Boustan has been in a steady expansion mode in recent years, with 40 locations and counting. Ottawa and Toronto franchises have come on board. By the time 2022 draws to a close that number will grow to an astonishing 60. That will include Cornwall and New Brunswick.
Get ready for two outstanding shows on Food Network Canada: Wall of Bakers and Big Food Bucket List.
Wall of Bakers, a spin-off of Wall of Chefs, tests the precision skills of Canada’s home bakers as they battle in three rounds of captivating competition, in front of a dozen of the country’s most accomplished As the hopeful home bakers rise to the challenge, they’ll set their sights on the $10,000 grand prize and the title of Wall of Bakers champion. The Corus Studios original makes its sweet debut on March 28 at 10 p.m. ET/PT on Food Network Canada.
Wall of Bakers
Wall of Bakers features an expert panel of 24 of the country’s biggest names in baking on rotation throughout the season. The pastry chefs offer their expertise in each round, all while tasting, judging and eliminating one home baker. Ultimately, they decide who takes the cake. The Wall of Bakers judges includethree Montrealers in these roles: Jo Notkin (Maison Zoe Ford), Patrice Demers (Patrice Pâtissier) and Ricardo Larrivée (Ricardo Media Inc.)
In each stand-alone episode of Wall of Bakers, host Noah Cappe (Wall of Chefs, Carnival Eats) leads four amateur bakers to face off in three rounds of sweet competition. In the first “Crowd-Pleaser” round, they prepare their own personal ‘signature’ desserts. In the second “Baker’s Pantry” round, they are challenged to come up with a dessert using two ingredients that are staples in the pantry of one of the chefs on the Wall. In the third and final “Bakery-Worthy” round, the last two home bakers are inspired by a chef’s signature confection to make their own bakery-worthy creations.
Throughout the season, the determined batch of bakers will push their pastry talents to the limit as they are tasked with using mandatory ingredients and pairings such as tahini and dark chocolate, black sesame paste and bananas, apple butter and rosemary and more. Each episode also incorporates themes to inspire creativity in their baked goods including re-inventing a classic dessert, carnival treats, spiced infusions and experiments with flavour combinations.
Jo Notkin started Zoe Ford Catering in 2009 so she could feed people the type of food she loves to eat at parties- Beautiful, simple and delicious. She considers sharing food to be one of life’s greatest joys. Jo named the company after her late grandmother (whose real name is Esther Finestone) from whom she inherited her fresh aesthetic, keen eye for detail, creative spirit and penchant for the art of hospitality.
Jo is a native of Côte Saint-Luc with ties to the seaside town of Gloucester, Massachusetts, near to where Zoe was born and where she spent summers growing up (and discovering the sheer magic of lobster parties and strawberry rhubarb pie made by hand). Beyond her role as a caterer, Jo has been many things: among them, a creator of jewelry for Aldo shoes while in her late teens, a champion oyster shucker in her 20’s, a designer and manufacturer of sustainable textiles in her 30’s, and in her 40’s a chocolatière, a chef and a contestant Food Network Canada’s Top Chef Canada Season 8 in 2020.
The idea to apply for the show was planted when the friend of a now ex-boyfriend suggested she do so. Almost as if it was a message from above, sometime later an application form from a previous season popped on her iPhone screen. She took that as a sign, went to the website and before you knew it was part of Top Chef. “It was an amazing experience,” she told me. “I work well under pressure. Being a caterer prepares you for that.”
As for Wall of Baker, Jo noted, “it is so much more fun to be a judge. No pressure.”
Working with Chef Ricardo, she says, was a joy. “I adore him. He is so much fun; the ultimate optimist. He always had treats in his pockets for us.”
See my Video Chat with Jo
In this season of Big Food Bucket List, host John Catucci (You Gotta Eat Here!) is back to take viewers on an all-new food adventure across North America as he checks buzz-worthy, crazy, delicious food off his bucket list. In each episode, John visits the restaurants behind these must-eat meals and hits the kitchen to learn how the chefs make their mind-blowing creations. We’re talking sky-high lemon pie topped with clouds of meringue, juicy beef brisket barbecued right on the beach, outrageously stacked 100-layer lasagna and a Chicano burrito jam-packed with crispy French fries. John’s setting out to eat each drool-worthy dish and check them off his Big Food Bucket List.
