WELCOME

Welcome to the Urban Culture course at Avila University created by Susan Lawlor and Dotty Hamilton.  We travel with our students to great cities to explore art museums, engage with the architecture, study the local film and music venues, and experience the ethnic enclaves as a way to learn about the culture of urban spaces and the interaction of art and environment.  It's a fun, intense learning environment.  

Sunday, May 17, 2015

Mile End Food Tour

Mile End is one of the more trendy (hipster) neighborhoods of the city. It's enjoying a surge in popularity in recent years. It boasts the most artists per square kilometer in all of Canada.
The tour began with vegan felafels at Panthere Verte (green panther).

Ubisoft's rise in the gaming industry and influx of employees is primarily responsible for the explosion of restaurants in Mile End.


Genevieve herself designed everything about this establishment from the fine chocolate to the logo and fun surface designs.

Tasteful beauty.
"Give" boxes are set up throughout the neighborhood. They serve as a way for residents to give and take household and personal items (books, clothes, etc) as needed.

The Theatre Rialto has surged from closed doors just five years ago to a thriving 25+ performances per month.

Tiffany stained glass.

 
At Drogheria Fine learning about the proper way to make tomato sauce.

Gnochi in tomato veal sauce.

Mile End is home to a thriving Hasidic Jewish population.

Fun fact. Cats walk on bricks while there are drying.

Today was the city wide restaurant day, allowing anyone to open a private restaurant for one day. This allow was bustling with neighborhood diners, a great way to meet the neighbors.

This family's waiter is poised on a ladder at the window to give and receive food orders.

Boucherie Lawrence shared some fine meets and cheeses. Cheese is on the rise in Montreal.

Mmmm...ice cream, what a great way to end the tour. Kem Coba is blend of Canadian and Vietnamese flavors.


7 comments:

  1. I REALLY enjoyed this trip. My top 3 favorite things that we did was (#1) The Walking Tour of Old Montreal- I LOVED the atmosphere there- it reminded me a lot of Europe. The Basilica was breathtaking. (#2) The Mile End Food Tour- I loved this. The food was AMAZING. My two favorite things- walking and food. (#3)- Our group. Great people to be around- memories were made that's for sure. I'm going to miss everything about Montreal. I already miss it!!
    I walked over 50 miles!!!!!!!!!! Crazy!!

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  2. This trip completely surpassed my expectations! I think the only thing I didn't enjoy was the Korean food, but hey, even that was a cool experience. If I had to pick, I would say my two favorite activities were the Museum of Contemporary Art and the Mile End Food Tour.

    I found the Contemporary Art Museum completely inspiring and unique. I loved the way the exhibits were curated and the variety of pieces within them. It was different than any other museum I have been to and I think it is know my favorite. I've also never truly enjoyed a guided tour through a museum before, so it says a lot that I didn't want it to end. Tracy was absolutely amazing as a guide.

    The Mile End Food Tour was incredible in the sense that it was more than just samplings of food and tours of restaurants. Our Guide had so many interesting stories and trivia facts to share and he seemed to know so much about the city. He showed us a lot of really cool neighborhoods and sites that I don't think we would have noticed otherwise. I found the Jewish neighborhood really interesting and the fact that we ended up passing through on Restaurant Day was really cool. I wish we could have stopped to eat there!

    I am already ready to pack my bags and move to Montreal! It is an incredible city and I am so lucky to have had the chance to travel there and with such a great group of people as well!

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  3. OMG! What an amazing experience! I have always been a rather picky child growing up. But as I've matured, my want to try new things did as well. The Mile End Food Tour was amazing. I tried Falafel, for the second time. Which was an amazing vegan dish mm mm mmmmm! Also the most memorable dish was the Italian dish, gnocchi! Talk about heaven in your mouth. I definitely wanted seconds of that. Not only did we get to snack on food, but we received history about the area as well. The area just so happened to be similar to our crossroads district, which was an area heavily populated with artists. SCORE!

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  4. The Mile End food tour was one of the highlights of this trip as I love food! I don't think I can choose a favorite food but experience wise, I enjoyed the bagel stop. It was interesting the see how the bagels were made. The stop for gnocchi was cool as well...I couldn't see anything but loved the tip about cooling down the pot of sauce by wrapping the pot with a cold towel. I've never heard that before!

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  5. One thing that bothered me about the food tour, was the walk down the street in the Hasidic Jewish section. It reminded me of our discussion in class about the adverse side of tourism. I felt guilty viewing the young children and the homes as if they were part of an exhibit in a human zoo.

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    1. Angela - I have often had this same feeling in some of my travels and I think it is important to keep your sensitivity to others alive. Thanks for the thoughtful observation.

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  6. I really enjoyed this trip. We had a great group and I had a great time. I enjoyed how we had free time to do what we wanted each day. The activities were well planned out, although a few of them were way out of my comfort zone. The dance performances were the only activity that I did not care for a whole lot.
    The Biki Bikes enhanced my trip in Montreal. After spending time in the city, I got to see first hand how efficient bikes can be as means of transportation in a city. I liked how assessable the bikes are. Also, it impressed me how cars respected bikers. Since it had been years since I last rode a bike, I rode through the beautiful park near the Olympic stadium on my last night it Montreal. It was neat to see how many people were enjoying their Sunday at the park. I now see that biking is a popular activity and part of the Montreal culture.
    I really enjoyed the Mile End food tour! The food was great and the neighborhood was charming. I had never tried falafel or gnocchi before but i have always wanted to. I love both and they were my favorites of the things we tried on the tour. Overall, this activity was my favorite and right up my alley!
    -Alyssa Parsells

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