(food & fun) Find a kind of satisfaction in the slow advent of spring with fabulous, thoughtfully created food, beginning with a seasonal menu at the FoodLab at the SAT until April 12, and followed up on April 15 with a “Schnitzel & Riesling” food party, full of Germanic flavour and complemented afterwards by an electronic music soiree. And, of course, the famous maple syrup of Quebec is in abundant supply during sugaring-off season, with inspired menus at restaurants around the city, and a full-on sugar shack down at the Old Port at La Cabane. Or simply sink your teeth into one of the best steaks in Montreal.

(sports & laughs) Basketball, comedy and entertainment fuel the Harlem Globetrotters, putting on a show for the whole family at the Bell Centre on April 12 – and of course, the Bell Centre sees hockey season head into spring as the Canadiens play the Flyers on April 15 and face off against the Lightning on April 18. More comedy, of the non-sports-related variety, comes to Club Soda on April 17 at An Evening of Comedy for the Benefit of On Our Own, an organization that provides services and housing to vulnerable families, with Montreal funny people Joey Elias, Eman, Dan Bingham, Sebastien Bourgault and Jess Salomon.

(theatre & dance) Contemporary ballet meets the music of Elton John and plenty of sequins and bright lights and colours in Love Lies Bleeding, at Place des Arts, to April 14. Sinha Danse Company presents Sunya, a new work for four dancers and three musicians, inspired by Persian music, contemporary dance, and bringing different cultures together, part of the Danse Danse spring season, April 17-27 at Cinquième Salle. Danish dance-theatre troupe Granhøj Dans crafts dramatic theatre, comedic moments and sings plenty of Leonard Cohen’s songs in Dance Me to the End On/Off Love, to April 14 at Centaur Theatre, or entertain the kids with The Trial of Goldilocks, an updated fairy tale at Centaur Theatre on Saturday, April 13. And check out the experimental theatre of love u lovecraft [lab], inspired by the world of H.P. Lovecraft, April 16-20 at Bain St-Michel.

(fashion finds) Find out what many Montreal fashionistas already know at this year’s Braderie de Mode Quebecoise, a huge 50-80% off sale of samples and inventory surplus from local designers, April 11-14 at Marché Bonsecours in the Old Port – find unique clothing and accessories, talk to designers, and perhaps even meet some of the designers and people behind Montreal Fashion Week.

(art worlds) As part of the MMFA exhibition Peru: Kingdoms of the Sun and the Moon, see Peru on the big screen in documentary films from the TV5 series Amérikologie, playing on April 13 – free at the Maxwell Cummings Auditorium, and on April 17, attend an Afro-Peruvian percussion workshop with Kullak Viger Ross. Enter the labyrinthine fact-meets-fiction world of Laurent Grasso’s multi-room Uraniborg exhibition at the MACM, showing along with work by photographer Lynne Cohen and live performance conjured up by artist Tino Sehgal. Over at the Society for Art and Technology, see P3rception, surround-sound-and-image films shown in the Satosphere dome, to April 29. Hear more about the Thomas Demand exhibition at DHC/ART in a round-table discussion on April 17. And the Montreal Symphony Orchestra performs Beethoven’s Third Concerto, with pianist Till Fellner and Kent Nagano conduction on April 16-17.

(live music) Start the weekend with the psych-rock of The Black Angels at Le National on Friday night. Saturday, April 13 is a big night: choose from a massive show with Canadian rock-punk Billy Talent, Sum 41, Hollerado and Indian Handcrafts at the Bell Centre, the East-Coast folk-rock of Great Big Sea at Metropolis, Welsh alt-rock band The Joy Formidable plays Theatre Corona, the myriad musical styles of Montreal hip-hop collective Nomadic Massive at Club Soda, or great MTL indie-rock of The Besnard Lakes at Cabaret Du Mile End. On Sunday, listen to the live electro-pop of Rhye at Cabaret Mile End. Funnily enough, Monday night is also a big one, with Australian “metalcore” band Parkway Drive at Metropolis, and for those of us who like it loud, it’s a tough choice between Japan’s Acid Mothers Temple at Sala Rossa  vs. Pissed Jeans at Il Motore. On April 16, tune in to Stereo Total at Il Motore. And on April 18, get your folkoric-pagan-metal on at Paganfest America 2013 with Finland’s Ensiferum, The Faroe Islands’ Tyr and more beer-soaked mayhem at Metropolis on April 18. Meanwhile, Montreal’s Bran Van 3000 and Paul Cargnello headline a fundraiser for community organization Le Sac à Dos at Club Soda.

