Tips on tipping in Canada

Tipping has been around for many years. Originally used To Insure Promptness, hence TIP, there are many different cultural angles to tipping. A recent piece by Montreal Gazette columnist Josh Freed posed the question have we reached a tipping point when it comes to tipping. The column focuses on the new, post-pandemic world of tipping

No longer a poutine virgin

Last Friday, June 24, was the feast day of Quebec’s patron saint John the Baptist – or Saint-Jean-Baptiste in French. Like many things in Quebec, even these simplest occasions are often more complex than meets the eye. Although Quebec is a province of Canada, some here insist on it being referred to as a nation

Double whammy as both gas and beer prices rise

The weather is shaping up quite nicely, indeed Montrealers have already experienced their first heatwave of the year – defined as three consecutive days of temperatures above 30C – the annual F1 Grand Prix is back on schedule this June after a couple of years hiatus due to COVID19, one might almost think we are

Not That I’m A Lush … Really

Not that I’m a lush, but I’d be a liar if I tried to deny that I like bars. Not just the establishments known as bars, pubs, bistros, or watering holes, but the actual physical bar itself. I find it very relaxing to sit on a comfortable barstool – with back if you please –

From Fine Scotch To Espresso

As the old adage goes, “When life hands you lemons, make … err … coffee”. If there is a positive element to the current pandemic, it’s that it has caused many of us to be creative and adapt to very different circumstances. That’s what one downtown Montreal bar owner has decided to do. Natasha Geoffrion-Greenslade

Closed Bars Having An Adverse Effect On My Health

I used to be a runner. Every weekday morning, before work, for about twenty years I could be found jogging around my neighbourhood. I was fanatical about doing it. Not about going longer or faster, but doing it without fail – in all kinds of weather. They’d say things like “If I don’t see you

Pub Crawl vs Pub Walk

The Cambridge Dictionary defines a Pub Crawl as ‘a visit to several pubs, one after the other, having a drink or drinks at each one’. Other well-established dictionaries offer similar definitions. However, they all neglect to explain the crawl aspect as opposed to merely walking. If you’re not crawling, you’re not doing it right! Visiting several pubs, or bars, for a drink

Hijacking Google Mini

A couple of years ago my nephew gave us a Google Nest Mini. It’s one of those electronic assistants that can do a whole bunch of things when programmed to do so, or asked. Yes indeed this little muggins can be told to do pre-programmed things when asked. It’s a small enough device that, as

Try To Remember …

Try to remember the kind of September … Back when I was a boy – yep, it’s going to be one of those posts – I always had mixed feelings about the month of September. On the one hand my birthday was coming up, while on the other it was back to school time. As

To All The Bars I’ve Loved Before

In Montreal they have forced bars, pubs, and restaurants to close as we deal with wave two of COVID-19. Please don’t pass judgement, but this has left me with significant free time on my hands (better than my liver, I guess). So idle hands being what they are, and with sincere apologies to Willie Nelson