Coltivare

 On vacation last week, we headed for Ithaca, NY to Coltivare to try their poutine.

 The restaurant is basically built into a parking garage but despite that,
it's very bright and open.

 We ordered the duck poutine and dug in. Great fries that were nice and crispy. Big problem: See any curds? They were on the bottom, under the fries (?)

We all loved the flavour of the gravy but it lost points for being just too darn thick. Overall, the average of three judges gave it a 3.5 curds out of  a possible five. 

 Am I allowed to show this on a poutine blog? Grilled romaine. We had this as a side as a healthy part of our lunch.

And I'm just throwing this in there...just loved the bathroom signs. Ladies room left, men's to the right and in between? Grant Wood's American Gothic. Thought it was kind of neat.

Coltivare Culinary Center, 235 S. Cayuga St., Ithaca, NY 14950

Tel. 617-882-2333

Website: coltivareithaca.com

Northstar Pub

Thanks to Pam for this review from Ithaca, NY.

Photo courtesy of son Joey Menzenski. 

We dined out last night at Northstar Pub, in Fall Creek, Ithaca, NY. Had the poutine! What a lovely surprise.  It was a combination of fries, brown gravy, curds (but not very many), and kimchi - what a neat combo!  The kimchi added a bit of a sweet/sour kick when not expected. I had several pieces of cabbage (1" square) to deal with, but a nice problem to have.

My hub insists there were many curds & I just didn't get them to share.  

Northstar Pub, 202 East Fall Street, Ithaca, NY 14850

Phone: 617-216-8580

Web: northstarpub.com

Hometown Cafe

Last week we headed to the Hometown Cafe in Norwood, New York...


...very close to the border with Canada.


It was croweded with lunch goers and I was delighted to see poutine on the menu.


So I ordered it.


I was disappointed that there were no curds but otherwise, the gravy was yummy and the fries crisp.


I guess a 3.5 out of 5. Pretty good.

Hometown Cafe, 3 N. Main Street, Norwood, NY 13668
Phone: 315-353-2852

Tail O' The Pup

I always wanted to go to this little joint, nestled in the Adirondacks halfway between Saranac Lake and Lake Placid in northern New York.


Tail O' The Pup just yells "summer" and thankfully last week it was still summery enough to sit outside and enjoy the ambiance.


How can you resist a place with a giant lobster?


The menu features smokehouse stuff but lookie here...


...upon further inspection, it had poutine!


And not too bad at that either. Waffle fries (a first for me I think) and delicious chicken gravy. The only place it fell short was the cheese...no curds but shredded mozzarella.


Still, Richard and I really enjoyed it and along with the wonderful atmosphere, helped rate this poutine as a 4 out of a possible 5 curds.

Tail O' The Pup, Saranac Lake on Rte. 86, Ray Brook, NY
Phone: 518-891-0777

Crespella Café

This review just in from my sis who lives in Ithaca, New York.
This newest entry to the Ithaca restaurant scene advertises itself as "Breakfast, lunch, and more." My co-poutiner, Kim Szpiro (another Canadian, originally from BC), was clever enough to notice that the "and more" included something called "Canadian Chips - hand cut French fries topped with brown gravy and cheese." Does that sound familiar? Yes, indeed, we thought we'd tracked down Ithaca poutine. So, after a quick trip to the gym for a spin class, to work off the anticipated calorie intake, we set off for lunch... or did we set off for "and more"?


The restaurant was quite nice, but empty... never a good sign in downtown Ithaca at lunchtime. The menu was, to put it mildly, startling! Neither of us had ever seen so much high-calorie, high-fat food on one menu. Triple BLTS with cheese, potato soup with bacon, cheese and sour cream... and ... Canadian chips...


We decided to share an order - at $6, we expected a hefty serving and felt that sharing was appropriate. What came to the table LOOKED LIKE poutine... it had lovely hand cut fries with the skin still on (we gave it a curd up for that), and a beefy gravy (Kim gave it a curd up for saltiness, I gave it a curd down for the same reason). The gravy was one step beyond gravy, though - it was gloppy gravy, if you know what I mean. To top off the dish - no curds, just mozzarella cheese. We know that true curds are hard to find here, but the cheese was a big curd down from both of us.


