Maria and I started our day at Beauty’s Luncheonette. It was a little overpriced, but the atmosphere was swell and the food was tasty. I'm told there's usually a crazy wait to get a seat, but Maria and I just breezed on in. 
My pancakes were lovely, sincere versions and the blueberries were fresh-tasting. The syrup on the other hand...let's say it was more caramel-colored sugar water than maple syrup!Anyway, Maria's spinach and red pepper omelet with hash browns was hearty and well-seasoned. But what's with all the brown cooked bits on the omelet? This may be a little exigent, but you lose much of the delicacy and softness of the egg when you let it cook so long (or at such a high heat). Brown bits on the potatoes, however...heaven!
Next, we drove up to the Jean-Talon market, one of the most exciting open markets I've visited. First of all, it's huge. Rows and rows of fresh fruit and vegetables - all arranged like bouquets -, then there's booths for honey, maple syrup, cider and ice wine, cheese shops, butcher shops, stands of cured pork and homemade sausage, all surrounded by a sea of flowers. Maria and I got hooked by the mangos, which I wouldn't have expected to be as deliciously floral as they were. One of the nice things about the Jean-Talon market is that the vendors will give you samples of their fresh produce. When we sampled the mango it was so wonderful I bought 6!We had one more stop to make: Paul Patates.
I read this was the best place to get hot dog steamies and the only place to get a homemade spruce beer float.
Let me say: Yum! Everything at Paul Patates was delicious! Especially the spruce beer float. Spruce beer itself is very light and refreshing, with that tinny pine tone. What I especially liked about it is how the soft serve ice cream makes thin little ice crystals in the spruce beer. It's almost like eating a little brush of pine needles with snow on top!
