We were in Montreal’s Petite Italie and getting hungry when I remembered Kieran Huggins’ recommendation of a little bar called Vices et Versa. Since it was a nice day, we made our way to their back patio…
…and marvelled at their selection of beers and ciders, all of which seemed to be from Quebec. The hipster bartender with the hat was extremely knowledgable and helpful with their offerings.
…and had some really delicious food. I had their three-sausage platter, which had a sweet maple sausage, a spicy “diable” sausage and a bratwurst-like sausage, served with a nice green salad, corn relish, mustard and mayo:
I love that last bit: “If you were forcibly pushed into the water, don’t worry. If it was a legitimate pushing, your body will find a way to shut out the water and survive the drowning.”
Here’s a segment from Bourdain’s show, No Reservations, featuring Martin and Au Pied de Cochon:
It took a little work, but I managed to snag a much-coveted reservation for two at Au Pied de Cochon last Saturday night. I specifically asked for a seat at the bar with a view of the kitchen. Most people consider it to be the seating area of last resort, but I think of it as the chef’s table, prime seats with a perfect view of the chaotic ballet of cookery. It also lets me sit right beside my lovely dinner companion.
It’s also conveniently close to the beer!
For our appetizer, we had the restaurant’s famous poutine with foie gras.
This poutine comes with two different gravies: a high-end version of the standard dark brown sauce that we’ve all come to know and love, and a thicker, coffee-coloured made of foie gras.
Such a dish calls for a close-up shot:
In case you wanted to try and make Au Pied de Cochon’s famous dish at home, here’s the recipe, courtesy of Martin and Food Network Canada!
Anitra decided to choose a less fatty main and went with the tartare. Normally, it’s bison, but that night, it was venison. It was served with two large pieces of toasted baguette and a salad with a creamy dressing.
As for me, I went with my “usual” (this was my third visit, and I confess I’ve had the same thing each time): Canard en Conserve, or put less elegantly in English, “Duck in a Can”. If you’ve ever watched Chef Picard’s TV show Martin sur la Route or its English version, The Wild Chef, you’ll know how fond he is of incorporating canning into his cooking.
Here’s the dish once it’s plated:
And here’s the plating process, as shot with my iPhone:
The ingredients are listed on the back, just above a cartoon rendition of Chef Picard:
In case you don’t read French, here’s the list of ingredients:
Half a magret (the breast meat of a duck raised specifically for foie gras)
100 grams of foie gras
80 ml veal glaze with balsamic vinegar
180 ml embeurrée de chou (cabbage braised in butter, lardons, chicken stock, garlic, and onions)
Half a head of roasted garlic
2 branched of thyme
The dish was so foie gras-laden that I felt compelled to order a glass of sauternes, the perfect complement to fatty duck liver. Unfortunately, they sell it only by the bottle, but my waiter selected something that was a very good substitute. Unfortunately, I can’t remember what it was, other than it being some variety of sweet white wine starting with the letter “J”. Anyone out there care to enlighten me?
After finishing my canard en conserve, I provided my date with some assistance finishing her tartare:
Quite stuffed but wanting something sweet with which to end the meal, we went for the simplest dessert. It was an evening special: a banana run milkshake, which was probably the lightest option:
Our appetites sated and our bodies fueled by duck fat, we decided to walk the nearly two and a half miles from Au Pied de Cochon back to the AirBnB apartment at Guy and Maisonneuve and take in a late summer Saturday night in Montreal.
The Hand Eye Societydescribes itself as a “not-for-profit coalition of people and projects in support of Toronto’s videogame communities”. Their goals are:
To help people make games
To connect game makers with each other and with an audience, offline
To foster diversity in game creation and public perception of games
If you have any experience teaching people (informally or not) about games we’d love you to come and share your perspective.
If you have an interest in games and education but no experience, but may be able to volunteer some time to these work on these initiatives, you’re also welcome. (Ten hours of volunteer time makes you a full Hand Eye Society member and eligible to vote in the next AGM.)
I have more than my fair share of teaching videogame programming to adults and kids, and I’ve been meaning to do a few more good deeds, so I plan to be there. If you’d like to attend as well, please RSVP to Jim Munroe at jim@handeyesociety.com.
