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| - "Au Pied De Cochon" means "at the pig's foot," and they're known for their huge roasted pork leg dishes, but Chef Martin Picard should change the restaurant's name to something more appropriate. "At the Fountain of Foie Gras" or "At the Teats of Heaven." Well, they don't serve teats I think, but they do serve Christ's Ears -- "oreilles de Christ," a Quebecker sugar shack favorite of deep fried pork rinds smothered with maple syrup. PDC serves Quebecker food. Not French, not Canadian -- Quebecker. If all Quebecker food were as good as PDC fare, I would quickly die a very plump, very happy man.
Plogue a Champlain. It deserves its own review. Calisse de crisse, this dish is mindblowing! Dessert? Breakfast? Appetizer? Entree? I'll describe. Take half a lobe of fresh foie gras and pan sear it so that the outside is crusty, while the inside is still moist and springs back to the touch. Stack it atop brie, atop shredded potatoes, atop a buckwheat pancake garnished with two strips of locally grown bacon. Smother generously with real maple syrup. Put the dish in a fiery hot brick oven until you can't stand the wait anymore. Take it out. Take a bite. Now devour the rest. Okay, you can die now.
The plogue alone is worth five stars. It's the best thing I've ever eaten. And I've had it many times since my life-changing first. I could stop at the plogue and never touch another menu item. But wait -- there's more! PDC's brick oven-baked pork chops with rosemary and white wine are the best pork chops I've ever had. I ordered the one-pounder (500g) thinking it would be far too much. To my deep regret, it was so good, I wish I had ordered their 2-pound (1kg) cut. More than enough meat for any man. But wait -- there's more! We haven't even touch the pig's foot!
Yes, pork trotter -- pig's foot. Stuffed, braised, baked. It's amazingly, succulently, stupendously supple and tender and tasty. And it comes with or without foie gras stuffing. You can get foie gras with anything. You can get it atop poutines -- Quebec's quintessential dish of squeeky fresh cheese curds and fries drowned in hot gravy. You can get it by itself. You can try it for yourself. You can have foie gras and hams, Sam-I-Am.
Every ingredient is from a local farmer. Everything is hand-made -- they even brew their own PDC beer. Every time I've gone, every person working there has been beyond gracious. Everything I've said above is why Au Pied De Cochon has been a smashing success since its opening in 2001. Make reservations, folks. I doubt they ever run out of pig's foots, but I know they run out of seating every night.
PDC is world class. If the exchange rate weren't so hellish, I'd be there now, enjoying the marvelous Montreal summer and PDC -- the second best thing about Montreal.
P.S. Please, please don't bring your vegetarian friends unless I'm there to laugh. =) Says Picard, "When you go to a restaurant to eat salad, you have a problem."
P.P.S. #1? Les copines. ;)
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