

Words to live by.

Posted by ultraclay at 9:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | |

Apologies for the radio silence of late. I haven't managed a single dispatch from the Pacific Northwest, in part, due to some of the difficulties I had while out there. I suspect that starting off the trip with a brunch of a seafood buffet and raw bar probably had a good deal to do with my troubles. Suffice it to say that I spent most of the time I was on the road without much of an appetite and the rest of the time downing Pepto to keep myself in one piece.

That said, I did manage to have some great meals despite everything and I saw a lot of both Seattle and Vancouver.

I've got a great many updates to put out and I hope to have many of them out over the next couple weeks.

Stay tuned...

Posted by ultraclay at 5:03 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | |

Once again, I have a week of vacation time this year that I haven't planned for.

I'm considering the same set of places that I discussed last year, but heavily leaning towards the Pacific Northwest option of Seattle, with a couple days in Vancouver.

Off the top of my head, going to Pike Place for seafood and sampling the charcuterie at Salumi jump out as 'must see' attractions. I've heard wonderful things about the food and the food culture of the pacific northwest.

The usual concern about this area is that one doesn't typically see the sun at all, given the propensity for constant overcast and rain. Given the way the weather here in New York has been to date this year, I don't think it's likely to be any worse there than it's already been here.

I'll be spending some time in the next couple weeks thinking about what I might do out there, so if you have any suggestions, don't keep them to yourself.

Posted by ultraclay at 10:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | |

IMG_3536.JPG, originally uploaded by ultraclay!.

For something completely different, we could always head north. This is the time of year to go, before the whole country is buried in snow.

Quebec City:
I've have read interesting things about the 'Europeaness' of the city and this year they are celebrating a huge anniversary, so there are events happening all summer.

Montreal:
I already have a trip to Montreal planned later this year, but another couple days just means more smoked meat for me. Also a ton of great local brewed, european-style beer that's never exported down here. I have been wanting to go back to Montreal for years, two trips would be fine by me.

Toronto:
TO as the locals call it, has a hip-hop scene that hosts graffiti festivals regularly, cool hang out spots, great local brews that I have never seen south of the border and a local food scene that was strong before I'd ever heard the term locavore. Additionally, it's got huge international communities, which means great West Indian and Asian food just about everywhere.

Posted by ultraclay at 12:53 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | |

IMG_1409.JPG, originally uploaded by ultraclay!.

I went to Montreal for the first time over Thanksgiving Weekend, 2002. It immediate started snowing, by the time it was done, I wouldn't have been surprised to see these buggers waddling down Boulevard St. Denis.

Surprisingly though, I had to go to the Biodome near the Olympic Stadium to find them.

Purchased in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. November 2002.
::c::

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IMG_6181.JPG, originally uploaded by ultraclay!.

Mont Royal, Montreal, QC. 2003.
::c::

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IMG_3637, originally uploaded by ultraclay!.

416 Graffiti Festival, Toronto, 2005.


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Burner King, originally uploaded by ultraclay!.

416 Graffiti Festival. Toronto, 2005.

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IMG_3516, originally uploaded by ultraclay!.

Toronto, 2005


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IMG_3704, originally uploaded by ultraclay!.

416 Graffiti Festival
Toronto, 2005

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iflute?, originally uploaded by ultraclay!.

Summer 2005: Tammi and I took a long weekend out to Toronto. The timing was perfect. The weather was gorgeous and there just happened to be a graffiti festival on Queen Street. We wandered about and I shot some of the fresh art up on the walls.
Sunday afternoon, we headed back to Queen to catch the last of the festival. We could hear music from a block away. It was coming from a bar called Big Papa's Bordello. In the fenced off garden space, we could see musicians playing as the DJ spun beats.

This was the bar's Sunday ritual, the Sunday Lime. Musicians from a group called The iDrum Collective played percussion over what Tammi called 'soulful house.' I don't know from House music, but this wasn't like any I'd heard before. It was a mix of funk and soul and the songs just flowed into each other. What drew me in the most was the musicians. There wasn't much structure to the group, The flowed in and out just like the music. They came and walked off periodically. They switched instruments from time to time, one guy drummed for a while, then took out a trumpet and played that.

A little before we left, an older man came in and hung out for a few minutes. He chat with the others for a bit, then he took out his flute. He hooked up his mic and caught the beat. As he played, he meandered through the garden passing us by, bending and moving with his lilting tune.

When he was ready for his solo, he waved his arm with a flair.
"Just like that." The band held the beat and the old man took over.

He finished, packed up his flute, said his goodbyes and left.

Continue reading "Toronto: The Sunday Lime" »

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