Friday, April 1, 2011

Montreal, part 1 - excuse moi!

I'm in the super cool city of Montreal. Yesterday I visited the Montreal Botanical Garden (photos to come) and got a real birds-eye view of the city at the top of the observation tower at the Olympic Stadium. The public transportation is easy and really convenient (and you're hearing this from a suburban mom who has been known to drive her SUV 5 houses down the street to pick up a kid). Along the way, I found a great little place for a quick bite at Anton and James. I had coffee and soup (did I mention it's really cold here?). I wanted to take a photo of the flaky croissants and giant muffin tops as a memento, but as I hit the button, a manager sent his teenaged worker running over to tell me, "No pictures!". Now in this day of blogging, isn't that sort of a short-sighted thing to do? I would imagine that any business who is proud of their product, who keeps a clean and attractive storefront, who is creative enough to craft new products, and who is humble enough to want new customers would delight in any free publicity, wouldn't you? I suppose the thought could be that I am a competing baker trying to steal ideas, and Anton and James is good, but not that good. I suppose I could have written a complimentary post with a photo that would make you drool for the buttery, flaky, carbs in the cases but instead, I'm scratching my head at the paranoia and just have one final thing to say to Anton and James - well excuse moi!! ******************************************* In more relevant news - don't forget to dust off your cookbooks. The spring Garden to Table Challenge will be starting in a few weeks! Stay tuned...

8 comments:

  1. Hi, Wendy
    I just found this site, and thought of you.
    http://www.digginfood.com
    The paranoiacs need to chill out and look into your eyes and ask themselves: is this a woman who would do me dirt?

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  2. I can't wait to hear more about Montreal-we will probably be there in late June for a wedding!

    Now I'm torn-do I go to Anton and James because they were good enough for you to want to blog about or do I not because they were lame??

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  3. You know, Wendy, it's funny. I was in an antique store with my friend and the manager told me that people come in and take photos of things then put them on Ebay. She was upset by this and at first I could understand but as I thought about it, I became more dismayed. If something sells on ebay from a photo and the photographer runs back to the antique store to buy it to resell it on ebay, why should the antique owner care? She sold the product and that was the goal all along, right? It makes no sense. Just as the owner wouldn't allow you to take photographs. It was free publicity. People are getting too paranoid or something.

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  4. Wow - definitely some paranoia going on there! Crazy. I hope the rest of your trip is wonderful. Keep warm!

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  5. Wendy, I'm glad you're enjoying your trip to my home town. Here's more food advice from a local:
    Get to any St Viateur bagel shop and buy some of the sesame. They are especially good hot from the oven. Try a classic Montreal smoked meat sandwich. And also go to Cote St Luc Barbeque (on Cote St Luc road right off Decarie in the city's west end - not out of the way!!!) and have their chicken and incredible fries. Ruby Rouge in Chinatown has great dim sum, too. All these food "musts" are inexpensive and very yummy. Now get out there and eat!

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  6. Sounds like you had a really good time. Sorry about the cold weather. Can't wait for the pics of this cool city ;-)

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  7. Hi Wendy,
    I have read both of your posts about Montreal, sounds like an interesting place to visit.

    That is funny about the employee at the bakery stopping you from taking a photo. Reminds me of some experiences I have had.

    I have been reprimanded for taking photos at all sorts of places and I usually refrain, but sometimes I just can't resist and I think if you can be quick, and not use a flash, you can get away with it. (I shouldn't be encouraging you , right?)
    I will just have to imagine what those baked goods looked like. I am sure they were delicious and very photogenic.

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