Happy New Year everyone! I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and a delightful New Year’s Eve, and have by now broken all of your resolutions and gotten that out of the way. Just kidding. Though I have to tell you this northeast cold snap after temperatures in the 50’s and 60’s is sapping any inclination I had to go outside and get some exercise.

I must say if you’re going to drink tequila shots Patron is not a bad way to go. And truth be told, a shot of tequila is about 1/6th of what I put in one of my margaritas so I figured Steve would be OK for a while.

We had a lot of fun get-togethers around the holidays. We celebrated our friend Jinx’s retirement with a dinner party the weekend before Christmas (with a punch bowl of Mai Tai’s because nothing says “Christmas” like Mai Tai’s), spent Christmas Eve at The Chipman Inn in Ripton with Steve’s family and friends Marty and Carol from Robert Frost Mountain Cabins, and hosted Tony Clark of The Blueberry Hill Inn and his family at The Chipman Inn for Christmas dinner.

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And then headed to Montreal for our 14th wedding anniversary. Tony’s son, Oliver goes to McGill and asked us what we were planning to do in Montreal. “Eat,” I replied.

The weather was supposed to be chilly but clear, at least according to The Weather Channel on December 22nd. But by the time we headed north from Ripton the temperatures plummeted and Montreal was expecting 10 inches of snow the day after our arrival. Thankfully we’d opted for a boutique hotel in the old city, within walking distance of the restaurants we’d planned to visit. But the first order of the day when we crossed the border was to get to Schwartz’s Deli for lunch. Schwartz’s has been smoking meat in Montreal with the same spice recipe since 1928. I’d not been there for a very long time and wanted Steve, who is always up for a good deli sandwich to experience the best smoked meat in Canada. It came with a 40-minute wait in the frigid air, but in my opinion was worth it. Smoked meat on soft rye with mustard, half sour pickles and homemade French fries. Life is good.

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We were early for our check-in at the Hotel Nelligan, so we had a drink at the lovely bar off the lobby and I learned a new trick. They use McCormick’s Montreal Steak Seasoning on the rim of their Bloody Mary’s. Delicious!

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The old hotel building had lots of exposed stone and brick, wrought iron, muted colors and nicely appointed rooms and baths. Classical music was playing in our room when we arrived. It was early enough to explore a bit, and Steve had already found one music store while we waited at Schwartz’s, so we scouted out a couple more within walking distance and checked them out, too. Interesting stuff, but with nothing that jumped into his arms and said, “buy me!” we ambled back to the hotel, passing the magnificent Basilique de Notre Dame at dusk.

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We’d been eating lots of red meat over the holidays; pot roast for Jinx’s party, a ham on Christmas Eve, and lamb shanks on Christmas day, not to mention Montreal Smoked Meat at lunch so it was time for some fish. Kyo Bar Japonais was our destination for dinner, and their sushi did not disappoint. They had a multi-page Saki list, which would have been impressive I’m sure if I knew anything about Saki. Their Kyo Maki with Crab, avocado, takuan, tobiko, spicy mayo, lychee, strawberry, and tuna sounded outrageous but tasted sublime. And they had a jumbo shrimp appetizer with wasabi that we thoroughly devoured (along with other sushi and sashimi). We finished up with a chocolate bread pudding with a matcha tea sauce that blew us away. It was more like a chocolate cake that had been used to make a bread pudding, so it was dense with chocolate, eggy and smooth, and the green tea sauce gave it an unexpected but subtle flavor. I wonder how many people are frightened of the combination and never try the dessert? They are missing out. You know the waiter was happy with the total tab and potential tip when he brings two shots of plum wine as an after dinner drink, on the house.

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On our actual anniversary I was able to book an insider’s tour of Notre Dame. The beautiful Basilica with its 7000 pipe organ and its entire interior made of wood instead of stone was the site of many recent high profile weddings (Celine Dion) and funerals (Pierre Trudeau) but has been a parish in a building on or near its current site since the late 1600’s. It has an interesting history and many important works of art, stained glass windows and statuary, many of the statues carved of wood and some painted to look like marble. The altar is magnificent. There is a chapel behind the altar where the rest of the mere mortals can have their weddings and funerals, as not everyone needs 3000 seats for their life events. An organ concert followed the tour. All in all it was a lovely way to spend a couple of very snowy hours in Montreal.

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Our last meal in the city was our anniversary dinner at what had been one of my favorite steakhouses, Gibby’s. The last time I was in Montreal I was supposed to dine there with my friend Tom, but breaking my leg on a white water rafting trip which sent multiple people to the hospital that day delayed our arrival back in Montreal, so this return to Gibby’s was on hold for 15 years.

Gibby’s is located in what is called the Youville Stables which is part of a series of buildings that belonged to the Sisters of Charity, (or Grey Nuns), founded by Marguerite d’Youville, the first Canadian saint. The solidly built stone building has exposed beams, cozy fireplaces and historically garbed wait staff, and it felt as though we’d wandered back into the 1700’s.

Gibby’s serves the standard steakhouse fare, with old-school appetizers like Oysters Rockefeller and Escargot. We ordered rib eye steaks with twice baked potatoes to follow up those appetizers, and they celebrated our anniversary with a peaches and cream cake, complete with candle and sentiment, along with flaming coffee drinks!

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On the short walk back to the hotel we encountered our hotel bartender, Christopher, now off duty and grabbing a smoke outside the hotel’s other restaurant which doubles as a hopping nightclub after dinner. He was with a gorgeous blond, a native Quebecoise, whom he’d just met. Her boyfriend was partying inside. We’d mentioned earlier in the day it was our anniversary and the now pretty much hammered Christopher thought it was really important that we join him and his new friends for tequila shots to celebrate. Since we’d figured out how to sneak through the back of this particular restaurant to get to our rooms we felt we could make a getaway if need be, so we allowed our very lubricated friend to escort us inside.

I must say if you’re going to drink tequila shots Patron is not a bad way to go. And truth be told, a shot of tequila is about 1/6th of what I put in one of my margaritas so I figured Steve would be OK for a while. So I was able to capture Steve and his new BFF Christopher, the hot blonde, and the bartender before we made our escape after shot number three. Who says old married people can’t party?

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Happy New Year, Bonne Annee, e Feliz Año Nuevo to All!

Deborah