Maybe you're one to judge a restaurant by it's namesake. If you're anything like me, upon first hearing mention of Regine Cafe, images of traditional diner fare dished up by someone's belle vieille tante Reg initially filled my head. And while these greasy spoon-type breakfasts are certainly not without merit, Regine Cafe certainly falls short of any of these nominal preconceptions- it's certinly not what you'd expect, unless of course your old franco aunt has a neon-tinged old-World baroque & brocade fetish to serve alongside your brunch order.

La Festival Mondial de la Biere - photo © Olivier Bourget


Brewers, boozers and beer lovers alike, get your glasses poised! The loveable, malty mecca of beer swilling that is the Festival Mondial de la Biere is back for its landmark 20th year! It's hard to believe that our fair city has been serving up some of the world's most celebrated and challenging brews for 20 years, but to be fair, who could count on a bunch of drunks to keep track of years anyway?

There's a new kid on the maple block. Actually, there's a family. Quebec is pushing its new maple product - water. Slightly sweet, it's being marketed as a refreshing, hydrating drink and gourmet product. But I sampled the maple water of two companies, Oviva and Seva, and was scratching my head trying to figure out how to use such a gently flavoured water. It would need to be for something where maple syrup wouldn't work, diluted or undiluted. What I came up with:

Montreal in the Summer is an awesome place to be. From the many festivals that bring our city to life, to the outdoor activities that give us the opportunity to take advantage of our green spaces; Montreal transforms itself into a desirable island with an infinite list of activities to make our days brighter. One of my favourite things to do during the warm months is to explore our public food markets.

Montreal is home to four public markets; Jean-Talon, Atwater, Maisonneuve, Lachine. Each is strategically located in a different area of the island. There are also 11 neighborhood markets and flower kiosks that are open to the public throughout the city.

Homemade marshmallows, yuzu soda, private chefs, gluten-free, dairy-free dream-worthy chocolate cherry-vanilla frosted cupcakes, buttery, gluten-y cupcakes, mixed spiced nuts, duck and rabbit rillettes, $32 green apple-balsamic vinegar, seaweed fertilizer and worm castings for your garden, farm-to-restaurant online ordering, moka frozen yogurt, Jamaican patties, donuts, better-than-fairtrade dark chocolate from Vietnam...what did I miss? It's all at Montreal's Salon J'ai Faim from 11am to 6pm, Sunday May 19th at Église-Saint-Enfant-Jesus-du-Mile-End.

Last week at B&M Restaurant on St-Viateur two esteemed butchers armed with nothing but cutting boards and, well, knives, faced off against each other and two whole lambs. Their goal: to break them down into the nicely tied shoulders, legs, neck, chops, filet, loin, ribs, rack and all the odd bits we see - or don't see - in butcher shops. They took two giant slabs of cleaned meat and raced for 30 minutes to see who could do the best job.