Well, the reunion of the montrealfood dudes and dudettes (I just came back from California, okay?) went swimmingly well at RestoSpy’s manse last night. A welcome addition to the fold was Jeremy Cooperstock, he of the Center for Intelligent Machines, a celebrity among his peers. He is not only an honorary member of mtlfood, but is a major contributor to it, quite unwittingly, as he modestly protests, due to his Montreal restaurant “review in a mouthful” site at Jeremy and Vinita's food guide. Amazingly, we get MOST of our hits from his link to us, which says something about the popularity of his site. I particularly like his no-nonsense reviewing style, which includes his “Three Strikes” section—a classic!
He’s far too busy with Terminators Of The Future to write for us, but his esteemed presence is welcome nonetheless.
Ed Hawco, otherwise known as Blork, was invited but he was fighting a sinus infection. We’ll get you next time, Ed!
Barry is also off in the Philippines making a documentary—he was missed.
But we had a great time, with RestoSpy providing a grand spead of Serrano ham and smoked salmon and many cheeses, from Atwater market, and a mind-numbing procession of great wines. I brought a sake that I carried from Japan and a pinot noir from California. Everything was good! We had a serious discussion about adding a French component, and amazingly, it was held in French! Jeremy blew me away with his impeccable French and of course RestoSpy and gorgeous wife were naturals and Shelley and husband André just babbled like they were space aliens from Paris (which they are.) But we’re going to try to get a certain local French critic on the team . . . results to follow.
We discussed the site and its current state and I put forth that we had to make some money from it. I was laughed away from the table, but people, give us money! Empty your wallets for a good cause!
Seriously though, I’m glad that it’s chugging along even after seven-odd years and is not going to go away. With amazing writers such as Barry Lazar and RestoSpy and Shelley MacDonald Beaulieu doing this all for absolutely nothing except a good time, we are truly blessed. Now with Jeremy as a terrific consultant and Blork possibly joining the team at the next bash, montrealfood is becoming truly eclectic. Good people always equal good stuff.
And the next bash will be all about spice; hot hot hot, to be precise. I’m already summoning the recipe for Thai Green Curry in my mind . . .
Will keep you posted. Thanks, RestoSpy, for providing the food and the location, Shelley and André for organizing the event and Jeremy for huffing over on his bicycle.
May we meet again soon!
I'm sorry I missed it. I will make every attempt to attend next time.
ReplyDeleteMy sinus thing had pretty much peaked that day, so I was really exhausted by the end of the day. Laying low did me well, however, as the thing seemed to break overnight, and by Sunday I was fully recovered. Yay me.
We will absorb you Ed. Trust me. There is no way out. You will be part of the throbbing Body Of Montrealfood.
ReplyDeletePlease drop your pathetic protestations.
You Will Be Absorbed.