Oui, Canada!: Au revoir, Canada

Thursday morning, we wrapped up our time on the Flavor Trail and said au revoir to Canada. But first, we needed to eat a little more before we left the country.

We packed up our things and left Le Ferme Hôtel in the morning. The hotel has a paved bike lane that goes directly from the hotel to the downtown area. There is a bakery downtown called Á Chacun son Pain that has amazing coffee and a wonderful spread of baked goods to choose from. We decided on the chocolate/almond croissant, and the Croix de Charlevoix. This last pastry is made from a batter of eggs and cream, which give it a wonderful sweetness and fluffy texture. Two great starts to a wonderful last day in Charlevoix.

After breakfast, we rode our bikes back to the car and went to Le Bistro du Monde. We realized that we had just eaten about an hour ago at the bakery, but hey, we were on the Flavor Trail. If you’re not going to take advantage of the food there, what are you doing with you life? Le Bistro du Monde was an excellent restaurant where we ordered the mushroom soup and a chicken dish with grilled veggies, rice, and tzatziki sauce. It was like a deconstructed grilled chicken kabob with tzatziki; an excellent end to a perfect visit in the province of Québec.

Our time here has come to an end, but there are plenty of other experiences ahead.

We them made the trip out of Charlevoix, through Montreal, and finally to Syracuse, NY. We had heard of a place called Dinosaur BBQ that was supposed to be a pretty big deal in Syracuse, so we thought we would stop by. We knew we would not be hitting Syracuse until late, but lucky for us, Dinosaur is open until 1 am.

We pulled up to the BBQ place and at first glace, did not know what to think. The live rock music was loud, the place looked pretty dirty, and there were motorcycles lining the streets on all sides of the place. Already we were apprehensive, but the fact that it was in a run-down part of town made things worse. But, their chicken is supposed to be a knockout. The things we do for great food.

We walked in the back door and had to order take out because the place was packed at 11 o’clock at night, so we yelled our order out to the waitress who was standing about 6 inches from us so that she could hear over the music. Quite a change from the delicate French bistros we have been used to on this trip. We both got the BBQ chicken and a ¼ rack of ribs just for tasting. For sides we had the mac & cheese, chili, and a tomato/cucumber salad. Before us was a smorgasbord of yummy BBQ food! The chicken was super tender and juicy, with just the right amount of sauce. The rub on the chicken was especially good, and oddly enough, they sprinkle this rub on the top of the mac & cheese to give it a little more authentic BBQ flavor. I’m so trying this the next time we make mac & cheese. The ribs were also very delicious, and fell off the bone because they are smoked for 24 hrs. Excellent stop, even though it seemed a little sketchy going in to it.