--

Late as usual THURSDAY, APRIL 22, 2004 - CHRISTOPHER DEWOLF MONTREAL, 20.03.04 : ON THE 97 BUS, MONT-ROYAL AVENUE MONTREAL, 28.03.04 : WOMEN ON ST-VIATEUR STREET MONTREAL, 28.03.04 : 1AM ON THE MAIN MONTREAL, 27.03.04 : SUNSET AT CLARK AND FAIRMOUNT MONTREAL, 29.03.04 : WASHING THE WINDOW, ESPLANADE STREET MONTREAL, 29.03.04 : EYES ON THE STREET, JEANNE-MANCE STREET MONTREAL, 29.03.04 : SUMMERY SCENE ON ESPLANADE STREET MONTREAL, 28.03.04 : ST-LAURENT AND GUILBAULT MONTREAL, 19.03.04 : SKATEBOARDING ON ESPLANADE MONTREAL, 26.03.04 : MILE END FRUITERIE, PARC AVENUE MONTREAL, 29.03.04 : HANGING OUT, ESPLANADE STREET MONTREAL, 30.03.04 : MAN ON THE ROOF, PARC AVENUE Spring is always late here. While New York's first flowers poked their timid little heads up several weeks ago, and Vancouver's cherry blossoms have already come and gone, Montreal wallows away in its cruel non-spring. At least the days are now consistently warm, even if the trees ever-so-slowly put on their greenery in an agonizing sort of reverse striptease. And with the cruel non-spring comes the cruel non-update. This has proven to be an exceptionally busy April, so I can only leave you with a handful of my latest photos, the promise of a new update soon and a lovely new photoessay by Brad Maule, Philadelphia Train Trestle. (Look out for Brad's upcoming Philadelphia neighbourhoods photoessay, too, and Colin Kent's long-awaited Havana feature.) Enjoy and à la prochaine! Discuss this post on our discussion forum Head over to the archives for last month's posts The indomitable casse-croûte WEDNESDAY, APRIL 7, 2004 - CHRISTOPHER DEWOLF MONTREAL, 19.03.04 : FIXING WINDOWS ON ST-VIATEUR MONTREAL, 10.03.04 : CORNER OF COLONIALE AND DULUTH MONTREAL, 14.03.04 : ON MOUNT-ROYAL IN MID-MARCH MONTREAL, 19.03.04 : SHOOTING A FILM ON PARC AVENUE MONTREAL, 15.03.04 : SUNDAY ON ST-LAURENT BOULEVARD MONTREAL, 16.03.04 : OLD LADIES ON RUE DUFRESNE, CENTRE-SUD MONTREAL, 16.03.04 : UNDER THE JACQUES-CARTIER BRIDGE MONTREAL, 19.03.04 : JOGGING AT CLARK AND ST-VIATEUR MONTREAL, 19.03.04 : READING INSIDE A CAFÉ IN MILE END MONTREAL, 19.03.04 : READING AT CLUB SOCIAL, ST-VIATEUR ST. MONTREAL, 19.03.04 : SCHOOLKIDS CROSSING BERNARD STREET Everybody remembers their first poutine. For me, it was a rather regrettable experience at the tender age of eleven. The setting was a so-called “Montreal-style café” at the far end of a dingy Calgary strip mall. The restaurant was decorated with faux-Victorian streetlights, hanging plants and a florid mural depicting some old townhouses. After a short wait, the poutine arrived in a big bowl and my little eleven year old tummy grumbled in anticipation. I had about five bites before feeling sick. Poutine is drama with three parts: fries, gravy and cheese curds. As far as anyone knows, it was invented in 1957 by Fernand Lachance, a diner owner in Warwick, Quebec, after a customer asked him to combine french fries with cheese curds. It was a success. Soon, the meal spread across the land like gravy on soggy frites, becoming the closest thing Quebec has to a national dish. Today, it’s available at just about any snack bar across the province in a number of varieties. The most common variation is the voluptuous italienne, which substitutes meat sauce for gravy, but a number of Montreal restaurants have taken sleazy old poutine to new heights by adding things like chicken, smoked meat and hell, even fresh vegetables. The range of places in which to experience poutine is as heart-stopping as the dish itself. For poutine virgins, what setting makes for a memorable first time? Patiti Patata, a cool, laid-back snack bar on the corner of St-Laurent and Rachel, offers traditional poutine as well as their own “patatine,” which contains mushrooms, onions and peppers in chicken and wine sauce. As far as these things go, it’s a very progressive experience and quite self-empowering… but so damn healthy. It just won’t do. So how about a more rarified poutine experience? Apparently, upon request, the owner of the swanky five-star restaurant Globe will prepare a bowl of poutine fit for the stars. I'd imagine this would be how Paris Hilton had her first poutine. At the opposite end of the spectrum is the practically inedible poutine found at fast food chains like McDonald’s and Burger King. A heap of soggy fries, melted cheese and tasteless gravy, it leaves you with a sour taste in your mouth and a bad case of morning-after regrets, like a drunken tryst in a sweaty nightclub. It’s the one-night stand of poutines. The best of all, then, must be the gastronomic equivalent to the back seat of the car: a first poutine in an old-fashioned Montreal casse-croûte. It’s traditional, maybe even a bit cliché, but nothing beats the crisp fries, the rich, fatty gravy and the perfectly rubbery cheese curds that squeak with satisfaction when you eat them. This was how I had my second poutine. It was good. And now, after all these years, I finally understand the hype. ――― Poutine, of course, is only one of the things on the menu of a typical casse-croûte. The other standby is the hot dog (chiens chauds, as some still call them), available in two formats: the soft, moist steamé and the more rugged toasté. Both come aldresse, which involves a copious amount of mustard, ketchup, relish and coleslaw being heaped on top of the helpless little dog. The Montreal snack bar even made an appearance in one of last year's most interesting films. In Sylvain Chomet's Les Triplettes de Belleville, Belleville is the brash, skyscraping, grease-loving foil to the film's lean and grim-looking Paris. Many American filmgoers saw it as little more than a parody of New York, but it's really more of a delirious cross between that city and Montreal. Architecturally speaking, the block in which the triplets live is a virtual copy of a typical Montreal streetscape. Nowhere is the Montreal influence more obvious than in the scene that takes place in a corner greasy spoon whose sign announces chiens chauds and hambourgeois. Discuss this post on our discussion forum Head over to the archives for last month's posts