Boulevard St-Laurent has been hard hit over the last few years as the city has taken it upon themselves to rip it up to renew it, over and over again. It’s time to re-learn the new shopping on the street and give these local merchants a bit of our community support.

This weekend the Boulevard St-Laurent sidewalk sale will be happening from Thursday to Sunday. The street sale begins at Sherbrooke and goes all the way up to Mont-Royale.  Some of the stores mentioned in my Smart Shopping Montreal book that fall into that section of the street:

3653 Slovenia - homemade sausages: veal knockwurst, lyoner, pariser, schnitzel, all kinds of bacon and on…
3667 Nino La Cuisinere - for all things kitchen
3843 Boucherie Hongroise - grab one of their sizzling sausages to go while you peruse the street
3885 La Vieille Europe - charcuterie and foods from all over the world
3985 Frenco en Vrac - bulk food for more natural products
4358 Schreters - best shop on the street for men’s and boys clothing and now- ladies shoes

Dates and Times: June 17 & 18: 9:30-9, June 19 & 20: 9:30-6. Some stores on the lower Main, closer to Sherbrooke may stay open later on the weekend as they are in the busy restaurant area.

Q1: Montreal is a multi-ethnic city, and we have many places to buy authentic groceries from different parts of the world. Today you wanted to tell us a bit about East European food.
When you think of Russian or Baltic food, you think of hearty stick to your ribs dishes and that’s just about what we need at this time of year. Since these are local family businesses, much of the food is homemade so free from preservatives or additives. Their meat products are smoked naturally with wood, not injected with flavoring.

Q2: What countries are we talking about?
Russia, Roumania, Hungary, Slovenia

Q3: What kinds of foods might we find there?
Well borscht of course, chicken Kiev, different kinds cured meats: gypsy sausage or Moscow salami, goose pastrami. There’s healthy foods like kefir, yogurt drink and their smoked fishes are full of omega 3 (mackerel, herring and sturgeon). You’ll always find dumplings - my favorites are called pelmeny, little meat dumplings that I put in soup. Cabbage is good for you and they make homemade sauerkraut and stuffed cabbage. Don’t forget these stores also make wonderful desserts.

Q4: In what part of town would you find these stores?
West of the city in the Snowdon area: Sherbrooke St., Decarie Blvd., Victoria Ave.

At Bucarest Charcuterie and Patisserie you’ll find that Rumanian food and everything to make an authentic meal - meatball soup, stuffed grape leaves, naturally smoked sausages, chopped eggplant salads, stuffed cabbage, marinated mushrooms or carrots, goose, lamb or pork pastrami, fresh roe, homemade sauerkraut, pickled cabbage heads, etc. can be purchased here.

Russian foods to try would be sprats, sturgeon, whole herrings, smoked eel and mackerel, kefir and pilmeny (meat dumplings and others), chocolates and homemade cakes. Their canned groceries cover more of Eastern Europe, and include: sour tomatoes, white cherry or walnut preserves, chestnut puree, Hungarian paprika paste, pumpkin seed oil, black currants in syrup and yummy juices (pomegranate, red currant, blackberry).

Location: 4670 boul. Decarie at Cote St-Luc Rd. Phone: 514-481-4732

Patisserie et Charcuterie Bourret - The Roumanian, Hungarian, Slovenian, Swiss, German take-out foods in this 40-year-old business include zakuska, smoked eggplant, fish egg salad, goose pastrami, salamis, stuffed cabbage, pickled whole cabbage, fresh and smoked sausages, head cheese and Bulgarian sheep feta.

Bakery specialties to try are kifli (almond and apricot), poppy seed bagli, the 7-layer dobosh, cozonac, and torte wafers ($3.99). There is a wall of grocery products like gooseberry jam, chestnut puree, letcho, Hungarian noodles.

Location: 5771 Victoria, Snowdon  Phone: 514-733-8462   www.bourretinc.com

St. Petersburg Russian Delicatessen - If you’ve ever wanted to try gypsy sausage or dried Moscow salami, you’ve found your spot. Russian yummies include smoked trout and mackerel, salmon caviar, borscht and chicken Kiev of course, but also spicy carrots, pickled mushrooms, herring with beets and potato, pelmeny, 10 kinds of pierogies and varenikas in the freezer, lots of jarred and canned veggies, and after you’ve had your pickled tomatoes, grab a piece of halvah or a  few cookies from the 75 bins and wash it all down with strawberry soda, sour cherry tea - or kefir.

Location: 5584A Sherbrooke ouest  Phone: 514-369-1377

Q1: There comes that moment in holiday preparations, where we relize we have no time to bake something wonderful or traditional, or perhaps, we want to bring something fabulous to a New Year’s party. Can you help us find some sweets?

