Last night, we hit Au Pied de Cochon, a restaurant that easily makes my Top Ten list for its rustic Cuisine Quebecoise covering everything from foie gras and tongue to pig’s feet and bison ribs. Every visit is like going to a friend’s cottage for dinner, if you’re friend happens to be an outdoorsman with an affinity for down-home cooking – and a supper table so popular you often have to make reservations several weeks in advance.
One of the other restaurants in the neighborhood. Looks more interesting on the outside than does its menu.
Our destination on this night, and my favorite restaurant in Montreal: Au Pied de Cochon
Ready for business. Note the cuffs.
I was especially looking forward to this visit because, according to my sister, PDC had added a whole confit pig head for two to the menu. How would it compare to the one I enjoyed at Refuel only weeks back? Well, sis told me not to get my hopes up. It was very possible that the pig head was no longer on the menu. When we sat down, it was the first thing I looked for and – success! – there it was. Thrilled, I placed our order – only to learn they were out. I was crushed, but managed to drown my sources in an alternate feast…
Packets of liquid foie gras deep-fried loveliness.
Always my favorite: the tarragon bison tongue. You've never had tongue this tender!
Another favorite: the Guinea Hen liver mousse.
The Cipaille: a meat pie stuffed full of hare, duck and other game. Possessed a wonderful cinnamon-accented flavor, but I found the meat a little dry.
The fabulous foie-gras stuffed pig's feet.
One of the top ten desserts in the world: Au Pied de Cochon's Pouding Chomeur is always served bubbling hot.
A special dessert timed to coincide with the restaurant's cabane a sucre: Maple Syrup Ice Cream with maple syrup meringue and maple syrup cotton candy. Delicieux!
Today marks my last day in Montreal until next time (whenever that is). Since I’m catching a late flight out (6:10 p.m.), I had time to drive mom down to see her sister, my Aunt Grace.
My Aunt Grace - a fitness fanatic. She wakes up early and works out for an hour and a half every morning!
Aunt Grace is also known for her baking skills and her incredible nut-themed creations.
Mom enjoys a piece of her sister's home made cake.
My uncle Nino, soccer fanatic. Forza Italia!
Looks like I have some time to squeeze in a few of your mailbag questions before my flight:
dasNdanger writes: “The Eli thing…just wondered if he was so concerned after the fact, why didn’t Young specify exactly what message he wanted Eli to send to the aliens?”
Answer: I think that simply demonstrated the trust Young has in Eli.
Sean D. writes: “Any chances of seeing any pineapples in SGU (on Earth or elsewhere)?”
Answer: The pineapple was a recurring theme in Will Waring-directed episodes, but it’s highly unlikely pineapples will be putting in an appearance on SGU.
dasNdanger writes: “Woo! The Eagles traded McNabb to the Redskins.”
Answer: Well, isn’t that interesting. Even more interesting was him trumpeting the fact that he helped bring Vick to the team – essentially facilitating his own replacement.
crayonbaby writes: “I don’t think you’ve ever told us who won in Ashleigh’s bracket? Did she pick Duke?”
Answer: She didn’t. In fact, nobody in our pool picked Duke.
fsmn36 writes: “Ok, my one thought with Space was…the aliens cut holes into Destiny, and there was a vacuum that sucked out Chloe…how was that entire section of the ship not airlocked? Presumably the shields are somehow keeping in all the oxygen in despite the gaping holes? But then how did the ship land in the first place? Sorry, I don’t usually ask random questions as though I’m trying to say you did something wrong (because I’m not!), but that just kind of confused me.”
Answer: Once the alien ship compromised that section of the hull, the area started to decompress, resulting in Destiny sealing off that particular corridor until the shield could re-seal the breech – which only happened after the alien ship had left.
Fred writes: “Years ago, my mom went to Australia, where she bought what she considers the best potato peeler in vegetable history.”
Answer: Funny you should mention this. I was just marveling over my mom’s ancient potato peeler. It bests any modern version by far.
Tim Lade writes: “a) I have been watching Atlantis for the first time and a random question occured to me: Why does Teyla bother to wear an Atlantis uniform and Ronon does not? Is it because Ronon is too cool for it?
b) If could could go back and change one decision you creatively made over the past many years of production of the SG franchise what would you choose? It’s cool if you don’t have one I was just wondering.”
