Brewery Spotlight: Dieu du Ciel!, Montreal, Canada

02/10/201502/10/2015wareontheglobe Leave a comment

Since I am visiting two breweries in New Jersey this weekend (Spellbound Brewing and Village Idiot Brewing Company), I decided to have a new feature here – brewery spotlights! These posts will be short musings of breweries and/or brewpubs that I have visited!

First up, one of my favorites, Dieu du Ciel! in Montréal, Canada. Dieu du Ciel! (loosely translated to God in the sky! or Oh my God!) is a small brewery based outside Montréal. The microbrewery is located in St. Jérôme (which I have never visited). However, Dieu du Ciel! runs a small brewpub in the Mile End area of Montréal. There it is – blurry picture!

While a small Montréal brewery, Dieu du Ciel! bottles, exports and is well recognized in the beer community and non-beer community, especially there for their Rosée de Hibiscus, which is an wheat beer made with Hibiscus flower (in my opinion not their best or most interesting work). Aside from the Hibiscus beer, most of Dieu du Ciel!’s beers are quite strong, with lots of 7% + stouts and IPAs on the menu. The quality is very good and I generally enjoy most of Dieu de Ciel!’s beers!

At the brewpub, Dieu du Ciel! offers about 15 or so of its beers on tap and a few wines by the glass. The menu is written on a chalkboard and frequently changes. When I was there last I had a rosée ice cider! Very interesting, and very Montréal! For beer, you can order a variety of sizes and some bar snacks are available. The brewpub itself is fairly small, but I have never had a problem finding a table. It’s a very casual atmosphere and a fun place to go with friends!

Visit this Brewpub

Brasserie Artisanale (Brewpub) – 29 Laurier West, Montréal, Quebec, Canada. T: (514) 490-9555, ddc@dieuduciel.com. Hours: Monday – Thursday 3:00 p.m. to 3:00 a.m., Friday – Sunday 1:00 p.m. – 3:00 a.m.

On a Budget

Dieu du Ciel is not expensive.

Au Pied du Cochon: Exciting Quebecois Food in Montreal

30/09/201504/10/2015wareontheglobe 1 Comment

The picture above? That’s a pig’s head with a lobster!

Of all of the delicious, delicious restaurants in Montréal, I dare call this one my absolute favorite, and so do many others! Featured on most all top-Montreal restaurant lists, food blogs and a host of TV programs, including Anthony Bourdain and Andrew Zimmern, Au Pied du Cochon is chef Martin Picard’s Québéc tribute in Montréal. Au Pied du Cochon – or PDC as its sometimes referred to – features almost exclusively traditional Québécois cuisine (albeit with a modern twist). Fair warning: this place is not for vegetarians or those dieting.

I most recently visited PDC in July 2015. We made a reservation at 8:00 p.m. on a Sunday evening. The restaurant was packed. Definitely make a reservation a few weeks in advance.

The waitstaff all speak perfect English and are happy to translate the somewhat confusing menu (its confusing even in French), and they are not pretentious like some other Montréal restaurants recently featured on this blog.

After deciphering the menu and hearing the specials, we had a terribly difficult time picking one single dish. Luckily, there were three of us! As such, we split one main and a platter for two, and two very small appetizers!

First up, Foie Gras Cromesquis. $4 and described as a foie gras explosion in your mouth. Sold.

They were basically fried foie gras with a broth that really did “explode” upon biting into it. Very good. I will definitely order these again.

For our second starter, Dan ordered the tongue. He said it was great.

For our first main, we unexpectedly went off the menu. As we were preparing to order, we saw a cart going around in which it appeared that the waiters were mixing fresh gnocci in a cheese wheel. Yes, that’s what it was ! Change of plans, that was one of our mains, and a great choice. A sous-chef came over with the cheese wheel and mixed in gnocci and the makings of a very garlicly pesto, then mixed it in the cheese wheel. YUM! This was so delicious, and such a large plate!

For our second main, Dan really, really, really wanted to order the pig’s head. I acquiesced. This was by far one of the craziest things we have ever ordered, but Dan swears that this was one of his best meals ever! The cost was $90 (for 2 people), but you could easily split this between 4-6 people and then supplement with another entrée or appetizers.

The dish came on a baking sheet lined with mashed potatoes, asparagus and a number of other fresh vegtables. Then the pig’s head. It was an entire pig’s head that looked like a pig’s head. Through the middle, the largest lobster I have ever seen. This would have fed six people no problem (the dish is said for “2 people”). You just dig right in and it came with brown gravy and lobster bisque sauce on the side!

And yes, for those wondering, it was complete with brain and tongue. The entire dish was done really well. The asparagus were my favorite.

