stuffed fig with serrano ham and mahon cheese

Last night I went out with some of my C. elegans friends to a great Spanish Basque restaurant called Pinxto in Le Plateau area of Montreal. The food is tapas style, but three of us ordered the tasting menu. We received three tapas of the chef’s choosing and then one main dish. I chose the black cod (of course) with tomato virgin sauce and my friend ordered the rack of lamb. The tapas were amazing. The first one was a trio of tastes which included foie gras with onion confit which was amazingly creamy and outstandingly good.  There was also a stuffed fresh fig with serrano ham and mahon cheese, which all of us agreed was just amazing and the best of all our tapas we received. The Spanish wines we had were also equally very good and the service was outstanding.  I highly recommend this restaurant if you are ever in Montreal!

the foie gras with onion confit

black cod with tomato virgin sauce

rack of lamb

So I had to make it to the famous bagel shop, St. Viateur Bagels, today before I left Montreal. After a metro ride then a short bus trip, I found the famous bagel shop Tony Bourdain spoke about on the Layover in an area of Montreal called Mile End.  The smell of sesame bagels wafted out into the street. This is their most popular bagel and I was told to get the sesame ones as these will be the freshest. There was definitely lots of them in a huge pile as I walked into this no frills shop. The bagels are hand rolled and baked in a wood-fired oven. This little shop bakes over 12,000 bagels a day!  Wow, they were delicious and definitely different from New York bagels; a bit smaller, sweeter and denser.  The short trip from my hotel was worth it!