Answers: a) Teyla was more of a “team player”. While she was always proud of her Athosian roots, she embraced the new chapter in her life by adopting the Atlantis team uniform. Ronon, on the other hand, spent so much time as a loner that he chose to fiercely guard his independence – even when he was part of the team.
b) Off the top of my head, the one creative decision we made that I came to dislike over time was the inclusion of the Earth ships retrofitted with Asgard tech. It made things a little too easy in some major instances (ie. making Pegasus more accessible thereby losing the sense of isolation established early on, the beaming technology offering an easy in and out for many dicey scenarios) which, in turn, made things a lot more complicated from a dramatic standpoint.
Morticae writes: “Looks like we are backing different individuals on Survivor. I was elated when your guy was voted off. Seemed to me he tried relying too much on his prior Survivor stardom to attract a social alliance that he didn’t even bother to keep together.”
Answer: Disagree. He was a brilliant strategist. If everyone had voted like he instructed them to vote the previous week, things would have gone very differently. He was also brilliant when it came to puzzle challenges. He will be missed.
step writes: “In light of yesterday being Easter, easily one of the most important holidays to a great deal of Western Civilization (a happy belated to everyone) it occurred to me that I could not recall having seen any religious celebrations on SG-1 or SGA – not even Christmas or Easter.”
Answer: It’s something we never explored in the previous two shows. However, we are exploring the issue of faith in SGU.
Annie writes: “Just wondering. Any word on an SGA movie???”
Answer: Still no word and I don’t expect to hear anything either way for a while. Trust me, the hold up has nothing to do with a lack of desire on anyone’s part.
PG15 writes: “
A big debate going on at Gateworld at the moment is what Young’s intentions were near the end of the episode, when he ordered Eli to continue to fire on the alien ship, despite the fact that the latter was retreating. A lot of people are saying (as some have said here) that it was Young’s last ditch effort to silence Rush once and for all.
I disgree with this; if Young really wanted to off Rush, then why didn’t he do it when he found him on the alien ship? Furthermore, why would he volunteer to go back in after he was brought back by the mind probe thing? No, it doesn’t add up.
What was your intention behind writing that bit? Why would Young continue to fire on the alien ship even though the aliens were retreating? And why did Young say “I have no choice!”?”
Answer: No way I’m answering this one. You’ll have to tune in and see how things develop on the Young-Rush front. On the one hand, it may well be that he regretted the decision to abandon Rush and wanted to make amends by saving Rush from the tank – but then, faced with prospect of coming out on the losing end of the space battle, really had no choice but to order the “killing blow”. On the other hand, it could well be he only rescued Rush from the tank because he wanted answers (specifically where the aliens were keeping Chloe which is why he boarded the ship in the first place) and then, realizing he wasn’t going to be able to save Chloe in the end, ordered the final strike on the alien ship to eliminate Rush once and for all.
Joan001 writes: “…and where is Sis’s Siberian???”
Answer: Aspen is at home recuperating from a leg “condition”. They’re still running tests to find out what’s wrong with the poor guy.
Joanoo1 also writes: “How can TPTB explain an alien ship attaching itself to another and having to cut a hole into another ship when other technologies exist…?
2-> How can TPTB explain how Destiny can fly with a couple of holes in her, open to space elements, with no detriment to its passengers? Chloe’s father died because of leaks in the hull.”
Answer: The shield is alike a second skin covering the hull, but just like the hull is weak in some areas (and actually exposed to space), there are certain areas of the shield that are weak. In certain instances, there are areas in which both the hull and the shield are weak – like we saw in the premiere (ie. that second shuttle). As for how the alien ship was able to penetrate the shield to capture Chloe – prior to our arrival, Destiny’s automated defenses repulsed attacks but since we came aboard, we’ve been using power for everything from life support to weapons. This results in less energy available to ship’s defenses, resulting in weaker shield strength, particularly in already damaged sections of the ship. As for how the ship deals with decompressed sections – see my answer above.
Shadow Step writes: “So when they are under attack the best course of action is to fly into a star?”
Answer: Actually, yes – especially if they’re battling enemy ships that aren’t designed to do the same.
duneknight writes: “and another thing, why hasnt Rush targeted Eli yet? if he really wants to take Young down, he could easily do so by harming Eli in some way.”
Answer: Rush isn’t interested in doing anyone permanent harm, least of all Eli who he actually needs. Or does he?
Amz writes: “I’m starting to look for pa type work in Vancouver, and links or companies you could suggest for me to approach?”
Answer: To be honest, I’ve been insulated from the rest of the Vancouver entertainment industry. Since coming here 11 years ago, I’ve worked exclusively on Stargate. I’ll look into it for you though.
AV Eddy writes: “Why did the alien body/Young conscience react in such pain when the mind reading device was put on him?”
Answer: It’s clearly a painful process.