We are so lucky in Montreal to have a cross section of many nations’ treats to choose from:
Swiss, Italian, Mid-Eastern, Greek, Polish, Portuguese. Make sure to have some sugary treats downed on New Year’s Eve so that you will have a sweet New Year.

Q:2 What are some of the yummy traditions that we may not know about?

In specialty bakeries these items are only made once a year, so take advantage of them now:

-Italians love their Cassata Calabrese which is made with custard and chocolate chips. Must be ordered ahead
-Mustacciolo are diamond shaped large cookies covered with a thick layer of dark chocolate and filled with almonds, honey and cinnamon
-There’s a German New Year’s tradition of homemade donuts called Berliners which can be stuffed with prune, strawberry, lemon or raspberry jam. Only made once a year
-The buche or log cake that we love here takes on International flavors made with black forest cake, amaretto or limoncello, etc.
- Chestnut cake is popular in Hungary
- Even the Nutcracker Suite gets a salute with a chocolate hazelnut cake.

Q3: Okay, time to dish out the goodies, where can we find some of these treats?

Here’s two European bakeries:
At Swiss Vienna Pastry & Delicatessen, Christmas brings on the yule logs in vanilla, mocha and chocolate in small medium and large. They even do their famous Black Forest cake as a log. strawberry or fruit shortcake Or for a lighter ending, have a mousse cake: triple chocolate mousse - that’s white, milk and dark chocolate layers with a fudge bottom - strawberry and raspberry, Smartie or just buy some miniature pastries.

For New Year’s Eve the Gateau St. Honore and the Charlotte Russe (made with lady fingers, custard, fresh fruit and whipped cream) are quite popular. For me, this bakery sells the best mille-feuilles in the city.
After you jump into your car to get some, remember to check out their hazelnut cake, butter danish, apple strudel and florentines, too. For your party, they can prepare hors d’oeuvres and decorated platters of sandwiches (roast beef, smoked meat, turkey, ham, tuna, egg), cheeses, meats, veggies or quiches.

The store also has a selection of international groceries with imported chocolate bars, sausages (debrecinor, kielbasa) and a hot and cold salad bar with ethnic snacks. Everything that you buy in this store is freshly baked from that day, since each evening all that is left on the counters is packed up and sent over to a food bank.

Location: 297 St. Jean Blvd at Highway 20 in the Pointe Claire Shopping Center.
Phone: 514-697-2280
Regular Hours: Mon-Wed 8:30-6, Thurs & Fri 8-30-8, Sat & Sunday 8:30-5
Holiday hours: Open Dec 24th 8:30-5, closed Dec 25th, open Dec 26th 8:30-4, open Dec 31st  8:30-5, closed Jan 1st & 2nd

For Christmas, Italians love their Cassata Calabrese, made with custard and chocolate chips which has to be ordered ahead. They head for Patisserie Alati to buy it or the Mustacciolo, Susaniele or diamond shaped large cookies covered with a thick layer of dark choc and filled with almonds honey and cinnamon. Next try the Torrone Bagnara with hazelnut and almonds or the Struffoli balls covered with honey piled high in a pyramid. Yes, there’s butter cookies shaped like Christmas trees.

Very popular for parties are their mini pastries, which are bite-size versions of their pastries - then you can taste so many! They have a famous Alati cake, which is a white cake with ricotta and custard,. Everyday treats include amaretti (with pine nuts), taralli (with lemon), biscotti (cinnamon and anise), hazelnut cookies, cassatine (ricotta and almond paste), sfogliatelle, cannoli (ricotta, or cream or chocolate), baby lobster tails and limoncello, white cake with lemon custard and berries on top.  There are a couple of tables for a quick expresso and sweet or a savory pizza, panini or sandwich. They are well known for wedding cakes.

Location: 5265 Jean Talon St. East at Dollier St. in St-Leonard.
Phone: 514-729-2891
Hours: Tues & Wed 8-6, Thurs & Fri 8-7, Sat 8-6, Sun 8-5:30 (Jul & Aug Sun 8-1
Holiday Hours: Dec 24th 8-5:30, Dec 25th 8-1, Dec 31st 8-5:30, closed Jan 1st &2nd

Q4: It would be an even sweeter year if we could save money on these, could let us in on where we could find deals on cake

Wholesale bakeries made those divine cakes that we eat for dessert at restaurants or for the supermarkets. These are often large cakes great for serving crowds. Here are two of them:

If some of the cakes at Les Delices La Frenaie here look suspiciously similar to those in Loblaw’s (and Le Biftheque, Boccacinos and Chenoys), you would be a good detective. Christmas logs come in amazing flavors here: chocolate hazelnut crunch, amaretto, strawberry, marscapone, frutti de bosco, limoncello. Profiterole are made into buches, candy canes, or wreaths. Those who pine for chestnut cake, order the Chataigne. For New Years Eve, they’ve prepared a chocolate  cube cake and a white chocolate and raspberry pyramid.

