Help me plan a long weekend getaway
- Thread starter Whomp
- Start date
warpus
Sommerswerd asked me to change this
Yep, we talk all the time actually. I will ask her for some advice and get back to you.
Absolutely Montreal over Toronto. I'm not overly fond of all the French-culture nazis in Quebec, but if anyone benefits from all of that, it's the tourists. Montreal is far more cultured. I would probably pick neither, though--I would drive to nearby Frankenmuth, Michigan. Tourist town, Christmas year-round, and there's snow on the ground so it's fitting. The wife would love it. Another hour down the road is Detroit, where you can look at cars and Red Wing stuff.
We have already had our fill of Michigan this year. Glen arbor, Ann Arbor (wife influence) , Grand Haven and Boyne mountain coming up.
I do miss having the wings in our division. The blues are not as skilled but just as distasteful as the wings were.
I do miss having the wings in our division. The blues are not as skilled but just as distasteful as the wings were.
If you can go in May, Stratford, Ontario is about 6 hours drive. Lots of Broadway-esque shows. Toronto is another 2 hours away. Maybe not for this trip, but.... And Canada doesn't do Memorial Day weekend, so you could avoid some crowds.
warpus
Sommerswerd asked me to change this
Whomp, I took my sweet time asking her, sorry about that, but I finally did. She says: "Anything for Whomp." (not using your forum name)
Anyway, she is going to do some thinking for you this week and get back soon. What kind of rock are you into?
Anyway, she is going to do some thinking for you this week and get back soon. What kind of rock are you into?
warpus
Sommerswerd asked me to change this
From my friend:
Restaurants:
Pied de cochon
Club chasse et pêche
Europa
Joe Beef (or its often less-busy and imho cooler counterpart: Liverpool House)
Toqué
Garde-manger
Salle à manger
Les trois petits bouchons
Quartier général
Kitchen Galerie
Tapeo
Pub Dominion
... to name a few.
Basically the first five are pretty expensive (esp. Europa), and by far the best and most well-known restaurants in Montreal. I've only been to Pied de cochon and Liverpool, personally, but I know of friends who've been to the other three and loved them. If I'd recommend any out of the five, it would be Pied de cochon. The chef who owns it basically took traditional poor-man's Quebecois cuisine (stuff like poutine, pork n' beans, maple-syrup-based stuff) and made it new and interesting and gastronomical. He should try the foie gras poutine for sure if he goes (get one plate for two peeps as an appetizer... and know that their cooking is very meat-based... meaning you might just get a slab of meat. So talk to the waiter to make sure you know what you're getting into).
The other ones are more bistro-type places. Meaning slightly cheaper, but still great dinner experiences. I've been to all but Kitchen Galerie, Tapeo, and Garde-Manger, but they are all apparently great (my chef-school friend worked at Kitchen and currently works at Tapeo... which is tapas, btw). I have a slight preference for Dominion, cuz' I love the décor and ambiance (it's basically pub food made fancy), but really any of those would be good options. Oh, and there's totally a place we've been meaning to try as well! It'll likely be our next fancy-dinner-night if we ever get out of the house again.
It's called Manitoba, and it's basically very umm... salt-of-the-earth-y. It's essentially local produce and local cuisine... like... native cuisine almost. Well I'll let the website describe it, I guess, but it sounds very interesting, and it's been getting great reviews from what I know:
http://restaurantmanitoba.com/?lang=en#contact
In terms of location, Club Chasse et pêche, Europa, and Toqué are all in the old port, as is Garde-manger. Dominion is downtown. Pied de cochon, Salle à manger, Trois petits bouchons and Quartier général are all in the Plateau, and the final three (Tapeo and Kitchen Galerie... and Manitoba) are further north in Villeray. All are accessible via metro.
As for places to go to for shows... if he likes the jazz/blues stuff, there's a place called The Upstairs (don't be fooled! it's actually a basement!), located downtown. It's a quaint little jazz bar. I think I've been once. There's also the House of Jazz (also downtown) which might be cool, but I do believe it's a bit more touristy. As for rock shows, he'd really be best to check what's playing on the weekend he'll be down. Good promoters to check out are Evenko.ca and Blue Skies Turn Black (http://www.blueskiesturnblack.com/)... the latter being for more indie stuff. There's also La Vitrine that he should check out while he's here. It's basically a ticket sales place, so he could go online (http://www.lavitrine.com/?lang=en) or even just pop in one afternoon and see what's happening on that particular night. They're located on St-Catherine and St-Laurent, so you can't be much more central than that.
Restaurants:
Pied de cochon
Club chasse et pêche
Europa
Joe Beef (or its often less-busy and imho cooler counterpart: Liverpool House)
Toqué
Garde-manger
Salle à manger
Les trois petits bouchons
Quartier général
Kitchen Galerie
Tapeo
Pub Dominion
... to name a few.
Basically the first five are pretty expensive (esp. Europa), and by far the best and most well-known restaurants in Montreal. I've only been to Pied de cochon and Liverpool, personally, but I know of friends who've been to the other three and loved them. If I'd recommend any out of the five, it would be Pied de cochon. The chef who owns it basically took traditional poor-man's Quebecois cuisine (stuff like poutine, pork n' beans, maple-syrup-based stuff) and made it new and interesting and gastronomical. He should try the foie gras poutine for sure if he goes (get one plate for two peeps as an appetizer... and know that their cooking is very meat-based... meaning you might just get a slab of meat. So talk to the waiter to make sure you know what you're getting into).
The other ones are more bistro-type places. Meaning slightly cheaper, but still great dinner experiences. I've been to all but Kitchen Galerie, Tapeo, and Garde-Manger, but they are all apparently great (my chef-school friend worked at Kitchen and currently works at Tapeo... which is tapas, btw). I have a slight preference for Dominion, cuz' I love the décor and ambiance (it's basically pub food made fancy), but really any of those would be good options. Oh, and there's totally a place we've been meaning to try as well! It'll likely be our next fancy-dinner-night if we ever get out of the house again.
It's called Manitoba, and it's basically very umm... salt-of-the-earth-y. It's essentially local produce and local cuisine... like... native cuisine almost. Well I'll let the website describe it, I guess, but it sounds very interesting, and it's been getting great reviews from what I know:http://restaurantmanitoba.com/?lang=en#contact
In terms of location, Club Chasse et pêche, Europa, and Toqué are all in the old port, as is Garde-manger. Dominion is downtown. Pied de cochon, Salle à manger, Trois petits bouchons and Quartier général are all in the Plateau, and the final three (Tapeo and Kitchen Galerie... and Manitoba) are further north in Villeray. All are accessible via metro.
As for places to go to for shows... if he likes the jazz/blues stuff, there's a place called The Upstairs (don't be fooled! it's actually a basement!), located downtown. It's a quaint little jazz bar. I think I've been once. There's also the House of Jazz (also downtown) which might be cool, but I do believe it's a bit more touristy. As for rock shows, he'd really be best to check what's playing on the weekend he'll be down. Good promoters to check out are Evenko.ca and Blue Skies Turn Black (http://www.blueskiesturnblack.com/)... the latter being for more indie stuff. There's also La Vitrine that he should check out while he's here. It's basically a ticket sales place, so he could go online (http://www.lavitrine.com/?lang=en) or even just pop in one afternoon and see what's happening on that particular night. They're located on St-Catherine and St-Laurent, so you can't be much more central than that.