For July 4th Weekend Michael and I were in Montreal for our good friend’s wedding! It was such a beautiful and delightful weekend full of love and sunshine! We had an amazing time and I was really impressed by the uber veggie friendliness of the city 🙂 which of course always brings an even bigger smile to my face.
Yeah!
Once we got off the plane and checked into the hotel we set off to meet up with some of the other wedding guests. Beyond wonderfully, they were dining at this little cafe called Olive + Gourmando in Old Montreal. Complete heaven! There was many a meat dish, but of course once my eyes spotted the Viva Las Vegan sandwich and the Herbivore salad I knew we were somewhere special. Of course I couldn’t make up my mind which to get, but my amazing husband suggested we share them both 🙂 SOO delightful!! YUM!!
Viva Las Vegan! Such Goodness!
The Herbivore!
Then off to the rehearsal dinner that night at Da Emma, a classic Italian restaurant in Old Montreal. Everything was very meat based yet they did not skip a beat to accommodate me. SO sweet!
On Saturday we went for a 30 or so mile bike ride along the water. (Who knew Montreal was an island??) Gorgeous!! What an absolutely beautiful day and city! Afterwards we stopped for lunch at Cafe Sante Veritas. This to me looked just like a simple lunch place, but really once we met the proprietor and had our food I knew it was so much more! He was so sweet and told me that anything on the menu with a carrot was vegetarian and that he could whip me up anything I wanted to customize as well. I was in heaven with my Wrap de tofu à la tapenade d’olives. (especially after biking for 3 1/2 hours) but this sandwich also came with a side salad. I had ordered a celery and melon juice and my meal came with coffee (and soy milk!) all for $12.39, coming from NYC I was a little in shock!
Michael's Sandwich à la poire et fromage bleu
That evening was the wedding. The couple looked so great, so happy and so in love! Absolute Perfection! At dinner that night they had already told the restaurant that I was vegan so I knew I would be all set. But still the meal I had was one of the best I had ever had at a wedding. I felt really cared for and very loved! Really it was so sweet! I had a deelish salad to start, a spiralized “pasta” with veggies in a scrumptious sauce and a perfect fruit salad for dessert. It was really very thoughtful 🙂
On Sunday we took a nice long walk through the city with some of our friends. I had a whole list of fabulous places to check out of course. We were walking along and I hear Michael telling me that there is a vegan restaurant across the street! Perfection, it was one of the top places on my list, Aux Vivres. AMAZING! I am still thinking about this place and the vegan blt we had! BLT: coconut bacon, lettuce, tomatoes & vegan mayo and we had it in the homemade chapati! YUM! This was so different from the fakin bacon I have had before, and soo good! We also shared a deelish polenta, beans, guac and salsa dish. Overall just loved this place!
Serious BLT Goodness!!!
That night we made it date night for just the two of us 🙂 We went to another of the top vegan places on my list. Chu Chai (and their sister place called Church) Awesome! The food was delightful! The service slowed a bit as the restaurant began to fill up with lots of diners, but still it was a super great meal!
Amazing Dumplings and Peanut Sauce!
Yummy Pad Kee Mao
SOOOO good!! "Chicken" and Peanut Sauce with Crispy Spinach!
On Monday we spent the day walking around and enjoying the weather. We enjoyed a light snack and deelish teas at Ming Tao Xuan, a vegetarian tea house in Old Montreal and we needed to make one last stop to Cafe Veritas before heading home.
Vegetarian Buns - YUM!!
There are so many other veggie places that we did not get to check out, but we had such a beautiful long weekend and I’m super happy with everything with did do and saw. Now we have some places left for our next romantic trip to Montreal 😉 On the last day when we were walking around we came across Centre Luna Yoga which looked adorable and had Jivamukti Yoga Classes! Next time I will check this place out for sure!
Marisa's Healthy Kitchen 
Jul 16, 2010 @ 14:53:21
I love checking your blog. Montreal is on the vegan map. I might try to recreate some of the dishes, especially viva las vegan…reminds me of an arepa because the side look sealed. Great photos & next time someone puzzles as to what a vegan eats, I can send them to your blog.
Amazing girl, Nina
Jul 16, 2010 @ 18:05:59
Thanks Nina!! Montreal is awesome!! The Viva Las Vegan was great! Let me know how it turns out andd send pics 🙂 I will totally post them!!! Love you honey!! Still want bon bons!!!!! xoxo
Jul 16, 2010 @ 16:48:26
Hi, looks like you had a fabulous trip to Montreal. Quick question – I’ve been following your blog for several weeks now, and I’m wondering what your definition of “healthy” is. I’m having a hard time understanding how items like peanut sauce, fried polenta and mac ‘n’ cheese are “healthy” in any sense of the word. Don’t get me wrong, they look “delish”….but I’m just not sure you can technically classify yours as a “Healthy Kitchen” with recommended dishes like coconut BLT sandwiches, stir fry, biscuits, and lasagna, so your current blog title may be a bit misleading……
Jul 16, 2010 @ 18:14:47
Hi Marci! I did have a fabulous trip to Montreal. You are totally correct fried polenta and biscuits are not healthy items, but I believe in everything in moderation. If I deprive myself from all the yummy fun foods 100% of the time I find myself going off the deep end and craving bad stuff, so I try to eat super healthy most of the time and have fun foods sometimes. I eat peanut sauce at restaurants, but whenever I make it at home it is definitely an almond butter “peanut” sauce. Also as a vegan, I just find it fun to eat some dishes like Vegan Mac n’ Cheese. But one of the dishes I made had cauliflower in it and the other one had pumpkin puree in it to cut down on the ‘cheese’. The coconut BLT was super healthy as it was basically a fabulous salad in a chapati, so good! I also think stir fry is healthy, just limit the amount of oil. When I make things like biscuits, I try to inform my readers that it is a rare treat. But by using the word healthy I do not just mean low-fat items; I am thinking, yes of course, healthy for our bodies, but also mentally, for our soul and for the good of the world 🙂 I hope that helps clarify a bit. I appreciate your comment! Thanks!!