The Hired Belly can trace his chequered relationship with poutine back to the days of Toe Blake's tavern, not far from the old Montreal Forum, long before the dish had achieved its present crossCanada comfort-food status. In those days, poutine was something you ate to offset the effects of too many "Gros Cinquants" (750 ml. bottles of Labatts beer), even it didn't always work.
Now, poutine is firmly established as Vancouver's "plat du jour." However, we suspect the reasons for its success may have as much to do with the times as taste-poutine is the ultimate in recession food.
But no matter how much it's worshipped by bloggers in endless on-line prose, or held up as a "national" dish, the fact remains-we're still talking French fries, gravy and cheese curds.
La Brasserie (1091 Davie St., 604-568-6499) makes one of the best, pimped up with truffle oil.
The hand cut, salted and black-peppered fries come with the right amount of truffle oil aroma and flavour, and served in a deep bowl along with loads of squeaky, fresh Quebec curds-perfect for a rain-sodden night.
As to what else to eat with it, the problem is solved by my server's suggestion of la Brasserie's super lean, delicious steak tartare, with well dressed salad and gherkins.
Even though a crisp Riesling crosses my mind, a glass of Newcastle Brown Ale (on tap) seems more appropriate in a cross-cultural kind of way. It tastes great with everything in front of me. "Hey, you've got all your food groups covered," quips our helpful server. And she's right.
La Brasserie also makes "breakfast poutine," with bacon lardons and a poached egg. "It's hangover food," explains chef Josh Barry, who's busy readying another order.
Without a doubt, the city's most serious poutiniste is La Belle Patate (1215 Davie St., 604-596-1215), which began in Victoria by Montrealer Pascal Cormier. Without many frills, the main decor here (aside from token salutes to the Habs) is a line of brightly coloured chalk boards. They proclaim over a score of variations, from traditional to specialty tastes such as steak hachée and Mexicana. All come in small, medium, large and a diet-defying all-you-can-eat for $19.50.
A keeper is the Smoked Meat, with chunks of tender beef tangled in a rich gravy and fresh curds. Sodium? What sodium? Don't let on to your cardiologist! Quiet during the day, the easterners' haven is usually hopping at night.
Someone who knows how popular poutine has become is Alexandre Brabant, one of the organizers of Festival de la Poutine (Nov. 19 at the Hellenic Community Centre, 4500 Arbutus St.). The festival (put on by francouver. ca) includes all kinds of activities, including an already sold-out "Poutine Crawl." But you can still drop by the centre for the afternoon for the more family-oriented program of inexpensive tastes, kids games, face painting, music and arts and crafts.
"We could have sold 1,000 tickets for the [sold out] evening event," says Brabant, who's still scratching his head over what the fuss is all about, trying to stay calm and already thinking bigger for next year.
He adds, assuredly: "We have the team to face that poutine storm."