Come here for: bacio, key lime cheesecake (15 others), frutti di bosco, dulce de leche, orange or walnut pound cake (16 others), limoncello, heavenly berry and Milky Way in 8″ or 10″ sizes. Some can be ordered 36 hours in advance for more than 20 people. The best deal is the apple, lemon, chocolate chip, or cinnamon marble cakes for only $8.50, and taste the amaretti biscotti. Trays of pizza (tomato, white, all dressed and vegetarian) can be ordered.    www.lesdeliceslafrenaie.com

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Location: 8405  Lafrenaie at Jarry
Phone: 514-324-8039
Regular Hours: Mon-Fri 6-5, Sat 6-2
Holiday Hours: Dec 24 xmas 6-4, 2526 closed dec 31 6-4

When you swoon over the gigantic luscious cakes you are eating at certain coffee shops and restaurants around town (think King Kong, Roche Noir, Black Jack, Avalanche, Pecan Pie, Financiers, Monster Squares), then you can love them even more when you go right to the source to buy them at Patisserie Kilo Gateaux or find them in the freezer for IGA - 6 inch Rocky (chocolate cake) or La Roche (chocolate coffee layered mousse)

They’ve come up with a red and white Christmas cupcake; it’s chocolate of course, with  cream cheese frosting and a cherry on top. Their Christmas logs are fudgy chocolate or tiramisu. The
Casse Noisette is a salute to the Nutcracker, it’s crispy, has meringue and hazelnut coffee cream.
With over 60 sweets to choose from, many serving 16 slices, you can feed a whole crowd.  Order 24 hours in advance if you want a particular favorite or if you want it personalized.  www.kilo.ca

Location: 6744 Hutchison at Beaumont
Phone: 514-270-3024
Regular Hours: Mon-Fri 9-5, Sat 10-5
Holiday Hours : Dec  24th  9-3, closed Dec 25th & Dec 26th, Dec 31st  9-3, closed Jan 1st & 2nd

There is a mushroom family in Montreal and they’re located in a shop right off the Main on Rachel east. Mycoboutique has found endless mushroom products beyond the fresh, dried and frozen varieties (even Djon Djon from Haiti or   rare Japanese-loved matsutake).

Daughter Judith, a biologist (what else?), adores the mushroom ice cream, however you can feast on mushroom:  pasta, pate, butter or truffle oils, creams and  chaga anti-oxidant powder.  Mushroom flour is sold for gluten-free diets but I’m thinking it might make yummy coated chicken or fish.

There are hunting tools  (adorable foldable fabric baskets that would be cool for grocery shopping), growing kits, kefir culture, fertilizer, clothing, decor items and tons of books. Ask about mushroom field trips.

Location: 16 Rachel est
Corner: St-Dominique
Phone: 514-223-6977
Hours: Regular plus Sun 12-5
www.mycoboutique.ca

If you think you like Montreal “barbequed” chicken, then you’ve never had Portuguese barbequed chicken. Start with the BBQ in that sentence. In the Montreal variety, chickens are impaled on a spit and  roll around on a carnival ride to cook through. The Portuguese method bbq’s the marinated chicken on a smokin’ charcoal grill where it winds up with a crispily seasoned crust and smokey flavored meat. You can get it spicier on request (I watched one slathered in chiles and cringed - but have it your way).

You’ve probably heard of the famous Romados on Rachel est with its line-ups (secret: you can order ahead and avoid the wait). However, there is more than one way to skin a chicken. The rest of the Portuguese community know about other flavourful spots to score this addictive meal. I was introduced to Portugalia by the “Montreal piano chicken pusher” across the street. He and his Dad restore and sell beautiful pianos at Montreal Piano (61 Rachel ouest).

You cannot expect to go in and just walk up and buy a take-out chicken ($11). Here it’s so busy, it’s like the “soup nazi” of BBQ chicken . You  have to call and place an order 1 1/2 hours ahead during the week. On the weekends though, it’s best to order the day before or at the very least 3 or 4 hours ahead. There are no line-ups here because if you walk in without having ordered first, you’ll be given a card and told to call.

It is possible to dine in the attached restaurant and you will get your chicken in normal restaurant time.

Portugalia Location: 34 Rachel ouest
Corner: Clark
Phone: 514-282-1519
www.rotisserieportugalia.ca

Adonis is a very complete Mid-eastern market (Lebanese origins), including a butcher shop and bakery. The butcher, besides cutting to order, has shish taouk and shwarma marinating and ready to cook or already done.

You can discover kasseri and kashkaval and twisted cheeses, frozen or canned stuffed grape leaves, pickled vegetables in bulk, fig and flower jam, pickled wild cucumber, dried apricot paste and almonds by the bushel, fresh dates and figs.