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(easter time) Celebrate spring in Montreal by spending some time in nature, indoors and out. Take the kids on a different kind of easter egg hunt at the Ecomuseum zoo or hunt for butterflies (with your eyes only) at the Montreal Botanical Gardens’s Butterflies Go Free special exhibition. Learn more about the environment and biodiversity at the Botanical Garden’s Base Camp and at the Montreal Biodome, where kids can discover live animals and plants from around the world, there’s even a (non-chocolate) egg exhibition in the lobby. And see even more butterflies at the Montreal Science Centre’s IMAX screening of Flight of the Butterflies in 3D.

(easter eats) Quebec’s famed sugar shack season happens to be in full form this Easter weekend too – try out La Cabane in the Old Port, restaurants with maple-syrup themed menus, or take a short drive out of town to experience the complete sugar shack experience. Visit the Montreal Botanical Gardens to learn more about where maple syrup comes from and try out the candy-like concoction of maple syrup on snow, until April 26. For even more sweet treats – and several savoury ones too – peruse Montreal’s excellent Italian delis, the Jean Talon Market or simply go for the classic Easter brunch at one of many Montreal brunch spots, from Old Montreal to Mile End, and pick up some chocolate along the way.

(dance & theatre) Danse Danse presents The Light Between, a new work of hope and vulnerability by Governor General’s Award winning choreographer Margi Gillis, to March 30 at Place des Arts, and, beginning April 4, the astounding Spanish flamenco of María Pagés as the star dances a show called Autorretrato, “a self-portrait created at Mikhaïl Baryshnikov’s instigation.” More dance takes the stage at the Centaur Theatre, where Danish dance-theatre troupe Granhøj Dans celebrates the music of Leonard Cohen – in intriguing, funny and surprising ways – in Dance Me to the End On/Off Love, to April 14.

(immersive art) Artistic visions of spring are beginning to show themselves this week too. New exhibitions at the MACM captivate with colour and intrigue with interactivity and every Sunday afternoon, kids and adults alike can participate in hands-on art-making workshops. Experimental, immersive, digital video art amazes at the SAT’s 360º Satosphere dome: audio-visual show Chaos and Order continues until March 29, followed up starting April 2 with P3rception, a program of three exploratory works that might just cause sensory overload: Diana Reichenbach’s animated film ||0.1.||, Eric Hanson and Charles Lindsay’s Carbon-X, and Ulf Langheinrich’s Hemisphere. And outdoors, projected on the face of UQAM’s Président-Kennedy building in the heart of the Quartier des Spectales, see animated film Le cycle de l’eau.

(live music) One of hip-hop’s best starts the weekend right on Friday night: Brooklyn-based rapper Talib Kweli gets lyrical with Koriass, Ceas Rock and Dj Manifest at Club Soda – the show is one of many at the Montreal Hip Hop Festival, happening all weekend. Also on Friday, Los Angeles indie-rock band Local Natives comes to town with Superhumanoids at Le National, and Saturday night is nothing but old-school LA punk with Bad Religion at Metropolis. On April 1, The Dear Hunter tour their new album Migrant, at Sala Rossa. Turn Tuesday night into a sweaty electronic music dance party with Chicago DJ duo Flosstradamus at the SAT or British electro-rock band Modestep at the Corona Theatre. On April 3, Alicia Keys and Miguel (!) put a spell on the Bell Centre and K-OS and Rich Aucoin shake up the Corona. And on Thursday, April 4, much-loved Francophone singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Damien Robitaille plays Metropolis and Montreal’s Suuns brighten up Sala.

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(winter’s end) It’s officially spring, but there’s still some snow on the ground in Montreal, which makes this weekend perfect – and your last chance this year! – for visiting the Montreal Snow Village at Parc Jean-Drapeau, where eating, drinking and being merry are never in short supply. The same can be said of sugar shack season – yes, the maple syrup is flowing and related feasts are bountiful, whether at La Cabane in the Old Port or elsewhere in the city or a short drive off the island of Montreal. And even get a bit of an education about where maple syrup comes from and how delicious it is when boiled and poured onto snow – like candy! – at the Montreal Botanical Gardens until April 26.

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(hockey greats) Hockey season continues, with doses of happiness and of woe, but all hockey fans can get behind this Sunday’s Classique des Étoiles L’Équipeur game at the Bell Centre. See NHL stars of the 80s and 90s (Lindros, Fleury, Bourque, more!) take to the ice again and face off against Montreal Canadiens Alumni, some of them Hall of Famers, all still happy to show off the skills and flare that made them great in the first place.

