The days of food delivery are almost behind us! Except for the occasional pizza order, I rarely order food in the warm weather; I have no problem walking around the city on hot, sunny days, hunting out food and enjoying meals on terraces. But on one of the last cold, snowyish, wet days, depression got the best of us, and we decided to have some Chinese food from Hot and Spicy delivered to our home.

It was neither hot or spicy. Not that I can blame them entirely for this. Delivering (for a fee of $3.50) food can be tricky business, especially when it’s coming all the way from Jean-Talon and Decarie. I can handle a bit of lukewarm food. The lack of heat in the dishes is a little less understandable. They asked us how spicy we would like each dish, and even though we explicitly stated, “very spicy!” we were pouring hot sauce over everything as we ate it.

The food had its strong and weak points. The whole bill was $50, which included the tax, tip, delivery fee and a tub of white rice, and it was enough food to fill three people’s bellies, and perhaps even four.

OK it took me forever to get this blog going because I had trouble to determine what day/way best to review. I also wanted to ensure once started I could commit to it. Today I decided, since I drink wine on Sundays naturally the unique weekly review begins today. Let's review the basics to understand why this lighthearted approach is different then most.
1. A dépanneur often shortened to "dep" is a convenience store, usually part of a chain, or an independently-run corner shop, general store in la belle province Quebec.
2. Wine Now grapes have been cultivated in Quebec for centuries, and in the last twenty years local wine production has taken off in a big way. We can buy wine almost anywhere here. Including our Deps. We love wine; it’s a part of our culture and in our daily lives. With bring your own wine restaurants all over the city; it’s a must to know your good picks. Yet good picks are better if they come at good price, and new flavors can be discovered with half the cents you may think you need. That's the idea of this review, a weekly wine survival blog, to keep the Chianti cheap! This week's two bottles in my brown paper bag are a red variety. The first; a "Nicolas Laloux ~ Les Chais 770" from the quaint village of Rougemeont Quebec.

Or, in English, The Montréal Wine and Spirits Show. It started on Thursday, and continues until Sunday, 5pm.

The $15 entrance fee (plus tasting coupons costs) gets you a tasting glass, and you are then allowed to enter the world of fine wine-tasting, a chance to sip on wines you'd never be able to afford, taste flavours you've never experienced, and then stumble home, newly purchased wines in tow. Sounds like my kind of event!

With all the exhibitors and products, I can't think of a better thing to do this weekend.

Salon des vins et spiritueux de Montreal
Palais des congrès de Montréal
1001, place Jean-Paul-Riopelle (De Bleury)

There is a giant bunny rabbit waving to passers by on Mont-Royal and an enclosure full of goats and chickens in Complexe Desjardins. Could it be… is it… Easter weekend?

It’s tough to pick up on the subtle signs, but there’s one way that I know for sure that the time of Peeps and pastels has arrived: my urge to buy enormous chocolate animals is even stronger than usual. And today, I gave in.

When I was walking around the Plateau this afternoon, dodging giant rabbits right and left, I passed Sucrerie du Soleil and wandered in to see if they could meet my chocolate-animal needs.

Jackpot. The candy shop has a veritable menagerie of chocolate animals. Sure, they’ve got the usual bunnies and chickens (adult and baby versions). But they’ve also got fish, frogs, horses, cows, and at least one lion. They don’t even stick to animals; I noticed a delicious looking dark chocolate motorcyclist and a milk chocolate soccer player.

It’s close. Spring is on its way, and what better way to celebrate than sugaring yourself into a comatose state? I’ve been going to the same cabane a sucre for about 22 years now, La Goudrelle in Mont St-Gregoire (which seems to be Sugar Shack District), and it hasn’t changed one bit. I’ve heard rumors that there might be better sugar shacks, particularly, "gourmet" ones. But I’m happy with La Goudrelle’s plentiful all-you-can-eat menu, the strange mountain-goat-humping-a-llama petting zoo, and dance floor filled entirely with 4-year-old kids.

The sun is shining and the thick layer of ice that has blanketed the sidewalks for the past (seems like) eight years is finally melting… it’s walkin’ season again! Last Sunday I got the old sneaks out from under the bed, charged up my ipod and went for the first walk of spring.

Okay, so it wasn’t the prettiest of days. But I wasn’t going to let a few clouds get between me and my destination: Froment et de Sève, a little bakery on Beaubien (d’Iberville metro).

