Lola Rosa Café

Today's post will be about Lola Rosa Café, the McGill student favourite that I promised a review of weeks ago.  Lola Rosa Café is a small, quaint vegetarian bistro located in the heart of the “McGill Ghetto”.  My Information Systems class required my group and I to consult for Lola Rosa and evaluate how best to leverage social media in their business model. Our proposals and a short introduction to Lola Rosa were contained in a video presentation that you can now find on YouTube.  

Like most people I know, I wasn't really sure what to expect from Lola Rosa, considering it was my first fully vegetarian experience. Fortunately, any uncertainties or bias you may have towards a vegetarian establishment are wiped clean as soon as you walk in the door. In the back of your head, there’s still that voice telling you a meal completely void of meat seems illogical, but by now you’re completely blinded by Lola Rosa’s overwhelming charm. The atmosphere is rustic and cozy, yet beautifully refined by nothing less than an artists touch. Supplement this with a warm, welcoming team of waiters and the lively buzzing of student conversation and you can see why this little bistro is making itself known in a big way.

At this point in the post, I've already talked myself into wanting Lola Rosa for lunch tomorrow and I haven't even gotten to the main attraction - the food. I opened with one of the day's specials, a rich, creamy butternut squash soup, but this wasn't just any old soup. Lola Rosa took a heart-warming classic and turned it up to eleven with a unique flare of spices. It was this not-so-simple soup that provided the initial insight into how this bistro was keeping vegetarian food interesting and relevant.

For my main course, I was lucky enough to be dining with a couple of friends that were open to the concept of letting me eat their food. On my first visit I got the Lola Rosa salad and the quiche on the second, but I've gotten to dabble in a taste of quite a few dishes. From what I've had, my top two recommendations would have to be the cutting-board platter of nachos and the lasagna. Both are true examples of how Lola Rosa can take the simplest dish and transform it into a symphony of vegetarian cuisine.

 

Lola Rosa Café on Facebook

Lola Rosa Café on Twitter

Lola Rosa Café Blog

The Belated Beef Roast

         Figured I may as well show the world our Beef Roast from last week that never made it onto the world wide web. I seared the six massive sides of this roast for about 2 minutes a side in a cast iron pan before baking it at 350*F right in the pan for 30-40 minutes. A few knobs of butter in the pan before baking does wonders for the flavour, as long as you remember to baste every 10 minutes or so. Once you've cooked the meat to a succulent, pink medium rare the rest of the preparation is up to you. Here, we just had steak subs, but the possibilities are endless. It is meat after all.

A Knight's Feast

           Tonight's dinner was something that simply had to be shared with the world. My roommates, Marc and Evan, and I chose to dine like crusaders to the faint memory of our traveling roommate, Will. He was surely missed, but we substituted his absence with a hefty plate of roast pork and garlic mash. This might have been one of the simplest meals we've made so far, but it rendered some spectacular results. The four inch-and-a-half thick pork chops cooked in the oven at 400*F/200*C covered in onions for about 35min to a perfect juicy white inside. Garlic mash consisted of simply cooking the potatoes in boiling water for 10-15min until soft in the middle, draining, and adding milk, butter, salt, pepper, and minced garlic. Mash and whip the potatoes until creamy and soft, adding milk as needed, and salt to taste. Paired with some steamed broccoli so as not to miss out on those greens, and you've hit all your necessary food groups. Enjoy

Update

Midterms are over!!!
        It was a long and grueling 3 weeks, with the majority of my time devoted to my dearest McLennan library, but it's finally over. McLennan you will be missed, but not to worry, you will surely find your way back into my heart when finals start to loom overhead, which is realistically only a couple weeks away. The worst part about the past two weeks is that all the food I've been eating has been nothing but filler. Scraps of unhealthy junk food that had one purpose, sustain me, while more importantly absorbing my generous daily intake of coffee. Needless to say, the past few weeks have been cold and heartless, and I'm disappointed in myself, as a foody, to admit that this attitude has weaseled its way into my diet.
        In any case, the next few weeks will hopefully be my shining comeback to the world of food blogging. My road to redemption will be paved with the likes of a succulent Beef Roast, pan-fried seafood filets (fish recommendations are appreciated), and, if all goes well, I'll be trying my hand at some sort form of dessert. I simply can't wait to get back in the kitchen and get my hands dirty. Also, look out for a review of Lola Rosa Cafe coming up by the end of next week.
Lola Rosa Cafe
http://twitter.com/#!/LolaRosaTweet
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Lola-Rosa-Cafe/138714289472478?sk=wall

        For now I'll leave you with a few images from a lunch I indulged in a few days ago. My attempt at the Italian Sausage, a Chicago favourite. I was lucky enough to visit Chicago this past summer to experience the real thing and try my hand at eating the wealth of delicacies the windy city had to offer. Like any sane person, my mouth waters at the thought of fried peppers and onions piled high atop a pork sausage captured between a toasted sub. The pictures don't even begin to do it justice.

