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Hino Maru Ramen

April 23, 2017 by Ariel 1 Comment

Small little place on a busy street in Queens where all clients seem to be regulars.  The place is packed and we’re sharing a long wood table, on the side of the window, with another couple.  The show kitchen, in the back, looks lay back and the general vibe of the place is pretty happy which is making me anxious to try my first ramen shop in New York.  The broth of their signature ramen dish is creamy, nicely salty and with a complexed umami flavour that made me drink almost the entire bowl… it’s rare, I’m tiny.

 Hard to say if this is the best ramen shop in town but, one thing for sure, is that it’s worth the detour.  Here’s what my time at HinoMaru looked like.

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Filed Under: Restaurants & Bars, Reviews Tagged With: 2017, HinoMaru Ramen, NewYork, Pictorial, Ramen Shop, restaurant, review, Travel, USA

Sucrerie de la Montagne #SugarShack

April 13, 2016 by Ariel 6 Comments

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Spring is here! …and even if the weather over Montreal would sometimes make us believe that we’re still in January, some days are sunny and warm enough to remind us that the best of nature has yet to come.

In Quebec, it’s sugar shack season and, like a few years ago, it was time to go stuff our faces in maple deliciousness and heavy comfort food which is exactly what we did a few weeks ago.  On the opposite side of the spectrum of my first sugar shack review, the Sucrerie de la Montagne was like a refreshing and comforting trip back in time.

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Filed Under: Restaurants & Bars Tagged With: cabane à sucre, Canada, maple syrup, Pictorial, Quebec, restaurant, review, Rigaud, spring, Sucrerie de la Montagne, Sugar Shack

La Fabrique… in images

April 13, 2014 by Ariel 1 Comment

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That’s one of my new favorite hot spots in Montreal these days.  Max and I discovered the restaurant in last December, for his birthday, and since then, we keep inviting all our friends over there because the food and the ambiance is seriously amazing.  The staff is also very sweet and their homemade fermented pickles are to die for!!! …they serve them before every dinner, free of charge.

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Filed Under: Restaurants & Bars Tagged With: ariel rebel, arielrebel, image, la fabrique, menu, Montreal, photography, restaurant, review

An incredible night at the restaurant “Le Misto” in Montreal…

November 17, 2013 by Ariel 3 Comments

Ok before I start explaining my amazing experience at the Misto, I wanted to apologize to my friend Bob and his boss for taking such time to write the article.  I wont start explaining why I’ve been so late because it’s not my goal to make excuses for my procrastination but I wanted to make this public to show my dear sincerity.  Now that this is done, let’s start!

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I’m really starting to enjoy this new section of the blog.  I get to visit some amazing restaurants while meeting passionate people to enjoy some amazing food, good wine and a nice night in town.  What’s not to like right?

Today I’m bringing you to the restaurant “Le Misto” situated in Montreal, on Mont-Royal street where my friend Bob le Chef work and share his passion for food with the world.  He has been inviting Max and I forever but we kept pushing it because of our busy work schedule.  One day, we woke up from our “work coma” and decided to start enjoying life so obviously going to Le Misto was on our “to do” list.

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The place was exactly what I expected: small, friendly with some gorgeous & romantic lighting.  When we got there I debated enjoying the nice terrasse (we were in the summer at that time) they have in the front (directly on Mont-Royal street) or going inside for a more relaxing and cozy night.  There was less people inside so it pretty much made my choice easy.  Not that I dislike being around people but I felt like having a relaxing night with my love and my friend so the less people there, the better I felt.  What I realized after, is that Bob had reserved a place for us, right on the side of the window/garage door they have in the front.  How thoughtful 🙂

I got to tell you… even if I didn’t knew Bob, I would be writing a positive article on this restaurant because the food is delicious and the ambiance is just perfectly intimate the way I like it.  Max and I had a great service, the waiters were joking with us and were very well informed on the house menu and wine menu.  Also, just the fact that they are open till midnight 7 days a week is pretty impressive for this type of establishment.  The owner of the Misto is also super sweet and friendly guy…  You can often share a drink with him at the bar and this is one of the reasons why I prefer small restaurants compare to the big places…. you can actually meet the owner, talk to them and discover how passionate these people are.