This bakery has something for everyone. Chocolate croissants seemed to be the most popular; as they were almost gone by the time I got there. There were also brownies, carrot cake, mini tarts and pies, and of course an array of breads that are made every morning.

Since the fresh air and exercise had put me in a particularly generous mood, I decided to get a few things and split them with the roomies (this was also my excuse to OD on pastries). On my way home, I munched on a chocolate croissant and tried to do a bit of people watching, but it was a bit awkward since most of the people I passed seemed to be staring longingly at my croissant.

I'll admit it. I have a smelly cat. And hopefully, thanks to Expo Manger Santé, I'm going to be saying goodbye to my stinky orange cat. And not only that! Ill also being saying goodbye to dry skin, dairy and meat. And happily so.

The Expo Manger Santé is only in town until tomorrow (Sunday, March 16th), 5:00pm, so make haste! From shea butter and sugar cane skin products to delicious TVP (texturized vegetable protein) (I'm particularly fond of the "ham" and "chicken") to 3-year old cheddar, here's your chance to sample and buy products that are good for you (and your cat and your skin).

Right outside Cote-Vertu metro station sits Fu Kam Wah, my newest discovery in Chinese cuisine. I’m often in the St-Laurent area when lunchtime rolls around, so finding new places to eat is a must. This restaurant fills all the lunch prerequisites: tasty, affordable and quick.

A steaming cup of tea is poured as you sit at the table. With the exception of some dark rum, nothing warms the winter-heart like piping hot green tea. There’s a special lunch menu, as well as a chef’s menu, as well as the regular menu. This time around, we tried the lunch specials, and were happily satiated.

Every meal on the lunch menu comes with a choice of wonton or hot and sour soup, a spring roll, sautéed vegetables and either steamed or fried rice, along with the main meal. That’s a lot of food for $6 - $8 (tax included)! Choices of mains include the expected general tao chicken, sweet and sour chicken or pork, chop suey with BBQ pork, and orange beef. More interesting dishes include the scrambled eggs with tomato (?), sliced beef with a black bean sauce, Chinese mushrooms with tofu and shrimp in lobster sauce. We opted for the seafood curry and the general tao chicken.

A warm, freshly made waffle, smothered in peanut butter and condensed milk. Now tell me that doesn’t sound like the breakfast of champions. Well, maybe you’d need to be particularly hardy to handle such a rich meal in the morning, but this inspired concoction certainly makes a great dessert.

As I was wandering around Chinatown last Friday evening, munching on a bahn mi from Hoang Oanh, I had one thought on my mind: candy. I considered heading into one of the grocery stores to rediscover the mysterious and wonderful world of Chinese sweets, but then I saw an even more appealing option.

I’m a sucker for good advertising. So the first time I passed by Avesta and saw a woman sitting by the window rolling bread dough into paper-thin sheets, I wanted to try the place out immediately, despite having just eaten my weight in jap chae at Maison Bulgogi.

I wasn’t able to convince my dining companions to have a second dinner that night, but the image of that woman making bread was stuck in my mind. A few weeks later, I returned to Avesta, stomach grumbling and ready to taste some of that bread.

The interior of the small Turkish café looks extremely pretty and cozy, with intricately decorated tapestries, stools, and cushy booths. Unfortunately, I quickly discovered that those stools and booths look a lot more comfortable than they feel. On my first visit, I sat on a stool at a relatively low table, which meant that I spent the entire meal in the Hunchback of Notre-Dame position. On my second visit, I tried to play it smart by requesting a booth in the back. But the benches were so far away from the table that I had to perch on the edge to reach my food. Thankfully, Avesta’s food is good enough to redeem its uncomfortable seating.

Sometimes, first dates and birthdays for example, you should spend a little more money and go for the gold, or, in this case, Mikado. Sushi isn’t hard to find around here, and even tasty sushi doesn’t have to be expensive, but when it is, you can taste the difference.

Connie’s Pizza. This name would occasionally come up in where’s-the-best-pizza discussions, and Connie-supporters would stand fervently behind their choice. Such pizza-passion must be indicative of something, so I trekked off to Pointe-St-Charles to see if Connie’s pizza was indeed a contender for the best.

When people talk about hole-in-the-wall restos, they must be picturing Connie’s. Upon arriving, I realized that it was mostly a take-out place, given the fact there’s two tables in a room as big as my kitchen at home, and customers coming in for their orders eyed us a little suspiciously. But such a greasy-spoon environment must offer up some quality greasy-spoon eats, right?