The Poutine Tornado

You gotta check this out! Step-by-step instructions on how to make this Poutine Tornado. brought to you by the Montreal Blog. Click here to get your instructions. And if you make it before I do, please let me know how it turns out!

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

Poutine for the People

Portland, Oregon has figured it out! Poutine for the People has seven different restaurants involved, creating seven different poutines with partial proceeds going to a cancer centre. Poutine for health! You rock, Portland.

28 pix of poutine from BuzzFeed

You just gotta see these photos of poutine on the BuzzFeed site. Click here and you'll have an instant craving for poutine...

Albatross & Co.

Guess who's back with a review. Yep! It's Jack D'Mestiere. Read on... 

Me and Dolly-Girl weren't gettin' wet enough in Stumptown, so we decided to head to Astoria for a good dousing at what Clark & Lewis called the "Dismal Nitch."  "Jack, I hear there's a new eatery over there that's supposed to be pretty darned good. It's called the Albatross, I think." She doesn't get worked up a lot over feedbags so that sure got my attention even though I thought an albatross was some sort of neck wear. "Let's me and you give it a try!"

Found the joint on 14th Street, right downtown. I was thinkin' that it is either a big town or really short blocks, but you aren't readin' this 'cause you want to know about Astoria. We settled in, ordered a couple to take the chill off and had a look at the WhatWeGotForYou. Right off I saw "Poutine" and figured I might give it a try, even though the quotes seemed, well, it is a long way to Chicoutimi...

I asked Missy what was up with it and she said it was "like oyster chowder and fries..." OK, I got that much. I decided to give it a try.

She was pretty much right on the mark with what she had to say. Cookie had taken some of yesterday's soup, made it a little thicker, tossed in some bacon (can't go wrong there), and poured it on some fries. They were crisp enough to hold up to that OK. Then he dropped some smoked oysters into the mix. "What's the matter, Jack?"  "No curds, DG..."  "The oysters are the curds, Jack. That's the reason for the quotes, I guess. Cute!" Might be cute if you ordered it, but I was thinkin' some curds would have been just the touch. "How do you rate it, Jack?"  "Good question. I guess 3.5 Oysters, but no curds means No Curds in my book, Dolly-Girl..."

Albatross, 225 14th St., Astoria, OR 97103

Tel. 503-741-3091

Waffle Poutine

A great idea for a cold day. From Jen in Prescott. Thanks Jen. Fun! 

  Here is a potato waffle poutine I made the other day.

 Grated potatoes, piled into a waffle iron, cooked to golden outside and tender inside. 

Topped with tiny squares of cheese and  bathed in leftover hot chicken gravy.
Comfort food for a cold, winter day.

Village Voice: Mile End Deli in NY

Check out this video clip about Poutine Week in NYC. Mile End Deli owner Noah Bernamoff talks about growing up in Montreal and eating his first poutine at Lafleur's. Click here to see it.

Bittercreek Alehouse

Another review from Jack D'Mestiere. Keep 'em coming, Jack!



If you are in Boise, Idaho, go to Bittercreek Alehouse for the beer, not the poutine. I couldn't resist. It looked good. It features turkey gravy and chunks of turkey. That was OK. Fries were a little old; perhaps the kitchen thinks "Since we are dumping gravy on them, why not use some fries that have been hanging around?" But the big problem? NDC. No detectable curds. How can I give it any curds for a score of it didn't have any? Melted cheese, yes, but NDC. so, I'm giving it a DNF--Did Not Finish, so no score. I did finish it, though, so it couldn't have been that bad. The BLT looked really top notch, by the way...
Bittercreek Alehouse, 24 North 8th Street, Boise, ID 83702 
Telephone: 208-429-6340
Website: bcrfl.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

Poutine comes to Berkeley!

Real poutine has finally made it to Berkeley. To read more about it, click here. I'll have to ask some of my western relatives to give it a try!

Washington Post: Poutine

The Washington Post's Plate Lab takes a look at poutine. Check out the link here.
On the link, there's also a nifty little video about one chef's version called Catalan poutine. Cool.

Vert Forchette

In beautiful downtown Vankleek Hill, Ontario is a charming little bistro called Vert Forchette. They have a great menu, full of all sort of yummy things but the three of us decided to try three of their poutines...

 I tried the Mexican poutine: Chili seasoned chicken, Pico de Gallo, avocado, St-Albert curds (the best!) and sour cream.

 Our Toronto visitor tried the pulled pork poutine. It was terrific. Pulled pork on curds and fries with a little coleslaw on top.

My adventuresome boyfriend tried the Mediterranean poutine. Dry cured sausage, sundried tomatoes, capers, olives, onions, tomatoes and local feta cheese (from Skoditakis farms, just down the road).

We all loved our poutine!! I think my favourite was the pulled pork poutine. It really rocked. But all in all, we loved our fancy poutines!

Vert Forchette, 117 Main St. E., Vankleek Hill, ON K0B 1R0
Phone: 613-678-3984

BBC: How Quebecois came to love poutine

BBC's website shares their view of why poutine is so popular. To read the entire article, click here.

Poutineville opens in Toronto

Imagine. All you can eat poutine? Too much of a good thing me thinks. Still, if you want to read more, here's the link to that Huffington Post Canada article. Click here.
To read about Poutineville in TO's blog click here.

Family Corner Restaurant

A review from Jen in Prescott. Thanks for this great review Jen! I'll have to give this a try!

Last week hubby and I tried out the butter chicken Poutine at the Family Corner Restaurant in Cornwall. French Canadian comfort food meets Indian comfort food. 

