The plan for Labor Day was to head up to NH to play golf for a couple days, and then I would drive up to Montreal while the rest of my friends headed back to NY because they have jobs and whatnot (suckers!). On the way up, I stopped at Mohegan Sun with Gar. He was telling me he had a terrific meal at a lobster shack there the last time he went. Cool, I thought. When we got there, it was even cooler than I had realized. The lobster shack he was referring to was Summer Shack, Jasper White’s restaurant! Back in my Boston days, Jasper’s was hands down the best seafood restaurant in town, from the day it opened right up until White suddenly closed it in the mid-90’s. That to me was like a sports star retiring at the top of his game and depriving us fans of the opportunity to continue enjoying his work. A few years later he went on to consult for Legal Seafoods, adding some interest and flare to their previously staid menu, but it still wasn’t the same as Jasper running his own restaurant. Then, just like today’s sports stars, he came out of retirement to open Summer Shack in Cambridge, a casual family oriented seafood restaurant. I had no idea that he had gone on to open a branch in the Mohegan Sun as well! When I saw the sign, all I could think about was Jasper’s pan roasted lobster. A lobster split in half, started on the stovetop, blasted in the broiler, then finished with a cognac butter sauce made in the same pan with lots of chopped chives and chervil. It was probably his most famous dish from the old days, made even more famous by Julia Child who was known to order that same dish every time she visited Jasper’s restaurant. So I was of course delighted when that dish was in fact on the menu at Summer Shack in the Mohegan Sun. Tasting that cognac butter sauce I had my own Anton Ego moment, taking me back to my days in Beantown. And if that were not enough, as I looked across the room and into the kitchen, who do I see? Jasper White himself! Albeit a much gaunter Jasper than in the old days, but it was unmistakably the man himself. I know Uncasville isn’t that far from Boston, but still, I was really surprised to see him at that location. No wonder that lobster tasted exactly the same as in my younger days! Wow. A great start to the long weekend.

Up in NH, we had our share of good eats too. From the great coffee and breakfast sandwiches at Half Baked Fully Brewed to the incredible value of the $6 escargot apps and enormous racks of lamb at the Common Man. And for our golf bet on the second day the losing team had to prepare dinner, so we were treated to a hearty meal consisting of a beef roast, garlic mashed potatoes, pasta and veggies courtesy of Kat, Gar, Judy and Dan.

From there I made my way up to Montreal, but first getting fully interrogated at the Canadian border. This was a treatment I actually got going both ways across the border, and in retrospect, I realize that the border guards are working off of a script and for every one of their questions, I probably answered with precisely the wrong answers as far as raising suspicion is concerned-

Q: What is the purpose of your trip?
A: Sight seeing.

Q: How long will you be staying?
A: One day, maybe two.

Q: Who do you know in Montreal?
A: Nobody.

So I had to pull my vehicle over, turn over the keys to an inspection team while I went inside to answer questions from a customs agent. Wonderful. The whole ordeal took about half an hour, and I was annoyed. Even worse, those Frenchie fockers took everything out of my trunk and packed it back in with my graphite shafted golf clubs on the bottom and my golf bag and suitcase on top of them! What assholes! At least on my way back into the U.S., the American border guys handled my belongings with care.

So my Canadian adventure wasn’t off to a good start and the rest of the day wasn’t any better. I ended up checking into my hotel only to find that they had no wireless, so I had to turn on international data roaming on my iPhone to get web access. More on that later. Anyway, I used google maps to plot my way to Au Pied de Cochon, the restaurant I had been looking forward to trying. When I got there however, I was turned away because I didn’t have a reservation, and even though I was just a single, it was 6p on a Sunday night, and the restaurant was open until midnight, they still could not accommodate me. Wonderful. I ended up eating at some little bistro and had some beef tartare and a seared fish dish; decent but not memorable. Went back to my hotel disappointed, and didn’t even bother venturing back out to check out Montreal’s famous strip clubs. I just stayed in my room scoping Yelp reviews, planning what I would do the following day.

I got up early, too early to do any serious eating, so I decided to take a 3 hour bus tour from the hotel. It was cool, I got to see all the usual touristy things, got a better sense of the size of the city, and more importantly worked up a decent appetite. After the tour, I headed straight to Schwartz’s deli, a place recommended to me by my old boss, and with tremendous reviews on Yelp. As I got there, probably 1:30pm, this was the scene:

The line on the right is for takeout, the line on the left is for a seat inside. It took about half an hour for a seat at the counter to open up, but boy, it was certainly worth the wait and lived up to the hype. Here’s what I ordered, the quintessential Schwartz’s lunch:

It’s a “smoked meat sandwich, medium fatty” with a cherry soda and half sour pickles. It may look modest, but I assure you, it is as good as a sandwich gets. Better than the pastrami at Katz’ and that is saying something. Here, let’s take a closer look at this beauty:

Look at the spices, the ideal smear of mustard, look at the perfect, and I mean perfect combination of lean and fat. The seasoning is as good as it gets too, not too salty, just a little peppery and just enough of an accent to that magnificent smoked meat. If you visit Montreal, you simply have to go to Schwartz’s.

