Category — Whatsitcalled?

When it gets cold and rainy (like it is today), I think about….poutines.

A single helping of Montreal’s signature dish – a liberal mess of fries, brown gravy and cheese curds – may take years off your life but I’m here to tell you it’s worth it.

First, it’s got all your favorite food groups (carbs/fat/salt – seriously, look it up.) Second, one of Montreal’s best poutines places is a funky hangout decked in Christmas lights whose name means “la-tee-dah, la-tee-dah,” and who wouldn’t want to eat in a place like that? At Patati Patata the potatoes go limp under their silky, saline gravy and the cheese curds spring back just enough to keep you chewing. And the only thing better than poutines is….poutines with beer. Try a local brew, like the crisp and bitter St. Amboise on tap, and you may apply for citizenship.

 4177 St. Laurent (at Rachel), Montreal, Quebec. Tel.: (514) 844-0216. No website (though there appears to be a Brazilian clown troupe by the same name). Cash only.