(stage time) Love, dancing and music are the stuff of theatre and dance this week in Montreal. Danish company Granhøj Dans blends theatre, dance and the song of Leonard Cohen together in Dance Me to the End On/Off Love, at Centaur Theatre, to April 14. Danse Danse presents The Light Between, a new work of hope and vulnerability by Governor General’s Award winning choreographer Margi Gillis, March 26-30 at Place des Arts. Contemporary ballet gets the Les Grands Ballets Canadiens spotlight in Danz + Toot, works by Israeli choreographer Ohad Naharin’s Danz and Dutch choreographer Didy Veldman, to March 23. The Mahalia Jackson Musical ends its acclaimed run this Sunday, telling the true story of the Queen of Gospel and starring Montreal’s Ranee Lee, at the Segal Centre. And dance takes on a different form in  Le Grand Burlesque Show, as burlesque performers from  Montreal and across North America get sexy, silly and scandalous, March 21-23 at Club Soda. Meanwhile, the super fun musical-comedy Jesus Christ Super Band plays it up at Théâtre Ste. Catherine, March 21-23.

(art on screen) See documentaries, shorts and experimental films about art, from painting to architecture, writing to dancing, music and more at The International Festival of Films on Art, to March 24, when the fest closes with Road Movie, A Portrait of John Adams. This year, special attention goes to Gerald Fox’s multimedia work, Ed Pien’s video installations, and the work of Jan Peacock. Check out films at the Montreal Fine Arts Museum, the MACM, the PHI Centre and Cinémathèque Québécoise, as well as free events like the Zon’Arts exhibition at Place des Arts to see Diane Obomsawin’s animated films Fleur and Machine. For the full FIFA schedule and to buy tickets online, see the FIFA site. There’s more art to see on screen at the Society for Art and Technology, where experimental, immersive audio-visual show Chaos and Order continues to wow until March 29.

(week of music) The weekend starts with Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, with Sharon Van Etten opening, on Friday night at Metropolis, and with Trust, Eraas and more getting our electro-dance on at the SAT – followed on Saturday night by Birdy Nam Nam. Saturday night also brings the fabulous and lovely Leif Vollebekk and Jennifer Castle to Cabaret Mile End and Brit Floyd’s three-hour show P-U-L-S-E 2013 to Place des Arts. And Sunday afternoon is just right for the Orchestre Métropolitan’s rendition of Verdi’s Requiem, at the Maison Symphonique de Montréal. On Monday, March 25, none other than Heart appear in all their glory at the Bell Centre, while American hard-pop singer-songwriter Sky Ferreira and How To Dress Well keep the cool-factor high at Sala Rossa (4848 St-Laurent), and British indie-rockers Alt-J are at Theatre Corona. On March 27, inventive Icelandic post-rock band Sigur Rós fills the Bell Centre with big-time sound and light, while Garbage comes back from the 90s with new material and plenty of energy, at Metropolis, and Little Green Cars drive into Il Motore. And popular French singer Michel Sardou sings about love, life and politics on March 28 at the Bell Centre.

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While not marketed as all-you-can-eat, sugar shack menus usually are – in fact, they’re almost always more-than-you-can-eat. The traditional menu includes ham, pancakes, pea soup, omelettes, sausages, potatoes, baked beans, tortière (meat pie), sugar pie, and maple syrup over everything, but restaurants that have been getting into the sugary seasonal game have concocted all kinds of variations of the traditional.

A good bet is La Cabane, located right on the river in the Old Port of Montreal for the fourth year in a row, this year a temporary locale for Portuguese chef Helena Loureiro, who’s cooked up a menu that mixes modern with traditional, from cod fritters to potage.
At this time of year, many Montreal restaurants add some sugaring-off season dishes to their menu. Throughout April, Hotel Nelligan, located in a beautiful building that features a terrasse overlooking Old Montreal, creates a unique urban sugar shack environment and delicious dishes. And the neighbourhood of Verdun, along with some of its top restaurants, gets into the maple-syrup spirit March 23-24 with their L’Érablière Wellington, which turns Place Wellington into a maple grove and features sugar shack food that brings together the culinary talents of great chefs in the area.

The whole family can learn about where maple syrup comes from while also getting to try out the candied delicacy that is boiled maple syrup on snow at the Montreal Botanical Gardens until April 26. And for more outdoor activities, go to park Cap St-Jacques in the west end of the island of Montreal, where between visiting the organic farm (farm animals included!) and walking or cross-country skiing through the forest, take a tractor-carriage ride down to the humble, cosy Cap St-Jacques sugar shack to fill up on pea soup, ham, crepes and maple syrup taffy on snow (on weekends only).

Hundreds of sugar shacks can be found within 30 minutes of the city, on the way to the Laurentian mountains or the Eastern Townships and Montérégie: to name just a few, Chalet des Érables features a train, a petting zoo and more activities; Cabane à sucre Bouvrette in St-Jerome also has a train and traditional dancing; and Érablière Charbonneau in Mont St-Bruno and Érablière au Sous-Bois in Mont St. Grégoire both have live music, farm animals, walks through the woods and more, or go a little further out to Sucrerie de la Montagne for their Sugaring Off Feast. Sugar shacks are plentiful all across Quebec – consult Cabane à  Sucre du Québec and La Route des Sucres for extensive lists in each of the province’s regions.

