Howdy!

On Monday I was invited to the launch party for the 2012 Mixeurs Guides. This year they decided to publish two, one for restaurants and a second one for bakeries. And while they are all fine and dandy (in the interest of full disclosure, I know Jean-Philippe Tastet from having served on a burger jury with him) they missed a couple of places.

Restaurants, in alphabetical order:
Chez Delmo, 275 Notre-Dame O. (514) 288-4288
Jane, 1744 Notre-Dame O. (514) 759-6498
Nouveau Palais, 281 Bernard O. (514) 273-1180
Renoir, 1155 Sherbrooke O. (514) 788-3038
Le Valois, 3811 Ontario E. (514) 528-0202
Vegera, 228 Bernard O. (514) 490-9444

And then while I’m not a big fan, I’m also surprised by the exclusion of L’Orignal, Européa, Da Emma and that they didn’t mention Bienville sur Chabanel in the description of Bistro Bienville.

Then since they decided to cap the list at 100, I figure it’s only fair that I mention the nine places I wouldn’t have included: Big in Japan, Dominion Square Tavern, Byblos, Gandhi, Holder, Le Cartet, m:brgr, Soupesoup, and sadly La Terrasse Justine went bankrupt back in September.

And as long as I’m at it, they should have added an index for restaurants open at lunch and apparently Olive & Gourmando is both a restaurant and a bakery as makes it into both the restaurant and the bakery books.

Speaking of the bakery book, there are large glaring holes in it as well. First and most importantly it focuses exclusively on European (read: French) Bakeries. Not a single Italian, Jewish, Lebanese, Australian, Indian, Portuguese, Polish or German bakery is listed. To me this is an egregious error.

Secondly, while its title is “adresses gourmandes” which loosely translates into places to get fine food, they also miss out on butchers, grocers, fish mongers, cheese shops, and delicatessens. To me this isn’t as bad, but it would have been better if they changed the title to more accurately reflect the content.

Since Mondays are traditionally the days that bakeries are closed, it would have been simple enough to include an “open Mondays” index in the bakery book, just like they did in the restaurant one.

And then finally, I think that they should add one more title to the line, casse croutes. I think I know someone who would be perfect for the job…

I gotta remember to talk to Sylvie Berkowicz and Jean-Philippe before they start working on next year’s.