New York + Montreal + Quebec City

This September I travelled to NYC, Montreal and Quebec City and dabbled in some of the East Coast's finest cuisine.

Here are the highlights:

Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookies from Levain Bakery in NYC. They make the best cookies in the whole world! Check out their website here: http://www.levainbakery.com/

Marche Jean Talon in Montreal.

 

Fairmount Bagels in Montreal - These bagels are soft, chewy and crisp all at the same time!

Chez Temporal in Quebec City - this cafe was lovely and quaint and made me feel like I was back in Paris.

La Boheme Creperie

La Boheme Creperie is a cute little crepe shop served out of a bright pink hippie van. Every week at the summer Trout Lake Farmer's Market, this place would have a line up encompassing about one third of the market place.

I opted for the "La Provencale" - red pepper spread, ratatouille (sauteed eggplant, zucchini, tomato, onion, garlic), goat feta, black olives, greens and vinaigrette.

Needless to say it was delicious and well worth the long wait in the scorching sunshine!

Sunny Snacks - a few months late.

Due to the lack of an internet connection at my house, I haven't been able to write posts lately. My apologies!

These pictures are some of the delicious bites I made this summer. I was fortunate enough to volunteer at the Trout Lake Farmer's Market every Saturday and take home local fresh, nutritious and delicious produce each week.

Peach and Blueberry Pie! 

Homemade Summer Vegetable Pizza!

Veggie Burgers with Roasted Beets and Yam Fries

Medina Cafe

My friend and I went to this popular Brunch spot a couple of weeks ago. It is the sister restaurant of Chambar - the ritzy Belgian restaurant, which happens to be one of my favorite places to dine in Vancouver.

Cafe Medina also serves up delicious Belgian fare, but is only open for brunch. Be prepared to wait in line!

My friend and I shared one of their infamous Belgian waffles - we opted for a side of the raspberry caramel sauce.

For my main, I got l'omelette du matin - a spinach, yam, tomato, artichoke and feta omelette served with grilled foccacia. Perfecto!

My friend ordered la fricasse - 2 fried eggs, short ribs, roasted potatoes, caramelized onions, arugula and cheese, served with grilled foccacia.

Check out their website: http://www.medinacafe.com/.

Au Petit Chavignol

I went here the other night with one of my friends. It's located on Hastings Street and Hawke Avenue, a block down from the infamous Astoria pub. Au Petit Chavignol is located right beside Les Amis du Fromage, it's sister company, which means if you like something on the menu, you can go right next door after your meal and buy it! :)

The first thing I noticed about this place was its extensive list of aperatifs and digestifs, which I of course indulged in! I ordered a glass of Ricard pastis to sip at while Lucy and I waited for our spinach and chevre salad. This salad was amazing - spinach, deep-fried chevre, sliced almonds and strawberries in a raspberry vinagrette.

For my entree, I ordered the four cheese macaroni and cheese which was oozing with cheeeeeese. They use a very eclectic mix of cheese: gruyere, white cheddar, orange cheddar and stilton blue.

Overall, a very cheeeeeesy experience.

Belgian Fries!

Belgian Fries is located at Commercial and 3rd Street.

It's best enjoyed when you feel a little bit under the weather and need some lovely grease to perk you up!

The beer is really cheap - $4.25 for a sleeve of granville island!

And they have fourteen different types of dips!

Next up on the list to try there: deep-fried pecan ice cream.

HAVANA RESTAURANT

Havana is a Cuban restaurant located on commercial drive across from Grandview Park. This place makes delicious food and to-die-for cocktails (especially the strawberry-ginger mojitos!). It also has a huge patio, a theatre/gallery/art space and an overall coooool feeling.

We ordered the calamari as a starter, and then I had the shrimp tacos as my main, which were nicely jazzed up with cumin, bean puree, avocado and pineapple salsa !... om nom nom.

Everyone should go here!

http://www.havanarestaurant.ca/