Eating my way through Montreal

When I woke up in Montreal the next morning I took a good deal of time to relax. By a good deal of time it was probably only about 2 hours but for someone who typically has a tiny human who wants their attention from the moment they wake up 2 hours of solitude is a long time. I got up and I took a shower and got back into the robe and made myself an espresso. I pulled open the curtains and I saw that the sun was shining. I sat and stared out the window for a little while contemplating the day, my immediate future, and somewhat of the distant future. From there I had myself another cup of espresso and then read my latest issue of Conde Nast Traveler that I had brought with me. Eventually 1030 rolled around and I decided it was probably time for me to head on out.

I took the half an hour drive back into Montreal and began my bakery quest. Now I should have really have gone to the Italian bakery first but I had initially taken it off my list because I didn’t realize that they would be open so I did have some backtracking to do in my travels. If you’re planning on doing this route at some point do the Italian bakery first then go on to what is my first stop and continue your way through. (Obviously skipping over the Italian bakery when you come to it as you would have done that as your 1st stop.)

My 1st stop brought me over to the Jewish neighborhood in Montreal where I stopped by Cheskie bakery.

Cheskie from what I saw online is known for a chocolate babka. Now for whatever reason when I think of chocolate babka I think of large round rings of bread. Something similar to this:

I mean there was a whole Seinfield episode about the chocolate babka. But these chocolate babkas were not those chocolate babkas. These were small and looked more like a pastry. They were delicious but definitely not what I was expecting at all. I bought 2 because I figured the tiny human who I would be seeing the next day would like to try one since he got my sweet tooth and he likes chocolate like me.

From there it took a short drive to St-Viateur Bagel.

Now when I went into St-Viateur Bagel I didn’t know what kind of bagel to get or what they are “known for” So I just went with what I thought I’d like. I got the kiddo a Maple Apple and I got myself and Everything Bagel. They packaged the two together which didn’t make me happy as everything bagels should never be packaged with any other kind of bagel. Also, for the next week my car smelled like everything bagels and that’s not fun.

The day after I got home for Montreal the kid wanted to watch an episode of Somebody Feed Phil and he wanted to watch the Montreal episode since I had just gotten back from there. Phil ends up going to St-Viateur Bagel and this is when I learned that they are known for the sesame bagel.

From there I went to the Italian bakery Alati-Caserta over in the Italian neighborhood.

Heading to the Italian neighborhood it was apparent when I arrived.

Parking by the bakery was difficult as most of the parking was for people with permits, the neighborhood was mainly residential. There is a school across the way that has 15 min parking in front. I was there at an off time so I was sure I’d be in and out in 15 minutes, plus I was pretty sure schools weren’t back in session yet anyway.

I went in and saw the multitude of flavors they had of cannoli and I was in heaven. I love a good cannolo, a classic. But sometimes a good flavored one is nice too. So I got a nutella and it was good, but I was missing the real ricotta taste of a true cannolo, I’ll know for next time. I picked up a little min chocolate mousse cake with raspberries for the kiddo. Because really, once you’re a Mama you’re always a Mama and always think about your kiddo.

After I got my treats I headed to the French bakery, Le Toldeo, which wasn’t too far from St-Viateur Bagel.

There was some construction going on in the neighborhood so again parking wasn’t the easiest. I found a spot and slipped in quick. The place was known for their choquettes and their Gâteau Basque. I got two of each as well as a chocolate croissant cause the kiddo loves loves loves his chocolate croissants.

I then realized I had a 5 hour drive home in August and no cooler. I checked in back and saw I had the cooler bag. But the pastries were all in bags or cardboard boxes. I had to think of something.

I picked up a bag of ice from a gas station and put the whole closed bag in the bottom of the cooler bag. I then put some shopping bags that were also in my car over the bag of ice. From there I put the bags and cardboard boxes of treats in bags and then put them in the cooler bag and decided that should last until I got home. (PS they did. one box got a little wet but the little cake was okay and some of the ice melted in the cooler bag but that was expected.)

After buying all of the snacks which I had yet to indulge in, besides the canollo I decided I should finally eat. I thought poutine would be the route to go and I knew the place to go to: La Banquise.

Well the line was very long. But just like at Schwatrz’s they had a to go line. There was no line to order, so I went in and ordered. There was however a wait to get my order. It was a good 45 minute wait until I got my order.

Across the street was the police station. I saw an older woman attacking a young man multiple times outside of the station. Well, he was outside and she kept running outside. I don’t know what was happening. It was hot. It was humid. I was hungry. I was baffled by what I was seeing.

I thought perhaps I should have just waited in line to sit down at eat, but as I thought about it I’d have to wait in line to get a table, then once I had a table I’d have to order than wait for my food. This cut down on one of those waiting experiences. They have various takes on putine with other toppings, but I went for the classic just fries, gravy, and cheese curds.

Once I got my order (about 3 attacks of the guy later) I was going to head over to the man made beach that is made every summer at the park but parking would have been a nightmare and at started to rain. So I decided to start my drive home and eat while I drove. I held the Styrofoam (boo Styrofoam) package between my thighs and used the fork to eat at each red light.

I began my drive out to the city realizing I should probably replace my windshield wipers. I drove to the border and it was a short wait until I was with the border control officer. They gave me some trouble about coming back into the country. I gave them my passport and they asked where I was and I said Montreal they asked where I was going I said home to Connecticut they asked how long I was there I said a day and they said isn’t that far to go for a day and I said I don’t know it’s only like 4 and a 1/2 hours. They asked if I had friends or family there. I said no. They stared at me. I said listen I just needed to get out of the country for at least 1 day. Just to feel like I went somewhere else. They eventually let me through. In 2005 I also had trouble at the border. After that it was smooth sailing back home.