Au Pied du Cochon

Au pied de Cochon, Montreal, Quebec

Oh My God, this was the richest, biggest most decadent restaurant meal I have ever had. This place believes in “everything in excess”. I must have had 10 000 calories in my meal and I loved every single one of them. I asked the waitress for a nutritional breakdown of the menu and she laughed at me. I smiled back. This is not the restaurant to ask foolish questions like this. Do not come here if you are on a diet. Come here if you want blow your head off, not to mention your belt buckle, good food. I mean, what restaurant serves “pig head for two”? That’s right; a big honking roasted pigs head served on a platter and brought to your table so you can pick at all the good chunks of head meat. I hear the cheeks are good. This is not a place for the squeamish.
I had to of the restaurants signature dishes. Both highly recommended:
Poutine with Foie Gras. Poutine is a Quebec specialty. Fries, cheese curds and gravy. Done right this is stick to your ribs good food. Sticking to its “excess is best” policy here we add foie gras. Like I said, OMG, just shoot me know because I’m going to have a coronary shortly anyway. This place should have emergency resuscitation paddles at every table. For those experiencing dizziness, nausea and shortness of breath, just reach under your chair for the paddles.
Duck in a Can: Once again rich beyond explaination. Winner of best canned anything I’ve ever had. This is what they do. Take a regular tin can, stuff it with cabbage, bacon, duck, foie gras, herbs and spices, seal it tight, and put it in the oven. Bring it to the table, open it with a can opener and then just dump it, with a big glug, on a mound of mashed potatoes and toast. Never mind, just watch this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KItyF7XyfFQ

A most outstanding recommendation for Pied du Cochon. A must visit when in Montreal.
www.restaurantaupieddecochon.ca

Crave Restaurant, Vancouver. BC.
Main Street Vancouver, from roughly Broadway to the north and 33rd Ave to the south, has morphed over the years into an eclectic trendy strip of shops and restaurants. No Cactus Club just yet. I can’t be too critical, I must admit, I do eat a Cactus Club on occasion. BTW, does Rob Fennie really spend any time in the kitchen? But I digress. Back to Main Street and my current favorite main street eatery, Crave.
Crave is one of those restaurants that just get’s it. And by that I mean, great food, good prices, good service and just a really cool feel. It’s one of those ”It” things either you have it or you don’t. Crave does.
I was there with 3 friends, hanging out on the back deck, enjoying a hot Vancouver summer evening and a couple of bottles of pink Kettle Valley Pinot Gris.
We shared a whole bunch of Appies. Most definitely the restaurants signature dish; short rib poutine parmesan truffle fries, short rib jus. Talk about rich, shredded beef short ribs covered in sauce on top of house fries. If you like fries, this is the restaurant for you. Not your usual processed McCains frozen crap. Fresh cut in-house and awesome. Add, popcorn shrimp, lightly battered with sweet chili mayo. I could in fact eat these like popcorn.
I had the organic beef crave burger with bacon and cheddar as my main. More fries. Nice. The burger tasted great. My only knock on the whole thing was a square focosia as the bun. As a burger traditionalist, what the hell? Just use a really good round bun and don’t serve the burger open. I don’t get that either. It’s funny how you can be nitpicky on certain things. The result of course is a demerit to an A-, even though I still can’t get those fries out of my mind.
Check them out at www.craveresaurants.com
They just opened a new location in West Van. I look forward to the trip.