It was as easy as pan frying the sausage and vegetables....

...and then constructing.

  

Le Vieux Saint Laurent

     Le Vieux - 

Saint Laurent

        3993 
Boulevard
     St. Laurent


  

        Today's blog post has found me again with my head in the books. The only difference this time being that I was even too lazy to make food for myself, so I've decided to impart some knowledge on all you out there. Le Vieux Saint Laurent is the best place to have breakfast in Montreal. There simply is no substitute to a mountainous plate of greasy breakfast meats and eggs. All you students out there know about waking up in the haze of a Saturday or Sunday morning, possibly clothed and wondering to yourself "Is this my bed?". Well I am now giving you the one place that will make it all better. No guarantees on whether or not your dignity can be salvaged, but you won't care anymore. One of the simplest joys in life will be before you, waiting only for your eyes to stop watering so you can be whole again. The picture below doesn't even begin to do justice to this meal, which can only be described as an experience. An experience that will open your eyes to something you didn't even know existed.
      

The Logger

3 eggs, 3 bacon, 2 ham, 2 sausage, home fries, baked beans, fruit, and cretin. $10.95

   

Take it all in, because it won't last long

Meat and Potatoes

       Sorry for taking my time getting to this first actual food post, I know how many of you out there have been anxiously waiting. With midterms and projects piling up, I've entered the monotonous head-buried-in-books mode that's familiar to any university student. To be honest, I've been dreading having to write this post, with so many other things on my plate lately, but it's actually rather relaxing. Let that be a message to all those out there that think blogging is a waste of time. It may not get you ahead in school or work, but it sure as hell takes your mind off it for a while, which could be just what you needed.

       Speaking of things that take your mind off school, lets get to the food, the main attraction. Take a break from stalking on Facebook and scrolling through Twitter, and delve into the well refined palate of a university student; as good a reason as any to procrastinate on the internet for a bit. The first meal I have chosen to share with you is one that has become a staple amongst our household. Meat and potatoes. There are a total of four second-year guys living in my apartment, so you can understand how this meal is a favourite. Every couple of weeks, we pile into Will's white Nissan Sentra and head down to Costco to stockpile for the coming weeks, but we never leave without a massive pork loin (It can feed the four of us for a few days and is, on average, about $25.00 including tax). Pair this with a generous helping of potatoes, and a cold beer, and you're dining like a king.

Pork

* The proper way to do this would be to marinate the loin for a day in your choice of marinade or brine, but I was feeling rather drained this weekend so I took the easy way out...

- Cut the excess skin off of the loin, still leaving a nice thin layer of fat to brown on the barbeque or in the oven. Next, make shallow slits about an inch apart along the fat side of the loin, for the seasoning to be worked into.

- The seasoning is personal preference, but I like to dress both sides with olive oil and work salt, pepper, rosemary and garlic into the meat, before coating with the mystery ingredient, Louisiana hot sauce. Hot sauce is the atypical flavour substitute amongst students, but letting the meat cook in it on the barbeque is to die for.

Had to cut the loin in half to fit it on the barbeque...

- Now you want to cook the pork over direct heat on the barbeque, searing all six sides of the loin, before turning the heat off on the pork side and leaving the rest of the cooking to the indirect heat of the other side.

This normally takes about an hour and a half on our portable Coleman barbeque, but could be anywhere between an hour or two depending on your barbeque, or oven if you choose to do it that way.

- The meat will be mostly white with a tint of pink left on the inside when cooked thoroughly.

- Slice thinly and serve covered in the juices that run from the pork when sliced.

Potatoes

- Fill a large pot three quarters full with salted water and bring to a boil. 

- Take about a dozen medium-sized potatoes and cut them into inch wide pieces (usually quarters or sixths).

- Place the potatoes in the pot (you might need a slotted spoon for this), and bring the water back to a simmer.

- The potatoes will cook in about 10-15 minutes. Testing for softness all the way through with a fork is a foolproof way to make sure they are done.

Cooking on tinfoil will protect the potatoes

- From here you can directly season with salt, pepper, rosemary, olive oil, and a few knobs of butter and serve, or you can place them on the barbeque for a few minutes to brown prior to seasoning.

- Serve piping hot with the pork and you've done it.

Please comment. All input is greatly appreciated, I'd love to test myself and try new things next time.

First Blog

This is my first post on my new blog, Eating and Drinking with a University Student, so hello to whoever is out there listening. Over the next few months I have to maintain a blog for my Information Systems class at McGill, and it can be about absolutely anything, so I've decided to globalize how university students can make delicious food on a budget.

So wish me luck and let the cooking begin.