It’s been a while !!!

…Hello again, i tend to flip-flop on a lot of things i start. I’ve been busy reading and working lately. I apologize for being this absent, every time i go and start a new post, i leave it as a draft, fall asleep and forget all about it. aha! slacker much eh?

Anyways enough with my apologetic ramble, the past few days [Thursday, Friday & Saturday ] have been awesome. and that’s all i want to talk to you about ! let’s start shall we?

THURSDAY NIGHT

Met my cousin after work went for dinner and a movie. Black Swan was the victim and it was FREAKING amazing !!!!!! A must see psychological-drama-thriller , featuring Natalie Portman [Former Vegan], Vincent Cassel, Mila Kunis, Barbara Hershey and Winona Ryder. Here is one of the quotes i loved. ” Perfection is not just about control. It’s also about letting go. Surprise yourself so you can surprise the audience. Transcendence! Very few have it in them. ” -Black Swan

FRIDAY AFTERNOON

About a week before the weekend started my friend Taryn ( @VeganMatters) asked me to meet her at this Vegan restaurant in downtown Montreal, Aux Vivres; While she was in town for the week of NYE from Toronto. But i was unable to do so, due to my work schedule; real bummer. She did tell me they make the best BLT “I’ll ever taste” hehe. So after looking up the place online and how to get there, i invited my cousin to go with me while we were together this weekend. i was really excited to try this place, it really was all i was babbling about, after she left me with this BLT comment.

After battling the cold winds, falling snow and subway ride, we finally arrived to the restaurant. Let me just say, MONTREAL is a beautiful freaking place, and i’m once again happy to be back home !

Okay on to the real thing ! The hostess was really nice and took us to our table, everyone was so full of life there. It was a really nice atmosphere.

[random picture, side view from my right]

So, after getting our seats and taking our coats off, we were handed a tall glass of water and our menus. Needless to say i was parched; blame the gust winds of winter hehe. Thanks for that :]

They have a really nice tea selection, all organic. Oddly for me, i’m not much of a tea person, but if i was i’d be happy to see so many choices ! So after looking at the menu, i kid you not i wanted to order everything they had to offer. It all sounded so good and the aroma of the place was just so darn tasty. Believe it or not after reading the menu i still texted Taryn and asked her to help me make my final decision lol.  I was stuck on the “Famous” BLT [Coconut Bacon, Mayo, Lettuce] , Montreal Fume [ Seasoned Seitan, Mayo, Pickles, Mustard and Coleslaw] and the Burger Portobello [ Whole Wheat Bun, Caramelized Onions, Mayo, Lettuce, Pickles and Chipotle Mayo]. Doesn’t all sounds so good? Mouth-watering!! So Taryn finally tells me to go for the BLT on Chapati so i did, and added a side of Roasted Potatoes. My cousin ordered the Frite Chili off the “Soul Food” selection; [Roasted Potatoes topped with House Chili and Sour Cream].

[View by the window; my left side] … Aside from the wind and cold toes, Thursday was nice day out, could have been worse trust me. Oh i forgot to mention, after a few looks at The Starters we couldn’t help but to order the ” Assiette Mezze” [ Hummus, Olive Tapenade, Roasted Red Peppers and Bread]. After a few laughs and conversation the waitress brought us the appetizer, and Boy!  Did it look AMAZING, and tasted just as good. The flavours were passionate, the bread was warm and moist, Hummus was purely done, the Olive Tapenade was well seasoned and juicy and the Red Peppers, roasted to perfection. Plus we had more than enough for the both of us. Our lunch date started out quite well i must add, not a single thing gone wrong! After being almost done with the starter, our meal arrived ! I kid you not i think i had the biggest smile on my face, aha. Oh-Em-Gee the BLT looked stunning, and smelled amazing, i couldn’t wait to get a bite in this puppy !

[ Forgive the crappy phone picture, my iphone camera was a being a rebel].

And to my right down below was my cousin’s Frite Chili, the beans in this thing were so good !! The sauce, thick and juicy and sour cream, creamy and rich. After giving my blessings i went in and took a dive in my wrap! First of all, the coconut flavour from the bacon was overwhelming good, the bacon was crispy, lettuce fresh, tomatoes fresh and chapati wrap awesome, and the mayo had a nice tangy feel to it. Every bites i took were a success. It really was the best thing I’ve ever had ! All the flavours came in together and i was beyond satisfied with my choice! [thx Taryn]

My cousin on the other hand, God bless her heart aha, halfway through her meal , she realized that she doesn’t eat nor likes beans and also wondered why she ordered Chili out of everything lol. She still enjoyed her meal but did manage to leave a few beans behind ahah. Shameless to say i was only able to enjoy one half of the wrap, my stomach was halfway full from our starter, so i took the other half to go! Kind of happy i did aha, i got to enjoy it twice in one day hehe.

With that to say there was clearly no more room for dessert, which looked so tempting but i couldn’t aha, i did get a cookie to go ^_^ ! Couldn’t resist the cookie hehe.

Bellies full, feet warm and well satisfied from our lunch date i shouted a call for coffee! What a better way to end it eh? A block down the restaurant we stopped at Tim Hortons Canada’s best coffee shop, as i was told. Finally after 3 months i decided it was time to go for it! Got a small coffee black, and of course being ME, i burned my tongue on the first sip, well done Holly! I won’t lie, it was pretty darn good! Good Bye Starbucks? I think so… Ahah! We left the Tim’s and headed back to the subway, as we were walking down, i noticed this really cool record store, i can’t remember the name of it, but it was really cozy inside and i love that, there was a shark hanging on the ceiling ! Shop guardian maybe? There was a really nice selection of Punk titles, i went for in first, if it wasn’t for the fact that i was full and cold i would’ve taken the time to go through them all and spend hours in ! Maybe next week? Of course being a Step-Atlantanians [ yes, i just invented that word] I had to stop over to the Drum  N’ Bass hehe.

So after a round around, we finally left ! Of course i tried to take a picture of the snowed in Mont-Royal but i kind of failed, but anyways this is what i got from it ! Cool eh? Well i promise to get my actual camera next time and take my time capturing these memories, well note that i had a cup of coffee in one hand and cold fingers ! Oh i want to show you, look at how cool the ramp of this bar is ! All made of ice, so creative! If you’ve got vegan wine, I’m in ! So finally with countless of Oooh’s and Ahhh’s i can fairly say I’ve fallen back in love with my city. I had a magical thur & fri and time with my cousin, doesn’t take me a lot to be happy, can you be as simple as i am?

Being girls, we went downtown on St-Catherine and did a little shopping and walking around, i managed to get some jewelry from Forever 21 , they have the cutest accessories and for a low blow ! It was a MUST & i got to see my friend Audrey in the process <3 . Well my dear readers, this concludes my post and magical days.. It was well needed, spent, fed and done. We finished the night off with cookies [ for moi] and manicure ! Coco Chanel was meant to be watched, but i fell asleep before it was even put in aha. Tomorrow night perhaps? … Hope you enjoyed reading my new post from the year 2011.. Best wishes to you all and I’ll make posting a regular again!

If you’re in town, go on and try Aux Vivres- Vegan or Not, you will enjoy it, plus we’re in 2011 ! Let’s be open into trying new things eh? What do you say?

I’ll even be delighted to send you a Vegetarian/Vegan Starter Pack <3

Don’t forget to check out Aux Vivres site for hours, menu and take-out options! And Taryn’s blog site as well.

www.auxvivres.com

Taryn’s

www.veganmatters.tumblr.com

www.twitter.com/VeganMatters

-TheTravelingPinkLips