Our final assessment was 1.5 curds... we gave them something for trying, but hope they take it off the menu. Kim said "Why are they blaming a whole nation for that?"


While we were sitting in the silent restaurant, Kim googled Poutine Ithaca and found another restaurant around the corner that actually offers "real" poutine (plain and bacon). We are skeptical, since the description says "Fries, gravy, and cheddar cheese." But, we are going to give it a try. We will report back soon!

Your Ithaca Poutiners,
Marcia and Kim

Crespella Café, 113 S Cayuga St., Ithaca, NY 14850
Phone: 607-379-9825
www.crespellacafe.com

Cheese Fries at Neil's

While in New York City last week, we asked a few cops where we could grab a cup of coffee -- that wouldn't cost $5 a cup -- and they pointed us to Neil's.


It was only a few blocks away so we hopped over and found the joint. Great spot.


My niece Sylvie and I split an order of cheese fries. Not exactly poutine...


...but as close as we got on this visit. Yum!

NYC Tour de Poutine

I heard from Brendan Spiegel, one of the gang of folks who puts together Endless Simmer. Here's what they say about themselves. "We created endless simmer to satisfy our insatiable desire to think about food constantly. We’re basically somewhere between regular consumers of food pop culture and total snobs; we can just as easily enjoy offal or destroy a Dunkin Donuts (fake) egg and cheese croissant. Turn to endless simmer for all your food needs. We want to share our cooking stories, favorite shows, restaurant reviews and any other things we can think of that incorporate eating. Clearly, we just can’t keep our mouths shut."
Best of all, they've checked out places that serve poutine all across New York City. To read what they have to say, click here.

T-Poutine

Doesn't this poutine with bacon look tantalizing? It's from a joint called T-Poutine on the Lower East Side in New York City. Thierry Pepin, a fellow from Québec, decided to introduce poutine to New York and opened T-Poutine.


Look at all the varieties of poutine they offer (click image to enlarge). Everything from the classic to steak-covered to one called a Morning Glory that has bacon and egg on a poutine. Wow.


My only issue with T-Poutine is how they suggest it's pronounced. It says here, it's "poo-teen." If Thierry shows up around here and orders a "poo-teen" I'll just cringe. That might be okay in New York but locals here call it "poo-tin" (rhymes with chin). Don't ask for a poo-teen. It's a dead giveaway that you are a tourist.

In the meantime, if anyone goes to T-Poutine and can give it a review, please let me know and leave a comment.

Bear's Den

The other day my friend Susan and I headed over to the U.S.A. and stopped about an hour due south of here in Akwesasne Mohawk Territory at The Bear's Den Restaurant that has diner-style eating in the front and a more formal dining room in the back. They also have an extensive gift shop with a selection of native artwork.


I loved how their starters included Indian fried bread, Buffalo wings, quesadillas, nachos and there it was...poutine! I just had to give it a try.


I've never had a poutine with crinkle fries! It was actually a pretty yummy poutine. And for only $2.55 US. A bargain!


I paired it with a Mohawk Indian Corn Soup which was fantastic. Lots of white corn, red beans, squash, carrots, chicken, onions and cabbage in a lovely broth.


Susan, my friend (and aerobics teacher) ordered a simple salad...


...to go with her teeny, tiny poutine.


This poutine rated a 3.5 curds out of 5. It lost a full point for no curds but got points for crispy-ish fries and good, turkey gravy.

I also noticed that they offer something called a Kodiak Poutine: Grilled shaved steak, onion, green peppers topped off with cheese and fries. Hmmm. Maybe next time.

Bear's Den Restaurant, 425 State Road 37, Akwesasne Mohawk Territory via: Hogansburg, NY 13655
Phone: 518-358-2195
For detailed menu info and hours of operation, click here: bearsdentradingpost.com