The creamy heat of butter chicken on a bed of warm and crisp fries with cheese to ease the heat rounded out the dish.

It was very hard to tell if real curds were used as they were covered with sauce but they were satisfyingly stringy and the whole thing worked quite well. 

We finished the dish and the large was perfect for two people to share. 

I give it four out of five possible curds as I wished the chicken was real roast chicken and I couldn't be certain if real curds were used. Yup, we would do it again!

You should know however that there is no Indian food served on Mondays. The chef's day off.

The Family Corner Restaurant, 900 Pitt St., Cornwall, ON K6H 6R3

Phone: 613-937-3573

Montreal Poutine

A review from Alisha who was visiting Montreal. Thanks Alisha!

The poutine was delish. The French fries were fresh cut and fried to crispy perfection...the gravy was okay but not hot enough...the cheese curds were really, really good.

Hmmm...sounds to me like a four out of a possible five curds...losing a point for coolish gravy. But having the poutine as a side to the hot dog was a fab idea! Montreal steamie and a poutine. You can't miss!

Montreal Poutine, 161 rue St. Paul E., Montreal, QC H2Y 1G8
Phone: 514-656-0935
Website: montrealpoutine.ca/site/

Perogie poutine at Beau's Oktoberfest

Oh yeah baby! There we were in Vankleek Hill at Beau's Oktoberfest and with the myriad of food offerings, we HAD TO try the Barley Mow's perogie poutine.

The perogies could have been hotter but the combo of cheesy perogies, curds and gravy really worked well. Adding caramelized onions and bacon? Fabulous! Hard to rate on my curd scale because it's so exotic and hard to compare with a run-of-the-mill poutine but...we gave it a 4 out of 5 possible curds. Maybe a 4.5 because of the addition of extra-crisp bacon.

American wins Canadian poutine-eating championship

To read the whole article, click here.

Hole-E Burger Bar

This poutine review comes from a faithful follower, Sarah. Thanks for the heads up Sarah!

Steve and I recently tried out Hole-E Burger Bar in our neighbourhood (East York), and added a a side of poutine to our burgers and beers.

The fries were crisp and well-cooked, and there were lots of authentic cheese curds. The gravy was really thick, almost too much so, and had a very intense, heavy beef flavour. I felt like it overpowered the curds and fries. My rating: 3.5 out of a possible 5 curd rating.

On a side note: the burger bar had fun decor, and the manager/owner was extremely friendly. We'll be returning!

Hole-E Burger Bar, 1050 Coxwell Ave, Toronto, ON M4X 3G5

Tel. 647-349-9200

Website: www.holeeburger.com

Ramen poutine?

To read more about this fabulous looking concoction, click here: FoodBeast

Map: Poutine made with St. Albert curds

This clever map helps one to discover where you can find poutine made with St. Albert curds.
Looks like most of the places are in Quebec. St. Albert makes fabulous curds, very squeaky and perfect on poutine. To read more about cheese made by St. Albert, go to their website: fromagestalbert.com/

Bonita's Cantina

 At the Williamstown Fair this weekend we came across Bonita's Cantina...

 ...a Mexican food truck that travels from fair to fair.

 They had a nice menu but we just had to try the Mexican poutine.

 Love the t-shirt!

The poutine was "topped with slow cooked shredded pork, chipotle gravy and caramelized onions." Not for poutine purists but seriously, it was terrific. Best fries I've had in a long time. They had their skins on and were crispy on the outside, soft on the inside. The gravy had a real bite to it. Great onions. The whole thing was totally delicious. The only place where they might have lost a point was not using curds, but shredded cheese instead. But...they gained a point by using biodegradable bowls (cardboardy type things) instead of styrofoam.

I give them a five out of a possible five curds. Loved this poutine!

Here's a link to their website: bonitascantina.com

Restaurant Elisanne

 The other day we decided to head over to St. Isidore and try Restaurant Elisanne.

Inside it's really nice, bright and clean offering a full menu including pizzas and burgers.

But we were there to try the poutine! We ordered a large one to share.

 It was really very large and hot and dripping with goodness.

We split the large platter and it was plenty of food for lunch. The fries were very well done, just the way I like them. Real curds. Very hot, tasty gravy. Overall, very good poutine. Four and a half curds out of a possible five. Yummy!

Restaurant Elisanne, 4530 Ste Catherine, St. Isidore, ON K0C 2B0
Phone: 613-524-1113

Big Cheese Poutinerie

Poutine goes big in Chicago. Read the Huffington Post's story here.

La Patate du Coin

 It was the first really warm day of spring and we decided to celebrate...

 ...time to have our first poutine of the year, eaten in the great outdoors.

 We stopped in on our way to a sculpture show...and were surprised to see brochures advertising our destination...with all the condiments!

 We decided to share a medium poutine. It was absolutely fabulous!

 Hot gravy, not too salty. Squeeky, fresh curds. Well cooked and yummy fries. A definite 5 out of 5 curds. Just a delightful poutine!

They had a wonderful spot to eat with several clean picnic tables and even a grackle or two looking for a handout. Well done La Patate du Coin!

La Patate du Coin, 1299 Labrosse, St-Eugene, Ontario K0B 1P0
Phone: 613-674-1616

Jimmy Fallon eating poutine!

Saw this on my Facebook feed today. Apparently Mr. Fallon is a Rangers fan...but as a nod to the Canadiens, is having a poutine? Hmmm. Go Habs Go!