text: Whether you are in Lima or Napoli Southern European and Southern American cities have similarities they still have bustling produce fish and meat markets with restaurants that blend in with the chaos Wooden tables without napkins Sturdy cutlery Pots pans dishes and plates in all sorts of shapes and textures just like the patrons Layers of seafood on ice along the bar And of course the sizzling of onions and shallots the aromatic of choice for French cuisine filling the dining room Patrons gossiping and boasting about their lives all in all an orgy of noises and smellsnnThe problem is we are not in Sao Paolo but in Montreal in the bowels of Le Plateau This is chef Martin Picards Au Pied de Cochon The acclaimed Chef attaches his beginnings to Montreal going back to the early snnThe raison detre of Au Pied de Cochon is to delight its customers as much through its exquisite food as through its friendly atmosphere When it is a question of pure pleasure one would have a hard time convincing that the feeling of fresh vegetables cracking in your mouth as good as it may be is as pleasurable or as intense as a piece of meat cooked perfectly especially at the moment it releases its fat and its juices filling the body with warmth an instantaneous feeling of well being nnOne thus goes to Au pied de cochon for the comforting pleasures of a meatplentiful and generous kitchen terroire inspired Martin Picard is a largerthanlife character for whom eating well means eating a lot and drinking well means drinking a lotnnLike the changing temperatures of the seasons the kitchen at Au Pied de Cochon offers a variety of seasonal fare Without giving up the pillars of the meat repertoire that characterizes the restaurant Martin Picards estival cuisine includes a large number of fish and seafood dishes During the winter the menu goes through a dramatic transformationnnMost dishes have only four or five easily identifiable ingredients in balanced proportions Chef Martin Picard does get clever with one pervasive product foie gras It comes in nearly a dozen combinations including stuffed into a ham hock with poutine and in an interesting creation called Duck in a Can which does indeed come to the table with a can opener Somehow this canned duck provided us with succulent meat without any of the chewy fat that is usually expected After having magret de canards in Montreal in the past none have come close to satisfying me like this dish A heap of mushrooms and onions covered the deep colored duck strips which were teased to perfection by the chef nnThe main courses are for carnivores and pescivores We were tempted by but did not try any of the large plates of seafood on a bed of crushed ice The zucchini flowers were delicately fried and sprinkled with fleur de sel and the calamari was light and citrus filled accompanied by caviarnnWhen you feel like another bite will send you into a cholesterolinduced coma maple syrup cake is the only fitting finishnnThis is not an establishment for sensitive stomachs and underperforming livers