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Holiday lights appearing around the neighborhood as we inch into December.

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Seasonal transition in Parc Lafontaine.

Au Jardin Botanique ~ Fall 2010

An autumn evening stroll through the outdoor gardens of the Jardin Botanique. Each autumn (generally from mid-September through the end of October) they feature The Magic of Lanterns show at the Chinese Garden. The lanterns are a riot of color and reflection, with a different theme each year. A great place to take kids, though adults who crave a more peaceful wander should plan on going on a weekday evening, since the weekend crowds can get overwhelming. (Only so many strollers fit down those narrow pathways.) If you missed this year's lantern show, mark your calendar for next fall. Meanwhile, there is always something to enjoy in Montréal's botanical gardens year-round.

Menu du Jour ~ La Panthère Verte

If you have a craving for "Golden balls," La Panthère Verte/The Green Panther is the place to get them. And you can be reassured that their balls are fresh and organic. So what are their Golden balls exactly? Well, as their menu puts it: Yemen style falafel balls juggled into a pita bread accompanied with crunchy salad and covered with tahini sauce. Unlike so many falafel balls, which can be as light as lead, these balls are bright and airy. What makes the sandwich great, however, is the cushiony-soft pita pockets and the tangy salad into which the crunchy balls are nestled, the vegetables dressed just right so that they complement the falafel without overwhelming it. I tried one of their other sandwiches but came back for the balls. The last time I was there, I also got a flavorful bowl of pea soup, warming on a chilly day. According to their website, they've also just opened a brother restaurant downtown on Mackay if Mile End is out of your way.

La Panthère Verte

66 rue St-Viateur Ouest

(514)903-7770

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Sunset light on the tree tops and Stade from the Jardin Botanique ponds, Autumn, 2010.

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Autumn in Parc Lafontaine, before the leaves fell and the water disappeared till spring.

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Autumn in the city, 2010.

Wall Philosopher du Jour

I heart my ruelle, too.

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Porte du Plateau, early summer, 2009.

Menu du Jour ~ Ta Tourtière Australienne

I must confess I've never been a fan of la tourtière, the classic Québec meat pie. Even in my meat-eating days, it was too meaty and greasy for my tastes, no offense to Québec grandmothers. My partner harbored even greater ill will against the tourtière, literally, since he'd had a very ill childhood experience involving tourtière and licorice. On the other hand, I love pie, and good dough combined with savory fillings, so Ta, the relatively new casual restaurant specializing in "tourtière Australienne," captured my interest, especially after reading several favorable reviews of the place.


Ta is run by a husband and wife team, the husband, Don, hailing from New Zealand, and his wife, Mélanie, Québécoise. So combining a Québec classic with Australian touches makes a lot of sense. And--with low prices and pies perfectly sized for breakfast, lunch, or a snack--visiting Ta makes a lot of sense for anyone craving a delicious hit of comfort food. They have a small seating area and outdoor terrace (where one can watch a corner of the park and the Avenue du Parc traffic zip by), or you can take a bunch of pies home for easy reheating.


Meat-eaters have a great selection to choose from. Non-meat-eaters like myself have a limited selection (hint for menu expansion), but we tried all 3 non-meat pies--smoked mackerel, spinach, and potato (great with ketchup); curried vegetable and sweet potato; spinach, mushroom, tomato, and ricotta--and they were all winners. Well-seasoned, excellent dough, not too big, not too small. Really hit the spot on a cool, gray spring day. They also have an interesting selection of desserts, including "Anzac biscuits" and "Afghans," both of which were new to my sweet tooth.


I hope they do well, because I want to keep going back.


Ta Tourtiére Australienne
4520 avenue du Parc
(514)277-PIES (7437)

Wall Philosopher du Jour

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Summer sublet? Plateau, 2010.

Wall Philosopher du Jour

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A favorite, timeless Mile End shopfront, Hollywood Coiffure Pour Hommes/Men's Hairdressing on Fairmount Ouest.

