Montreal

Montreal became the kickoff point for our RTW ticket through the whole misspelled name debacle—in rebooking the whole trip, we found business class award seats from Montreal to Tokyo. 🥳

We started off with an evening walk from our hotel down to and along the waterfront, where we learned that Montreal was, at one time, the largest port in N. America. First impressions: clean, a spectacular church every few blocks, and a cold wind that WILL cut straight to your bones. Next trip we’re for sure trying the Spa Boat!

Day 2 was a sunny & gorgeous 65 degrees, perfect for our chef’s tour through Jean Talon market. In summer it hosts 150 stalls open 7 days a week. You know what late April in Montreal is not? Summer. 😕 So basically we walked around the edge of the yet-to-awaken market, shopping for our dinner ingredients that evening. We did have a few delightful bites of North African merguez sausage and a beef hand pie with cinnamon & ground almonds, plus divine Chinese soup dumplings and fried dumplings stuffed with shredded lamb and oozing with lamb fat. Chef Rob has a very diverse culinary background and shared a ton about the past and present of Montreal’s culinary scene. Also, it was super fun counting the number of famous people name drops, failed attempts to share a relatable anecdote or otherwise get a word in edgewise. 🤐

Needless to say, we were a little trepidatious about a private dinner featuring more of Chef Overtalker but we’d prepaid so off we went. Another lovely walk through the city to arrive at his very stylish apartment, filled with gorgeous smells and a few plaintive meows from behind the bedroom door. Oh boy.

Well…..Dinner. Was. Incredible. Chef Rob chose to highlight the emerging ethnicities in Montreal and nailed it—Korean caprese, Caribbean pork belly, Persian white asparagus, & Thai duck curry & duck w/ mushroom broth, all topped off with a Quebecois composed cheese course. He layered flavors in perfect balance, along with a cider or wine pairing for each course, including a lovely bottle of Sauternes I’d been saving for a special occasion.

Did you know Duck could taste like the most amazing piece of filet mignon you’ve ever had?

P.S. Chef Rob was much more relaxed and engaging in the kitchen. Especially once his meows were let out (he checked with us first) and turned out to be two Cornish Rex cats that are THE friendliest, most human-loving little cuddle bugs. Might be one of those in our future…IF we ever settle down. ❤️Read more