Finally, I had to order PDC’s famous duck fat fries!

Well not finally, we decided that our meal was so good that we could not pass up dessert. So we split the homemade bread pudding with maple. It was quite decadent and very dense, but delicious nonetheless! We had no problem finishing it!

To round out your meal, PDC has a good wine list with a number of bottles reasonably priced. They also make their own beer!

In short, we love this restaurant. PDC is a nice splurge that does not get too fancy. PDC is also a great opportunity to try some Québécois food. Final thoughts, this food is delicious but dense. I recommended not eating in the hours (or days!) leading up to this meal. You won’t regret it!

Steal Our Trip

Au Pied Du Cochon – 536 Duluth Est, Montréal (Québec), H2L 1A9. T: Tél: 514.281.1114. Fax: 514.281.1116, reservations@restaurantaupieddecochon.ca

I recommend making reservations 3-4 weeks in advance. We made ours about a month in advance and still had a bit of difficulty (although, it was prime tourist season!).

On a Budget

Montreal has many other great restaurants. Some of my favorite, less expensive options are Olive et gourmando and Juliette et Chocolat!

Further, PDC has a food truck and opens up a Sugar Shack outside Montréal in the winter. Check the website for time/location/cost.

Boozing in San Francisco

25/08/201525/08/2015wareontheglobe Leave a comment

Like deciding where to eat in San Francisco, deciding where to drink is also a tough one! Here are some of Dan and my favorites! Cellarmaker and Tonga Room & Hurricane Bar were particularly enjoyable!

Cellarmaker Brewing Company – My favorite of our drinking stops! Cellarmaker is a small brewery (no bottles/cans) in the Tenderloin neighborhood of San Francisco that specializes in small batch, speciality brews. The Tenderloin area, which has just the most awesome name, is not the safest part of San Francisco, but the brewery was not in a bad area. Cellarmaker consists of a small tasting room with a large TV showcasing the seasonal sporting event – in our case baseball! They do not serve food, just pints and growlers of beer. When we visited, Cellarmaker served a number of strong, interesting beers, many of which took advantage of West Coast hops. We loved Cellarmaker and would recommend it to anyone in the San Francisco area who enjoys beer! Here are some pictures:

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Stockholm’s Happening Beer Scene

29/07/201529/07/2015wareontheglobe Leave a comment

As you may have gathered, Dan and I are big craft beer fans, and I was super excited to read that Stockholm was quite the hot spot for craft beer. However, the reading I did before visiting did not portray the full extent of its popularity, including the popularity of American craft beer. Seriously, we found Brooklyn Brewery and Lagunita’s on tap almost everywhere. Brooklyn Brewery even opened a satellite brewery in Stockholm, Nya Carnegiebryggeriet.

It was pretty cool to see craft beer to popular in an unexpected place, and I think Stockholm deserves to be recognized as one of Europe’s big beer cities!

Here a few of my favorite craft beer spots in Stockholm! Not to be missed if you are craft beer fan!

AKKURAT

Akkurat is an awesome craft beer bar located in the Södermalm neighborhood, not too far of a walk from Gamla Stan. Akkurat serves drinks and meals, and also frequently has live music (and then it is crowded!). We went here one evening for a few drinks. The beer list is crazy! There are several tap lines and a seemingly endless bottle list, including a number of aged American craft beers…at a hefty price! See the price of the Dogfish 2009 World Wide Stout and yes, I’m talking to you, Mr. DeFlece.

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A Super Cool Name for a Super Cool Beer Tour!

02/06/201525/08/2015wareontheglobe Leave a comment

Its no secret that Dan and I love craft beer, and I try to visit at least one craft brewery everywhere we go! When researching Cape Town, I came across the Super Cool Beer Tour and obviously had to sign up! We were able to sign up online for the afternoon tour, between about 1 and 6, on a Friday afternoon, our last afternoon in Cape Town, and what a fun afternoon it was!

The afternoon started with a personal pick-up at our hotel by Louwrens, the head guy, who was super cool, like the tour = )

The tour started with a drive through town to Newlands Brewery, which is now a main stream brewery (read: non-craft) run by SABMiller. It makes common South African and international beers.

While not craft brewery, Newlands Brewery is still a cool spot to visit. There is a lot of history here and the grounds are quite the production. We walked around a bit and saw some old cars and then moved into the tasting room for a tasting of about six beers, which included a wide variety of the “big beers” produced at the brewery such as Castle, Flying Fish (a shandy-type beer) and Pilsner Urquell. After, we got to select a pint of our choice to enjoy in the lovely outdoor beer garden! I went with the Castle Stout!

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