The Cosmopolitan Blog

There’s a new poll on connectivity, remember to vote! http://astralmarketing.com/blog/ thx to all those who voted in the previous one!

ok, so what’s the deal with Twitter? I mean, so, you set up an account, and then all you do is keep updating your status? That’s it? and then you get to post a widget (see right hand side column “what i’m doing”) that gives a live feed of what you’re doing, as long as you keep updating it.

The good news is you can update by IM (not sure why you would want to) or by cell phone SMS (that is handy, this morning, as i was running for the bus, i SMS’ed “I’m running for the bus” and hey presto! my blog readers knew i was running for the bus)… so, short of knowing when i went to the bathroom, you guys know everything i did today… but, um, what’s the point? we all know i’ll be bored with this, this time friday…

ok, so you can follow other peole, and, technically, the widget on the right could have the updates of all these other people. Right now, i’m following Steve Jobs (CEO of Apple has time to twitter, apparently) and Mark Zuckerberg, founder of facebook… how do i know it’s even them? …and again, I ask, what’s the point? Do i care that Bill Gates has Vista SP1 on his PC right now?

HELP! someone please explain twitter to me….

Located on trendy McGill Avenue, just on the edge of Old Montreal, an area I really don’t know that well, but really want to discover, it really has the latest and hottest places to wine and dine.

So Holder is trendy without over doing it. It’s a french brasserie style place, high ceilings, lots of wood, noisy, lots of activity, cute waiters offering efficient service with an accent and wearing the typical french towel/apron over their black pants, fancy dishes and beautiful plating… I went on a Tuesday and it was bustling. They have a bar, and what i liked about it was that the bar wasn’t to one side, it was right there, in the middle of the hubbub… I recommend their Kamikazes, super lemony, not very french but oh so yummy.

So we had a couple drinks, and then moved on to our table. Great thing about this place is that it’s really, really busy, and yet, they didn’t seem to have problems seating us, once we were ready to go to our table, they were ready to show us there.

The menu is not extensive, 4-5 dishes in each category (appetizers, soups, salads, fish, meat…), but some classics. Presentation & plating of each dish was impeccable. The only negative, which i found out later, was that our waiter forgot to tell us about the specials, they were actually up on a big black board on the wall, but too far for us to read, and, had he told us about them, i might have actually tried the entrecote out.

One of my friends had the beef cheek (sounds weird, but it’s a super tender part of the beef) in bourguignon sauce, a twist on a french classic, very nice. Another person had the salmon, the menu said “on a bed of mashed potatoes” (oh, sorry, no, purée potatoes ), and they weren’t kidding, it really was a bed, very generous portion. Another friend had the seared tuna, I can’t remember the description on the menu, but he wasn’t as excited as we were with our dishes. He was expecting something very saucy, but like i pointed out, tuna rarely is in sauce, and this seemed really good, it was lying on a bed of lentils, peppers and other grilled vegetables, and again, a generous portion there. My dish was the lobster ravioli, it was delicious. Good portion, very rich (but not too rich), and i appreciate that they kept the sauce to a minimum, it really brought out the lobster flavor.

Oh, i should talk about the appetizers. I had the goat cheese, and I recommend it, seriously. It was perfect warm temperature, and filled our mouth in a way that only goat cheese can. It was on a crispy biscuit, and was served with a delicious and very generous portion of olive tapenade. Very yummy. Other apetizers around the table were, the classic and Holder favorite steak tartare. Being 1/2 french, i’m used to having the waiter prepare it table side, but here, they don’t. They take your order and ask you if you want it spicy or not, and then it comes already plated. This would never fly in France, but then France can be snooty that way. This was efficient and perfect.

A note about deserts, we were all so full by then, that we could only go for one desert to share. We chose the trilogy of creme brulées, and what a good choice…. Very yummy and good for sharing, just ask them for extra spoons. I saw on the menu they had a selection of french and Quebec cheeses, which was tempting too.

Wine list was very decent, wines from all over the world, with no specific emphasis on France (just how i like it). All the cocktails you could want from the bar. Pricing is extremely reasonable, my lobster ravioli was $19, the beef cheek was $22 i think.

Only thing i can suggest for improvement is the sign on the door. The door is actually the entrance to the office building 407 McGill, but it’s not at all obvious that it will take you into the restaurant as well… You have to actually walk up the couple steps before realizing they have a tiny sign there. But hey, if that’s the only nitpick, then really, shows what i great time i had… I’ll definitely be back.

Holder -407 McGill – 849-0333 – $30-$40 per person for 3 courses, not including tax or drinks.

It’s been 2 months since i’ve posted, and if i still have anyone reading this blog, then i’m extremely lucky!!

Dear readers (all 2 of you, one of which is probably my mom!!), yes, i’m still here. The past few months have been filled with family visits, trips overseas, religious festivities, a couple migraines, and the highlight of it all, the acquisition of my very own PDA, finally! Yes, i know, once a geek always a geek…

So this is my resurfacing post… Worth noting, in an effort to stay as present as i can on my blog, i’ve added the twitter plugin (see right column), so you’ll always know what i’m up to… I’m new to twitter, and apparently, no one i know is on there, so i you want to add me as your friend, i’d be eternally grateful… lol, needy much?

Next, i’ll post a review, i guess i owe you all at least that!