New location: Place Vertu
Phone: 514-904-6789
Other locations: 2001 Sauve Ouest (514-382-8606)
4601 boul. des Sources (514-685-5050);
705 Cure Labelle (450-978-2333);
www.adonisproducts.com

With an original recipe of the pasteis de nata handed over from the Jeronimos Monastery in Lisbon, Bela Vista retains the true old style taste that the monks created. You might cheat and try the chocolate version or the pasteis feijao, a treat of almonds and chickpeas, the mimosa which has no dough (almond flavored gel) or the delice a l’orange. They still make the tijelada (like a baby omelette) in the traditional earthenware cups. There are, of course, the crusty Portuguese corn breads, some Latin American empanadas for the neighbors and a large selection of Portuguese coffee.

Location: 68 Pins est
corner: Coloniale
Tel: 514-849-3609
Hours: Mon-Wed & Sat  7-6, Thurs & Fri 7-8
Other  location: 6409 Papineau (514-227-1777)
www.pasteldenata.ca

With their own smoker (and no MSG or phosphates!), this West Island shop has been able to cook authentic German and Swiss specialty sausages, smoked pork chops and veal roast, smoked ham, bacon and smoked pork hocks. La Bernoise’s butcher counter sports the meatloaf, air-dried sausages, knockwurst, lamb sausage, schublig and air dried beef, which you can eat with sauerkraut and squeeze-tube mustard along with rye bread made with muesli. Homemade whole wheat and 6-grain bread are available as well as groceries: dumpling mixes, Kuchen Meister cakes, Knacke brot plum butter, Lindt chocolates and even German crossword puzzle books.

Location: 3988 Boul. St-Charles, Pierrefonds
corner: Boul. Pierrefonds
Tel: 514-620-6914
Hours: Tues-Fri 9-6, Sat 9-5

With their own smoker (and no MSG or phosphates!), La Bernoise has been able to cook authentic German and Swiss specialty sausages, smoked pork chops and veal roast, smoked ham, bacon and smoked pork hocks. The butcher counter sports the meatloaf, air-dried sausages, knockwurst, lamb sausage, schublig and air dried beef, which you can eat with sauerkraut and squeeze-tube mustard along with rye bread made with muesli. Homemade whole wheat and 6-grain bread are available as well as groceries: dumpling mixes, Kuchen Meister cakes, Knacke brot plum butter, Lindt chocolates and even German crossword puzzle books.

Location: 3988 Boul. St-Charles, Pierrefonds
Corner: Boul. Pierrefonds
Tel: 514-620-6914
Hours:Tues-Fri 9-6, Sat 9-5

For my Smart Shopping Montreal fans, I have so much cool new stuff in this edition:

I bumped into green shopping everywhere in the city. I loved Bamboo Entrepot with its bamboo flooring, kitchen cupboards, couches, wine bar, bathtub, clothing and linens. There are environmentally responsible friperies like Folle Guenille or Pre-Loved who take vintage or just pre-worn clothing and rework them into hot one-of-a-kind fashions. Eco Reno is part of the ecological hardware and furniture movement.and offers up old doors, windows, mouldings, bathtubs and plumbing parts so you don’t have to buy new. Or how about Couche Maman Ecolo, the diaper fairy who comes once a week and saves our landfills of mountains of plastic diapers? In Montreal there are local manufacturers for: gift wrap, plaster mouldings, sofa-beds, maternity wear, paint, comforters, cribs, cardboard boxes and even bountiful farmer’s markets.

Once you pick up “Smart Shopping Montreal” it is hard to put it down, as you discover:
- liquidation locales: Lindt chocolate, home theatres, designer shoes, pianos, house renovation products, sporting goods, bras, pasta
- services: people who scoop poop, rent paintings or fur, monogram gifts, send cakes for a special day
- second-hand shops: computer games, maternity clothes, laptops, ergonomic chairs, mouldings

People who treasure saving objects from obsolescence and enjoy the work performed by master craftsmen will find solace in the chapter on repairmen. Do you know where to go to get your espresso machine fixed, costume jewelry repaired, boots widened, baby strollers washed, antique carpets cleaned or holes fixed in your leather couch?

Montreal is lucky to have a large mixture of ethnic groups. Reading through the International Food section takes you around the world with a smorgasbord of stores to entice you to try new flavours, perhaps English marmite and vegemite or “skinny” donuts or pickled mudfish.

In every budget, there is always a place where extra money is spent solving shopping problems. In, the specialty stores (which are often pricey) you’ll find: custom bathing suits, snakes, made-to-order couches, cake decorating, wigs, hard-to-find DVD’s, lace, and moving boxes

It’s time to join up for my Smart Shopping Club www.smartshoppingmontreal.com and receive your own autographed copy of my book. Happy Shopping!