With a full belly, I wanted to take a nap, but when I got back to my hotel, the maids were just about to service my room, so I decided to head back out. Where to? Casino de Montreal. It was only about a $15 cab ride from downtown. Not the fanciest casino I’ve ever seen, but certainly nice. Several gaming floors and restaurants on the upper level. I played blackjack for a few hours, just to kill time until I got hungry again, and ended up getting lucky and winning $1000. I decided to take my winnings upstairs and find a nice place to eat. I browsed the menu at Nuances, a fancy looking restaurant which offered a 5-course tasting menu that included a foie gras course. That sounded good to me. So I walked in and asked for a table for one. The maitre d’ informs me that they do not allow shorts in the restaurant. I look down, and I am indeed dressed like a skateboarder with cargo shorts, loud sneakers and a t-shirt. He politely informs me that they do have pants for me if I would like to change. Cool. That was the first time I’d ever had to do that sort of thing, and I must say, I still looked ridiculous after I changed- black dress pants, red t-shirt with brown and yellow New Balance track shoes. Even better, my pants pockets were bulging because I had transferred all the stuff that was in my cargo shorts’ pockets including my camera, iPhone, wallet, keys, and a fat wad of cash in two currencies (I had also won a grand at Mohegan on the way up). Good thing the dining room was mostly empty because I certainly looked like a clown.

The food at Nuances was surprisingly good. First course was a couple of plump pieces of lobster in a white gazpacho. It was an elegant dish with a good balance of flavors; a great first course for sure. Next up was this beauty of a foie gras dish:

Perfectly seared foie gras with rhubarb and sauced with a duck jus. Duck jus over foie gras is just the kind of overkill I appreciate. I loved it so much that I called the waitress over to make a special request. I asked if the chef could make me another foie gras preparation after my entree but before dessert. I figured I would order my dessert wine after the entree so I could enjoy it with another slab o’ foie gras as well as my dessert. I said I’d prefer if the chef could do a different variation, but if not, the same rhubarb one would be fine.

Next up in the tasting was this black cod dish:

I loved this dish, not so much because of the cod, which was perfectly cooked, but because of the brilliant pairing with sea beans. I love sea beans and we just don’t see them nearly enough. They have that perfect natural saltiness that matches well with just about anything but especially with a fish as rich and buttery as black cod. The sauce of pepper puree was a nice touch as well. A well thought out and well executed dish on all counts.

For the entree, Nuances served something else that is rarely seen these days- saddle of lamb. Everybody does rack of lamb or lamb chops, but you just don’t seen people do the saddle very much, maybe because it’s a little harder to butcher properly. In any case, they serve it at Nuances and it is good. Very good:

The beauty of the saddle is that you get that marvelous layer of fat along with the meat, which when cooked properly like it was here, becomes slightly caramelized on the outside, is mildly gamey just under the caramelization, and gives you just the most decadent bite of meat and fat in every morsel. This dish was every bit as delicious as the foie gras dish. And as you can see by the execution of the vegetables, they take great care in every aspect of every dish. Great stuff.

Next up was the additional foie gras course I requested. And sure enough, the chef came up with a different variation, equally delicious, this time with slices of pear and jerusalem artichoke two ways (a puree and chips):

I paired it with a Moscatel from Portugal which went well, especially with the pear in the dish. And it also matched well with the killer dessert which was a vanilla parfait filled with a berry coulis and topped with fresh berries. I’m glad it wasn’t an overly rich dessert because the saddle of lamb and two foie gras courses left me wanting something a little lighter and that parfait totally hit the spot. It was an excellent tasting menu all around and the service was superb to boot (especially considering that I walked in dressed like a punk and was seated dressed like a clown).

So that was my extended Labor Day weekend. I returned to NY the following day only to find my iphone data service was no longer working. I called AT&T customer service to find out what was wrong and was told that I had excessive international data roaming usage. How much? TWO THOUSAND DOLLARS WORTH!!! Hahahaha, oh man. I can laugh about it now only because they were able to add an international plan to my account to avoid that absurd charge, but I assure you it was not the least bit funny at the time. Note to self- when traveling to Canada, think of better answers to border guards’ questions and do not turn on international data roaming under any circumstances!