This season features two Montreal restaurants – Tropikàl Restobar in St. Henri, specializing in Caribbean cuisine and owned by Dollard native Jae-Anthony Doughan and trendy Foiegwa (https://www.foiegwa.com/menu) in Griffintown.
Located in the space formerly occupied by La Belle Province in Saint-Henri, Foiegwa is a result of a joint effort between the Barroco Group and the Gauley Brothers. While the space is elegant and chic, the vibe remains convivial. Chef Jérémie Falissardwanted to create a restaurant where locals could meet up for dinner, brunch, or even just to enjoy a cocktail. I have walked and driven by this restaurant and often noticed lineups. After getting an advance review copy of Catucci’s Foiegwa visit (airing April 2 at 8:30 pm) I can see why. Catucci sampled the signature truffle parmesan spaghetti and some truffle bechamel fries.
“That truffle spaghetti dish is my downfall,” Catucci told me. “I usually eat in bites. But not with this dish.”
Catucci records 20 episodes per season, profiling three restaurants in each half-hour segment. That is 60 dining experiences across Canada and the United States. The show also airs on Hulu in the United States. It is a busy pace, keeping him on the road two and a half weeks per month. How does he stay in shape? “Because of this show and to keep me honest, I hired a personal trainer a few years ago,” he said.
The format is neat. At each restaurant, he is joined by regulars who sit with him and talk about the dishes.
Catucci’s visit to Tropikàl Restobar will air on April 9 at 8 pm. “I loved the vibe,” he said. “The food is so special, and Jae-Anthony is an amazing chef. He is one of those guys who really wants to feed you. I especially enjoyed his jerk chicken poutine.”
Here is my video chat with John.
Like me, you can watch past shows on the Global TV app if you subscribe to Food Network Canada
For more years than I can remember I would drive to Pointe Claire just to enjoy a good smoked meat sandwich or some breakfast at Moe’s Bar & Grill. The menu had so many tempting items, I always tempted to return. On my way home from Ottawa recently I decided to make a pit stop and call in a large order that I could enjoy over a couple of days. When I arrived, longtime owner Johnny Cripotos was there to greet me.
Au Coq has been part of the Quebec restaurant landscape for more than 60 years. Since 2019 it has been part of the Foodtastic group (foodtastic.ca), which was enough to get my attention when I was in Dollard des Ormeaux and looking for a place to eat on Sources Blvd. There are presently 10 Au Coq franchises in Quebec (Dollard, St. Laurent, Marché Central, Hochelaga, Montreal East, St. Leonard, Central Station downtown and Gatineau). Opening soon will be locations in Terrebonne and Île-Perrot.
Sikellis and his team managed their way through the pandemic, but he told me clearly that I must come back to one of his locations when indoor dining could see what a sensation it is. I finally did so recently in Dollard, managed by Harry’s son Mike. It was a Sunday morning and when I arrived the place was starting to get busy. By 10 am there was a lineup out the door. Mike, assisted by his mom Marina Tzanetakou, was busy checking vaccine passports. There is plexiglass between tables, which are well spaced.
When I dropped by at a lunch hour to meet Dranias, Chef Armeni greeted us with a basket of bread, an appetizer of Fritto Misto – deep-fried calamari, shrimp and smelt- and delicious bowls of busiate pasta, with a braised rabbit in fresh tomato sauce.
At the Île-Perrot location, manager Costa Soilis aims to please. He has been at this spot since it opened six years ago, having started off as a chef and then taking charge. Throughout the pandemic he kept the place running with take-out and delivery orders. Now he is overseeing the return to in-person dining. The terrasse season has regrettably ended for their patio can accommodate 90 people. He and wonderful server Sophie, who has also been on staff since the start (in between becoming a mom three times), told me how these days they also must play the role of COVID-19 vaccine passport copies. Regularly they have to prevent unwanted customers from coming through the front door.
