Tag: Quebec

Restaurants loved and living: L’Express

L’Express restaurant: just the thought of being there again makes me happy. I’ve gone countless times in the last few decades. Whenever I am in Montreal, even if just for a day, I dine there. Everything about it is great: the bistro food, the great value French wine, the superb waiters, the classic decor, and especially the big jars of cornichons. I love the ravioli and the hanger steak, followed by one scoop of ice cream (preferably maple),  but I have never been disappointed with whatever is served.

I was worried about it during the pandemic, but they seem to have muscled through those lean times. No doubt because of its many fans who have been there since 1980, and who no doubt will still be going in 2080.

I suspect they will have even more fans now that Michelin has arrived in Quebec and awarded it a Bib Gourmand. While I am agree with Leslie Chesterman that Michelin got things wrong on their first swing at Quebec, the tire people did right awarding a Bib to L’Express. It truly is “good quality, good value cooking”.

So the next time you are in Montreal strolling the great street of St. Denis, pop in to L’Express, either to have some wine (it’s also a great wine bar) or better yet find a table, scan the wonderfully printed menu, and settle into a plate of savoury bistro food. You won’t be sorry.

For more on L’Express and it’s history, check out this piece in the New York Times.

(Photos here from the Times piece. For more restaurants loved and living, see here.)

Why the Quebecois version of the Simpsons is so great

Apparently, there are two French versions of the Simpsons: one for France, and one for Quebec. This is great for two reasons, I think, as this piece explains: The French version of the Simpsons is oddly fascinating | indy100 | indy100:

  1. “When faced with an episode that used the French language itself as a narrative tool, the Canadian team were again able to fall back on the differences between French and French Canadian.” (Bart in Paris shows this brilliantly.)
  2. “In the Quebec dub, the Simpsons family speaks with a thick working-class dialect of Montreal French called joual. They also do something the France dub doesn’t do: they regionalize the scripts, subbing in Quebecois politicians or places for the more US-centric references.” You can see this in the famous bit with Principal Skinner and Steamed Hams bit:

Brilliant/brillant!