Today was the foodiest day of this trip. I’m stepping out of order here, but I want to put it out there that I did try poutine. I asked Chef Rob where the best poutine in the city is and he told me it was at Alwyn’s in the Atwater Market.

I gotta say, this poutine certainly looks tastier than the pale brown dripping-with-gravy version I have seen elsewhere. But I also gotta say, I didn’t like it. I tried five – yes! five! – bites and threw the rest away. I don’t know what I didn’t like because it didn’t really taste like anything. I’m debating whether to suggest to Chef Rob that he try a few more poutine places.

So now to backtrack. I started this no-electricity, no-wifi day with window light – quite nice actually – except for the bathroom which was pitch black. The good news is the elevators worked. About a block from my hotel is the Notre-Dame Basilica of Montreal, built between 1824 and 1829. Restoration work is ongoing to keep the building whole. The interior is quite stunning and I can imagine praying here and feeling quite a part of something spiritual.

Having cleansed my soul, I headed to the Jean Talon Market for a food tour with none other than Chef Rob! Two other women, both devotees of Chef Rob, joined me. (I know they are devotees because they have gone to all the too-expensive-for-me restaurants that he recommended and are having the Edible Other dinner club experience on Wednesday.)

On the tour we tasted three groups of food. First were breaded and fried stuffed things (I can’t remember what he called them, maybe you can tell from the photo), then baklava and egg tart with a local tourtière thrown in, and finished with cheese and fruit. Chef Rob was quick to point out that tourtière was not discovered by the Québécois as many claim. It dates back to very early Persia.

Chef Rob also raves about the Jean Talon Market. It has more vendors than most markets (160-180) who stock produce from their own land and who charge less that middle class supermarkets for the same product. Everything looked beautiful, for sure.

I finished up this foody day with dinner at Rôtisserie La Lune, a tribute to Québécois rotisserie cooking. The smallest order was a half chicken which came with a mountain of french fries (more french fries! 🤪) and a dish of cole slaw. Definitely a sharing dish!

I feel like I have eaten my way through these five days and look forward to the next part of this journey with its emphasis on shooting gannets. I leave tomorrow for Percé and if everything works out an Uber will pick me up at 6 am to take me to Montreal’s new second airport, and another Uber will pick me up in Gaspé to take me to Percé. Fingers crossed the stars will align.

À bientôt en Gaspésie. 😊