Greenspot is right out of a movie set. There are a few counter stools and enough vinyl booths to accommodate as many as 140 diners. Each table has a jukebox. While the machines no longer function, some people still try to feed coins inside for some old songs. Music now is piped in via a Bell satellite.
Notable Quebec race car driver Alex Tagliani recently opened his new $18 million TAG E-Karting and Amusement Center at Plaza St. Thérèse… The Center features nine activities including a combination of the multi-level layout of three electric karting tracks, a laser tag game arena, six ax-throwing lanes, six bowling lanes, a Triotech 7D interactive cinema, a multi-sensory virtual reality experience, numerous modern arcades, and an interactive children’s floor—all under one roof. And it was all founded by Tagliani, the owner of TAG Autosport and a large partnership with a number of entrepreneurs well-known in the business sphere.
Since Pizzeria Bros debuted on Côte des Neiges a year ago I have driven and walked by umpteen times. I finally stopped by to sample the food and thanks to team leader Jared Maraj and his co-workers Mikael Loyat and Harjot Singh I came away with an excellent first impression. This chain can best be compared to the Subways of pizza. However in this case Pizzeria Bros provides a fresh thin crust pizza with quality ingredients in a quick-service setting. The dough, sauces and dressings are all homemade and pizzas cooked in high heat ovens in only 90 seconds.
Tommy Café made its debut about five years ago on Notre Dame Street in Old Montreal, serving mainly different coffees and teas. It has since expanded a few blocks away to St. Paul Street, on Mount Royal twinned with a Baccaro pizza spot and in Oakville, Ontario. Expansion is on the way to St. Bruno and Fairview Centre in Pointe-Claire.
Q-ZN, as it is cleverly called, recently opened in the industrial sector of St. Laurent. When Dan and his partners, Jason Nishmas, Jason Martin and Steve Merling, were putting the concept together and approaching restaurants he began waxing nostalgic about Cattlemans. Before you could say “pepperoni,” a plan was in place. He approached the owners of Quebec Pizzeria in Laval (order.quebecpizzeria.ca) and with the blessing of the Blutman family, he gave them the Cattleman’s (now reborn without the apostrophe to please the language police and known as Cattlemans Retro) pizza recipe. The Papa family from Quebec Pizzeria nailed it.
Every so often I wind up at a culinary establishment where I ask myself the question, “How is it possible that I have never been here before?”
Such is precisely the case for the iconic Duc de Lorraine, located on Côte des Neiges Road just off Queen Mary. Since 1952, this truly magical spot has served French pastries, seasonal cakes, viennoiseries and macarons, using traditional recipes by great French pastry chefs. Victoria Sørensen became the owner 12 years ago and she clearly has the magic touch for this is a restaurant, catering service, dessert emporium and a pastry shop all rolled into one.
Back in 1966, Christos Kalogrias came to Canada, leaving his native Greek village of Arahova. He was only 26 years of age and had some family here. His first job was in manufacturing, earning 95 cents an hour. In order to build some savings, he relocated to Thompson, Manitoba to work in a nickel and mining company, returning to Montreal in 1971 with enough money to open his own restaurant on St. Viateur Street. In June, Arahova Souvlaki celebrated its 50th anniversary.
By: Mike Cohen
The story goes as follows. Dominic “Dick” Potenza was born in West Virginia and grew up in Utica, New York. He became well known in the Rochester – Buffalo area during the ’40s as a head-waiter in the supper-club-type restaurants of the era. It was at one of these supper clubs that he met his future wife, jazz accordionist Ann Collecchia, who performed using the stage name of Ann Russell. Together, they envisioned a fast food restaurant that would serve an original-style hamburger with their own special sauce. After much thought, this original style hamburger took the form of a toasted bun containing a thin patty that would cook quickly. After they modified and combined two recipes that they brought with them from Rochester, Dick and Ann developed their famous hot sauce.
