As the winter begins to drag on we all need something to help us make it through. Some escape to the a sun soaked beach, some go skiing, others find romance and hunker down in relations. All of these are coping methods to deal with the harsh Montreal winters; cold, ice, snow, limited daylight all take a toll. Although, one event in my mind truly shines a light to a dreadful period of the year: the Pied De Cochon Cabane à Sucre session.

This year we went on the opening weekend of February 14th. That’s right – Valentine’s day. What better way to spend the most romantic or depressing (depends how you see it) day of the year than to be with friends having an over-the-top meal? (more…)

It’s Pied de Cochon time again- cabane a sucre apple season: the-over-the-top seasonal gastronomic extravaganza from the brain of Martin Picard and his team; and, this year does not disappoint. This time we have a twist on the apple season. Although apples are featured in the menu, we have an emphasis on vegetables as well and the bounty of the harvest that the summer has brought us. You can see it from the items in the food to the bright red colours the staff is wearing – you see that summer is upon us. Now, don’t be afraid that just because we said vegetables, there is still loads of meat and foie gras, I mean, this is Pied de Cochon, after all, so you are guaranteed to have a copious meal filled with meat and foie gras. With all things involving the creative direction of chefs and in order for things to remain fresh and up to date they will keep changing the menu. What we saw today will be what others will see this season but ingredients and items might change as we get feedback and other seasonal items become available. Remember this spans from August 15 to November 1st so we cover summer and fall. (more…)

February is a cruel, angry month. There are few things in it that are worth looking forward to unless you are one of those people who loves snow and cold. That is until you remember that it is the beginning of the Pied de Cochon Cabane a Sucre season. This year the season at the cabane goes on from February 14th until May 10th. We were fortunate enough to get an early spot and like every year people came down from as far as Toronto for this event. (more…)

Ok hungry people before we post our review of the Pied de Cochon cabane a sucre for 2014. Here is the menu or as close to the menu as we could get. This list has been comprised with our notes and 5 other people who were there,so we may be off on some ingredients but we tried to keep it as detailed as possible. We also included some pics of these great dishes. As some of you may know the Pied de Cochon Cabane is up in St-Benoît de Mirabel, at 11382 Rang de la Fresnière. You need reservations to go here and the booking window closed last December. Price is $62 for the meal itself, it does not include tax, tip, drinks or extra. They accept, cash, credit and debit. So here is a breakdown to satisfy your curiosity. (more…)

Guess what time it is? That’s right, it’s the Pied de Cochon Apple cabane à sucre season. That magical time when you get to eat the apple and foie gras inspirations that Chef Martin Picard and the Pied de Cochon team have prepared.

But first, here’s a little background on this magical event for all those who are not familiar with it. The Pied de Cochon restaurant has a cabane à sucre up at 11382 Rang de la Fresnière in St-Benoît de Mirabel (or if your GPS gives you attitude like mine, just Mirabel). Twice a year they have 2 seasons of what can best be described as food orgies. The fall seasons focuses on apples as the inspirational menu items and the winter one focuses on maple syrup. This current season is from the 23rd of August until the 27th of October and reservations for this had to be done well in advanced. In this case it was April 1st so you really need to keep an eye peeled for the invites. (more…)

Every year we look forward to one event and that is the Pied de cochon Cabane a Sucre. Getting a reservation here takes patience, luck and divine intervention on behalf of the food gods. Now to be clear, I still haven’t gotten my call back from them but, thankfully, my friend did and got the first date so he offered me a spot. For this, I am eternally grateful. The dinner menu is the same as the daytime menu so, with a liberal interpretation, I am adding this to my brunch reviews. (more…)

So, the big news this year is that Pied De Cochon Cabane à Sucre started offering an apple-themed session similar to their regular cabane à sucre extravaganza. There is no secret that we at Montreal Breakfast Review adore these special events and although it may not be traditional brunch we made sure to go during an acceptable brunch hour on a Saturday and dubbed it brunch. Finally, with a small army of hungry friends, some coming all the way from Toronto and New York, we descended upon the Pied de Cochon Cabane for a feast of epic proportions.

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So as winter winds down, people start to breathe a sigh of relief; days feel longer, the fear of waking up to 20cm of snow is ebbing. So that means one thing: that’s right, Pied De Cochon Cabane à Sucre. If you aren’t familiar with the Pied de Cochon Cabane à Sucre, it’s a foodie’s dream come true. This dream is made up of a few ingredients, one part being foodie hero/saint aka Chef Martin Picard, add a generous portion of foie gras, some maple syrup, some duck, a little bit of meat pie, and 20 hungry people all ready to experience a culinary delight.

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Pied De Cochon Cabane A Sucre – and this little piggie went sugaring off

The 411

Cabane à sucre: that one time a year when we get together and have food you would never have any other time of the year; those classic meals dishes like tortière, omelettes, Oreilles de crisse, beans, sausages and others. Now, cabane à sucre food is not exactly brunch food, but it isn’t exactly lunch either so for this review we will make an exception. I should also note that we currently do not plan on going to every cabane à sucre since I can only handle so much line dancing music and hits from the 90’s at once. All this to say that we decided to do a classy cabane à sucre and by some cosmic power, I got a call recently from a friend saying that he had a spot for me at the Pied de Cochon cabane à sucre.

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