aux vivres

Je t’aime Montreal Day 3

October 20, 2012 by Lindsay Ingalls Leave a Comment

Our final day in Montreal started out with a cranky baby who wanted to eat and eat and eat so it took longer to get the day started than we had hoped but what can you do? Finally by around 11:15am we were able to get E in the Boba carrier and head out for a little walking and window shopping.

After about an 30 minutes E had finally fallen asleep so we walked around for a bit longer and then decided to head to Aux Vivres for one last lunch. It was so nice to actually go to the restaurant to eat since the last two times we ate Aux Vivres we had take out.

We started out our meal with a yummy VÉGÉ-DÉLICE juice (tomato carrot, beet, cucumber and spices) and an order of chapati with their famous veggie butter. I really want to try and recreate this veggie butter at home- does anyone know whats in it?

For our meals Neil and I debated over the amazing sandwiches, the yummy Kosmos plate we had ordered Saturday and the bowls. In the end we both decided to go with bowls; Thai bowl for him and Bouddha bowl for me. I apologize for iPhone photos for some reason we didn’t really take the camera out all weekend- huge fail on our part.

Thai Bowl: steamed bok choy, pickled carrot & daikon, peanuts, toasted sesame seeds, shredded carrot, coriander with Thai peanut sauce and grilled tempeh

Bouddha Bowl: steamed organic broccoli, steamed spinach, toasted sesame seeds, shredded carrot, grilled pumpkin seeds, wafu dressing & grilled tempeh

After lunch we headed back to the car to start making our way home. We made one pit stop at the beer store to pick up a variety of Quebec beers that we can find at home including a pumpkin beer for our pumpkin beer tasting party next week.

The trip home was fairly easy with only two stops to nurse and the border was fast and easy. The only trouble we have had has been transitioning back to our normal routine. I love vacations, small and large, but I hate coming home especially during the work week; I find it a challenge to get back into the groove and by the time I do it’s the weekend again!

Je t’aime Montreal

October 19, 2012 by Lindsay Ingalls 3 Comments

I always find that after any sort of vacation, short or long, it takes me a few days to get back into our routine at home. To top it all off this mini-vacation ended with the passing of our dear fur companion Boo so it’s been even more of a challenge this week.

So lets talk about Montreal! Neil and I went up a few weeks ago for his half marathon but we spent most of our time traveling there, at the race expo or at the race so we were unable to explore the city. This fall was our first trip since October of 2010 due to immigration (Neil getting his greencard) and pregnancy. Fact: Neil and I ran off to Montreal after only 3 days of dating (hmm..maybe I’ll share our crazy love story someday). Crazy, I know but it just felt right and here we are 6 years later happily married with a beautiful baby girl.

Neil and me in Montreal circa Sept 2006

Anyways we decided to find a place to rent in Montreal on airbnb.com (our new love since having a baby, my second -formally first love- is hotwire). We found a nice little place that one of Neil’s co-workers had actually stayed at in the Plateau area of Montreal. It was the perfect location because it was 5 blocks from our favorite restaurant Aux Vivres and only a few blocks from two metro stops.

This time we decided to head up on Saturday morning rather than Friday evening and Neil took Monday off so we had three wonderful days to enjoy the city. We started off Saturday with a stop at the Atwater Market to check out the stalls and get a bite to eat. Neil and I ended up picking up some beautiful Brussels sprouts, mushrooms and garlic to use over the weekend and we shared a yummy tofu satay sandwich.

Edie hung out all bundled up in my poncho.

After shopping E had some lunch of her own and then we headed to the apartment. Unfortunately it took us 35 minutes to drive 4 miles due to some horrible traffic and E let us know she wasn’t a fan of the traffic either.

Once we arrived and unpacked at the apartment we headed out for a walk. We stopped at a few stores and hoped to stop for a beer at Dieu Du Ciel but when we arrived there it was packed and baby + pack brew pub = no go. So instead we headed back to the apartment where I fed E and Neil headed out to the beer store to pick up a few Quebec brews for us to try.

Once E was in bed and Neil was back from the store we ordered take out from Aux Vivres. Unfortunately by the time it arrived we were both too hungry to bother taking photos. We ordered the Kosmos plate and the cold plate and they were both new to us and absolutely delicious.

After dinner we shared a beer and played a few rounds of cribbage before heading to bed.

Stay tuned for part two!

Rock ‘n’ Roll in Montreal

September 26, 2012 by Lindsay Ingalls 2 Comments

This past Sunday Neil ran the Rock ‘n’ Roll Half Marathon in Montreal, Quebec this past weekend. This was his second half marathon and his first international half marathon. We headed up on Friday after Neil got out of work and checked into our airbnb rental which was in the perfect spot just 1.1 km from the Mont Royal Metro Station and surrounded by our favorite shops and restaurants.

(source for all images)

We arrived later than expected on Friday night and with a sleepy baby and pouring rain we decided to stay in for the night. We ordered food from our favorite vegan restaurant Aux Vivres which unfortunately took nearly two hours to finally get because the online ordering/delivery service that they have on their website did not place our order because we were not using a local number and rather than contact us or update our order page we didn’t find this out until 15 minutes after the food should have already arrived which was an hour after we had ordered.

Tired, hungry and frustrated we decided to call Aux Vivres directly and Neil ran out to pick up our order this time. I was a little frustrated and almost just gave up on getting dinner but I was so glad we did because my Dragon Bowl was just as good as I remembered and the big slice of carrot cake Neil and I shared was delicious.

Neil ordered the Macro Bowl (photo from Aux Vivres site)

Unfortunately I don’t have much else to share when it comes to food and sites because the bulk of the weekend was spent at the Rock ‘n’ Roll Montreal Expo and race. We did stop into the Eaton Centre for lunch at the food court and then Saturday night Neil and I picked up a few things to make a pasta dish at the apartment for dinner.

Since this weekend was dedicated to the race we are planning on making another trip up (hopefully) in October so we can spend some time enjoying our favorite eateries and sites.

Stay tuned for RnR recap posts!