Martin's 17th Birthday

We are in Montreal for Martin's birthday. We have been spending the day with Robert and Andrea, who are the friends I go to see on Pine Cay.

We went to a very nice restaurant called "Thursday's." A Montreal institution. I had a half roast duck with olive sauce that was the best duck I have ever had. Martin got steak tar tar. When we went to the bathroom later Martin told me that when he read "tar tar" he heard "fillet Mignon" in his head. He ate half of it. If you don't know what tar tar is you will have to google it. But if you ask Martin he would say, "it tasted better than I thought it would, but every time I put it in my mouth I gagged a little." What a great birthday dinner.

Today we ate at another local institution, Schwartz's. This is a smoked meat deli. The best smoked meat deli in Canada. We waited in line outside for 30 minutes. You can order one thing, a smoked meat sandwich and fries. This was Martin's kind of restaurant. I was looking for a word to describe where I thought Martin would like to eat for his birthday. Gritty. That's the word I was looking for. Schwartz's was "gritty." It was perfect. And it was the perfect place to eat for a birthday lunch.