Signs of Spring

How quickly early spring comes and goes in the city. One day it is winter, the next it is spring, with a few negotiations back and forth between seasons, then we leap towards summer.

Here are a few of my favorite signs of spring, gone for now, but back again same time (approximately) next year:

A crisp, sunny day in March, when the first spring laundry hangs in the ruelles.

In the Québec woods, maple sap is flowing, which means Bilboquet is open for the season and scooping out their famous tire d'érable (maple taffy) ice cream. Combine maple ice cream with the sugar-on-snow one would find at a cabane à sucre and you get sweet maply heaven. Those with dental work should chew cautiously: some of the taffy pieces are enormous and enormously sticky.

Bilboquet ice cream can be found in several Montréal locations, but we frequent their Outremont shop:
Le Glacier Bilboquet
1311 avenue Bernard Ouest
(514)276-0414

I confess to being a zeppole virgin, until this spring, when I came across a zeppole thread on the Quebec Chowhound board. How have I missed these all my life? Basically, zeppole are an Italian pastry cream or sweetened ricotta filled donut traditionally made to celebrate St. Joseph's Day on March 19. Fortunately, they're typically available at Italian bakeries not just on St. Joseph's Day but in the weeks leading up to Easter. Unfortunately, most of those weeks had passed before I knew to grab them while I could. Next year I plan to compare and contrast zeppole from all the recommended Montréal bakeries.

The creamy wonders we sampled were from:

Boulangerie Clarke
29 rue Saint-Viateur Ouest
(514)276-7827

Alati-Caserta
277 rue Dante
(514)271-3013

And early spring in Montréal wouldn't be complete without a visit to Papillons en Liberté (Butterflies Go Free) inside the main greenhouse of the Jardin Botanique. The butterflies usually arrive sometime in February (when your aversion to the Québec cold is about as strong as theirs) and flit about until the last week in April. The weekends have too many children ignoring the Don't Touch signs, so if you can go during the week, it's much more relaxing.

Now, on to the last weeks of spring and summer!

Wall Philosopher du Jour

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"After the Wave," a snow drift in a Plateau ruelle.

Farewell, Kate

The McGarrigles have long been a Montréal folk music treasure, so it was with great sadness that Montréal had to say farewell this week to the irreplaceable Kate McGarrigle, sister to Anna, mother to Martha and Rufus Wainwright.

I have fond memories of seeing the McGarrigles several times over the years, both in Vermont and in Montréal. Their performances were always endearingly modest and ramshackle affairs, unpolished one moment, transcendent the next, or both at once. I remember the director of Burlington VT's Flynn Theater announcing the sponsor for the evening, the resulting applause drawing Kate and Anna prematurely to the stage. They retreated, embarrassed, then quickly returned; immediately the audience was theirs.

I remember a Christmas concert in Outremont a few years ago with the extended clan. It wasn't quite fully rehearsed, so there was much laughter and ribbing one another and shifting of chairs and needless apologies for the mess. They were family, and we were all included. The last time I saw Kate and Anna together was back in October when Emmylou Harris was in town. I suspected they might come out for a few songs since they've long collaborated with Emmylou, and indeed they did, their unique McGarrigle harmonies circling Emmylou's voice, the deep musical friendship between them obvious.

On our way to Montréal from Vermont this past Friday, we were lucky enough to hear a rebroadcast of a 1993 interview and concert with Kate and Anna on NPR's Fresh Air in honor of Kate's passing. As we drove across the Champlain Bridge on a brilliant winter's afternoon, the warm sun slanting across the cityscape from the west, Kate, who lived in the city, raved about the bakeries in her neighborhood and said that Anna had to come into the city from the country to get good bread. They sang "I Eat Dinner," which was about Frida Kahlo but also--Anna chimed in--about Kate. As we arrived in the heart of Montréal, they were singing "Love Is": "My love has no reason, has no rhyme. My love cross the double line."

Montréal will miss you, Kate. May the music live on.

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Downtown Montréal rises from the snow-covered river, 2006.