Not having fully recovered from the epic week of Harlem EatUp! and The World’s Fare, I am so grateful I got off my duff and planned my birthday in advance. If I had not, I would have just been comatose on the couch through the Memorial Day weekend. Instead, my bro, Jason and I road-tripped to Montreal for my first time ever across our northern border.
The day of departure, I had run myself ragged into a viral chest infection, along with some other colleagues on the team. I was not going to let it stop me so, for another first, I used Teladoc’s virtual doctor service for non-life-threatening issues. Within 15 minutes I had a call from a doctor and a prescription waiting for me at my local pharmacy. Though I knew I could get free medical care in Canada, I was so glad to be on the mend by the time we hit Albany.
After dropping my pups (aka the boys) at camp (yeah, I said it…and it was less expensive than boarding them in the city plus they are in nature the entire time), we headed up the highway for our six-hour drive. Thankfully Jason hopped into @BOsBagels to get some whitefish on everything bagels to tide us over before we left.
Almost to Albany, we ironically stopped at the newly opened (Fall 2018) Capital Region Welcome Center in New Baltimore, Green County. I say ironically because inside the new state-of-the-art building resides a @TasteNY market showcasing some “made in New York” products, many of which I knew like @BobbySuesNuts from Chappaqua, NY, @MatzoProject from Brooklyn, NY and Harlem’s own @HellaCocktailCo. I was a proud “made in NY” food lover.
We were fortified to make it through the rest of our trip…or so we thought. Turn on the torrential rain and the serious Boston-style construction project happening plus our host being late and “hangry” became afoot. Thank goodness our apartment was within walking distance to Montreal’s Chinatown.
Jason and I donned our raingear and headed out to find something, anything, open. Thanks to some locals and my sharp eye we found a spot to serve us. I cannot tell you the name; just that our lively older server made us feel welcomed and entertained.
Anytime I travel, land or air, I always love to have a hot broth to calm my stomach so Mandarin noodle soup with dumplings was the elixir. We washed that down with some dim sum of shrimp and pork dumplings and dry sautéed string beans. Sated.
Quick walk home, double dose on the meds, sleep and anticipate my first full day in Canada…
Happy eating and thanks for reading!
Kysha Harris is a food writer and editor, culinary producer, consultant and owner of SCHOP!, a personalized food service in NYC for over 15 years. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram, @SCHOPgirl, on Facebook, /SCHOPnyc, and her blog, www.talkingSCHOP.wordpress.com. Questions? Comments? Requests? Feedback? Invitations! Email AmNewsFOOD at AmNewsFOOD@SCHOPnyc.com. Follow us on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook @NYAmNewsFOOD and tag us with #SoAmNewsFOOD with your food finds!