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Filed Under: Restaurants & Bars Tagged With: 2013, bob le chef, Canada, class, food, foodie, le plateau, misto, mont-royal, Montreal, restaurant, review, urban

My Experience at the sugar shack – Au Pied de Cochon

March 12, 2013 by Ariel 7 Comments

When my friend Doug first invited me to go to the sugar shack with a few other of his friends, I jumped in the air like a kid in a candy store.  I haven’t been in a sugar shack in YEARS and my last experience, a few years ago, haven’t been that much fun because the place looked like a big open gymnasium with too many people and not enough love in the food.  Although I love maple syrup, everything maple flavored and I would never refuse such invitation, I still expect a certain amount of love and “homey” feel in a place like a sugar shack.

If you never heard of a sugar shack before, well…. the first thing you have to know, it’s a Canadian thing.  I don’t exactly know to explain it, but I’ll do my best…  Think about a wood shack in the middle of the forest where we create maple syrup from the water coming from the maple trees.  The owner of the sugar shack usually own a maple farm around his shack and bring back the water from his trees to make this liquid gold that we call maple syrup.  In this same place, you have a mini restaurant, that present a variety of delicious maple flavored meals, from salty to sweet.  You drink, you laugh, you eat… everybody is there to spend some family or friendly time, everybody is happy, it’s an amazing place with an amazing ora.  Maybe one of my favorite places in the world because of the feeling you have when you’re in there, surrounded by the people you love, drinking, laughing, eating… like it was your last day on earth.

Outside, the March weather is still cold but not too intense so you can enjoy some fun time playing in the melting snow with the younger ones and eat some taffy on snow.  Sometime, you can even visit the maple syrup “factory” and see the entire process from beginning to end of how we transform the precious maple water in to maple syrup.  It’s actually quit simple and I have vivid memories of my grand father doing it in his kitchen while I was sitting close to him watching his every move, hoping some would just fall outside the pot so I can just eat it on the spot without him noticing it.  Ahhh memories…

I didn’t know where my friend wanted to bring me but deep inside, I was hoping to go to the famous sugar shack “Au Pied de Cochon” owned by the famous chef Martin Picard that you might have seen on French or English tv in various shows.  Martin bought this shack in 2009 and since the reviews have been very good and I always wanted to go there.  What an amazing surprise when I realized that it was exactly where we were going!  I think Doug might have read my mind without even realizing it.  The second he told me that I might even have a chance to meet the big chef in person, I was even more excited!  He was indeed right because I did had the chance to meet Martin Picard and you can see the proof by the photo above.

I got to admit that it took me a good hour and 1 maple martini before having enough courage to go ask him for a photo with me for this blog.  I don’t usually get starstruck, I have met many mainstreams actors, producers, pornstars (obviously), tv and radio show hosts and more so it’s never something that happened to me.  When you think about it, they are just human being like you and me and there is nothing to be nervous about just because they are a public figure.  Last week end I realized that there is one type of celebrity that I’m nervous to meet and it’s chefs!  Ok that might sound totally ridiculous for you guys but it’s true.  I guess it’s because I’m an inspiring chef myself and I know I’m not even close to be up to part with mister Picard skills so I got nervous….  Anyways, the maple martini worked pretty decent because I went to see Marc and asked him to take a photo with me.  I brievely told him that I had a food blog and wanted to make a review of his place but I don’t think he really understood me or even cared.  Can you blame him?  …not really. 🙂

After all, I might have looked like any other random girl coming to him asking for this same request that he’s used to perform like a circus freak.  Don’t take me wrong he wasn’t rude at all and I’m sure once you know him he’s really sweet but I didn’t feel like sticking around at the bar with him and his friend like a stupid groupie so instead we exchanged a few smiles, took a photo and I went back to my place.  Now who knows, maybe after he’ll read this text I’ll have the chance for a real conversation with him over a nice glass of wine in his first restaurant : Au Pied de Cochon in Montreal to make another review….  A girl can dream right? 😉

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Filed Under: Restaurants & Bars Tagged With: ariel rebel, arielrebel, Au Pied de Cochon, brain, duck, experience, fat liver, gizzard, green beans, ham, maple, Martin Picard, martini, menu, pineapple, restaurant, review, story, Sugar Shack

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Spring gardening in isolation

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