In 1954, the couple moved to Montreal and opened the first Dic Ann’s, which was no more than a “hamburger shack” located on the corner of Cremazie and Papineau. Two years later, the success of this small location convinced them to move to larger premises in Montreal North. Initially open only in summer as a drive-in with car service, it was later renovated to allow year-round operation. In 1981, Dic Ann’s opened a larger operation in Chomedey, Laval, followed by Ville d’Anjou (1994), Terrebonne (1995), St-Jerome (1996), Repentigny (2000), Auteuil (2001), Longueuil (2004), NDG (2006), St. Eustache (2008), Ste-Thérèse (2012), Old Port (2013) and Marché Centrale (2013). They also have a food truck.
Last week I decided to take a drive to Chomedey and Boulevard Curé Labelle. This Dic Ann’s has a large parking lot. I went to meet cousins Delbina Potenza and Anthony Zammit, the third generation of the family business founded by their grandparents. While I could not resist the offer to enjoy two delicious cheeseburgers, fries and a Pepsi, the big news is that starting this June, fans of Dic Ann’s restaurants will be able to buy their famous sauce in Metro grocery stores across Quebec to reproduce the taste of their favourite hamburger in the comfort of their own home. I took home a jar, warmed some sauce up and used it on my own burgers and wow what a treat!
The sauce has actually been sold at the cash at all Dic Ann’s locations since last December. Delbina and Anthony said they will be watching closely to see which Metro spots sell the most sauces (they will not necessarily be available at each one, so you can ask the manager). If, for example, at the NDG Metro near my home sales go well maybe the West End will get a Dic Ann’s franchise again. There was one on St. Jacques Street West, but it closed when the multi-year construction project for the Ville Marie Expressway kept any car traffic away from the area.
“We spent our evenings hand-filling the thousands of jars of sauce and putting the labels on ourselves,” says Delbina Potenza. “It made for a nice exciting project for us during the pandemic.”
The idea to offer the sauce separately came with the high demand for deliveries during the pandemic. “Our hamburger is really better when the sauce is added at the last minute to keep the bun from getting too soft,” Anthony Zammit explains. “So we started offering it in a separate container for deliveries, and then the idea came up to sell it to our restaurants.”
“Our original intention was to bring a little happiness into people’s homes during the pandemic,” adds Delbin. “Families are cooking at home more and more since the restaurants closed, so it was the perfect opportunity to launch the sauce in grocery stores.”
The story behind the famous sauce
When Dick and Ann decided to open a hamburger restaurant in Montreal, they enlisted the help of the chef from the restaurant where Dick worked to develop a sauce recipe. They did some trial runs and taste tests with their friends and chose the most popular one.
“We have a sauce like you can’t find anywhere else,” Anthony boasts. “Not too runny, not too thick and the meaty taste of our sauce is really unique.”
Dic Ann’s customers know how important quality ingredients are to the company. The sauce is made with pure spices from India and fresh ingredients. The recipe has never changed since the company began in 1954. The Potenza family used Dic Ann’s sauce in many recipes, not just burgers. One of their favorite recipes was to mix the sauce with beef or pork in the slow cooker to make delicious pulled meat, or to cook very thin slices of roast beef in the sauce to make a sandwich served on a baguette.
“There are so many delicious ways to enjoy our sauce,” says Anthony. “Our community shares with us on social media their favorite ways to cook with our sauce and we are always pleasantly surprised by their creativity.”
My brother-in-law grew up in Chomedey and always returns to Dic Ann’s on visits back home. When he saw me order a burger with no Dic Ann’s sauced one time, he was upset! “That is sacrilegious,” laughed Anthony.
Dic Ann’s Original Sauce is sold for $7.99 for 550 ml in Dic Ann’s restaurants now and in Metro grocery stores this June.
The Pandemic
I sat down with Delbina and Anthony on the small terrasse, which will soon be up and running again for clients. But for Dic Ann’s, the pandemic did not really impact business badly. “We were built for take-out,” said Anthony. “Customers often eat in their car anyhow or bring orders back for their family. We started using DoorDash for home deliveries and that turned out to be a big success.”
