Montreal is known for hosting a lot of festivals — there are over 85 different ones throughout the year! My personal favourite is the Montreal High Lights Festival, which showcases live performances, outdoor activities and fine dining. The featured country this year is Portugal, the city is New Orleans and the region is the Eastern Townships — all amazing places for high quality food and talented chefs.

In anticipation of my favourite festival of the year and drawing inspiration from the featured country Portugal, I decided to head downtown to Ferreira Café, one of the fixtures of Portuguese cuisine in Montreal.

If you happen to be in Montreal during the holiday season, it can be difficult to figure out where to go at this time of year, especially when many establishments aren’t open on December 24, 25 or New Year’s Day.

I’ve done the legwork for you and have come up with a list of restaurants where you can satisfy your cravings for comfort food or have a gourmet dining experience. I’ve prepared a range of choices that are open on December 24, 25, 31, 2009 and January 1, 2010.

Foodies on the lookout for a magnificent boutique hotel during the holiday season should head straight to the hotel Le Germain and their restaurant Laurie Raphael, conveniently located in right downtown in Montreal.

In addition to the hotel and incredible cuisine at the Laurie Raphael, stop by the gift shop where you can buy a special kit filled with gourmet essentials for your next hunting or fishing excursion.

Are you heading to the Biodome, the Botanical Gardens or the Olympic Stadium? While you’re in the area, take some time to explore the surrounding neighbourhood of Hochelaga-Maisonneuve! Guidebooks don’t often mention Hochelaga because it didn’t use to have a very good reputation. These days, however, this formerly rundown area of Montreal is experiencing a revival of sorts due to an influx of new, younger residents and a major increase in business development and investment in the infrastructure.

As someone who grew up in that neighbourhood, I can tell you I never had much interest in going back there. Well, imagine my surprise when I discovered that there has been an explosion of new restaurants, shops and boutiques. Once a rather shabby working class area, it’s now thriving with new businesses. I went to check it out last week and was delightfully surprised to see how much things had changed for the better.

Hochelaga has become one of the best-kept secrets in Montreal. Here is my guided culinary tour of my old ‘hood that is definitely moving on up.

If you’re like me, a food-obsessed gourmet, nothing would give you more pleasure than receiving a food-related gift this holiday season. Forget about a sweater, or jewellery, or even a night at the theatre — I’d much rather open up a beautiful cookbook full of tantalizing recipes or get treated to dinner at one of my fave restos. Even better, I’d love to discover some exciting new kitchenware or delectable gourmet goodies.

Here are some of my holiday gift suggestions for you to sink your teeth into…