getaway
MONTREAL
San Francisco in November. We’ve viewed over ten different Soleil shows in Las Vegas and San Francisco and Kurios had acts that bring dangerous edge-ofyour-seat thrills to an all new level. When the show comes to San Francisco and you have the opportunity, do not miss seeing this amazing performance. Third in our trio of events was Montreal’s International Fireworks Competition staged between countries annually at La Ronde overlooking a reflective water pond in coordination with resounding musical ST. VIATEUR (© St-Viateur Bagel & Café)
Dining IN Montreal: There are restaurants in Montreal serving every ethnic cuisine imaginable but we suggest you stick with French and continental offerings for more complete culinary memories from our Europe-of-the-Americas. Why not try dining at as many charming sidewalk cafes as possible in Old Montreal and most anywhere in town. Our hotel’s Bistro L’Aromate served scrumptious breakfasts and their sidewalk seating area was delightful for any meal. Another recommended sidewalk dining experience is Bistro Le Balmoral, a surprisingly non-profit restaurant featuring live jazz, Francaise influenced dishes with surplus revenue going towards Jazz Festival support. Mademoiselles will love lunch or afternoon tea at Birk’s Café par Europea, uniquely located in Maison Birks, one of Canada’s most exclusive jewelry stores. Hold tightly to those credit cards, ladies, as you walk through their enticing glittering temptations. In addition to experiencing European influenced gastronomic outings we had considerable amusement trying some specialty foods Montreal claims as their own. We started at Reuben’s Deli, a storied institution that features Montreal-style smoked beef and another Montreal specialty, Poutine. Our verdicts: the lightly smoked beef sandwich was heavenly and Reuben’s creative version of Poutine with their smoked beef added to the standard recipe
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accompaniment. Creative pyro-technicians vie for awards at the most prestigious event of its kind in the fireworks’ cosmos. We witnessed an unbelievable, almost overwhelming, high octane thirty minutes of dazzling pyrotechnic firepower by Italy’s team, last year’s winner. Other major events that may interest our readers include the annual Formula One race and the city’s annual universally acclaimed comedy, music and film festivals.
SAN JOAQUIN MAGAZINE | SEPTEMBER 2014
L'AROMATE BISTRO
of French fries covered in gravy and cheese curd was a yummy taste treat. Another fun foodie challenge occurred when we read Montreal folks consider their bagels the best in the universe and especially better than New York’s. As longtime New York bagel devotees we tried the city’s two top bagel award winners: Fairmount and St. Viateur. Our verdict: we thought both were equally good and sweeter than New York’s but only one of us thought they were better than the Big Apples’. Sorry Montreal, but a tie is still better than a loss.