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(go green) Whether you’re here this week to relax, party or keep the kids entertained at the tail end of March Break, Montreal’s Saint Patrick’s Day celebrations have something for everyone. The massive parade begins on Sunday, March 17, at noon and moves east for blocks but throughout the weekend many pubs, bars and restaurants, whether they’re officially Irish or not, offer up special St-Patty’s drinks and dishes.

(sugar shack fun) Sugaring-off season is upon us and with it the return of fatty, syrupy sugar shack fare, done in traditional and gourmet styles or a mix of the two, such as at La Cabane, conveniently located in the Old Port, where you’ll also find outdoor activities like ice skating and ice fishing. Or get the real maple-syrup deal at the Montreal Botanical Gardens, where families can sample syrup on snow and find out where the sugary stuff comes from.

(on-stage spectacle) While March 16 brings UFC welterweight champion and local legend Georges St-Pierre to the Bell Centre along with six other UFC welterweight fighters in what’s sure to be one kind of grand spectacle, there’s also Rabbit in a Hat Productions’ boxing-centric Cornered, on at Bain St-Michel to March 17. Les Grands Ballets Canadiens presents Danz + Toot, a high-energy, highly contemporary program, March 14-23, the true story of Dead Man Walking is put into song by Opera de Montreal on March 16, and the true story of the “Queen of Gospel” is told in The Mahalia Jackson Musical, starring Montreal sensation Ranee Lee, at the Segal, to March 24. See contemporary dance Montreal-style at Agora de la Danse March 15-16 as choreographer Isabelle Van Grimde works with dancers, composers and musicians in Les Gestes. And lovely, luscious ladies from Montreal and across North America perform sexy, funny, circus-y burlesque of all sorts at cabaret Le Grand Burlesque Show, March 21-23 at Club Soda.

(film & art) The International Festival of Films on Art, March 14-24, screens documentaries, shorts and experimental films that focus on all forms of the arts: painting, sculpture, architecture, writing, dancing, music and more. Also check out free events such as the Zon’Arts exhibition at Place des Arts, where Diane Obomsawin’s animated films Fleur (2012) and Machine (2012) are being projected. For the full FIFA schedule and to buy tickets online, see the FIFA site. It’s also the last weekend to wander through Montreal’s underground city, connecting metro stations, office buildings and malls, to see the corridors adorned with intriguing art for Art Souterrain.

(music for march) The weekend opens with Montreal favourites Stars playing two magical nights at the Corona Theatre, March 15 and 16. Also on Friday, another Montreal favourite, Jerusalem in My Heart brings their unique, dramatic sound to Le National, and dance the night away to electro-beat of Mr. Oizo, A-Rock and Cherry Cola, at SAT. Saturday night is all disco all the time with the legendary Village People at L’Olympia. On Sunday night, mega-star Rihanna visits the Bell Centre on her Diamonds World Tour, with A$AP Rocky. On Tuesday, March 19, see Randy Bachman on his Vinyl Tap Tour, playing music and telling stories about the Guess Who and BTO, at Theatre Corona. Canadian rocker Matt Mays comes to Cabaret Mile End with with openers July Talk on March 20, while New York prog-rock-punk band Coheed & Cambria  and A Place To Bury Strangers are at Club Soda.

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The space has been transformed into a sugar shack with a happy mix of traditional and modern elements complete with bouquets of macramé lampshades and folkloric Quebec music.

Every year, La Cabane invites one of the city’s top chefs to create a menu inspired by traditional maple classics. This year, Portuguese chef Helena Loureiro is at the helm of this sweet project with her creative take on cabane à sucre dishes. Chef Loureiro has added a Portuguese twist to all courses, from the cod fritter appetizer to the bean and chorizo stew and all the way to the maple pasteis de nata pastries.

The sardine escabeche drowning in olive oil and apple cider was definitely one of my favourites of the night. So were the flaky and luscious maple natas, a big hit all around, so make sure you leave room for those.

Chef Loureiro is joined by internationally renowned and award-winning chocolate maker Christophe Morel who has concocted a couple of desserts for La Cabane. His take on the maple tart is a delicate and delicious creation with fine shards of white chocolate and gold leaf.

Sitting there enjoying a maple-drowned menu at La Cabane, music blaring, laughter all around, one almost forgets that this traditional fun event is only a metro stop away, right in the heat of Old Montreal.

A

THE DETAILS

La Cabane at Éclusiers par Apollo, March 8to April 14, 2013

400 rue de la Commune West, (514) 285 0558

Reservations: reservations@lacabane.ca, Information: info@lacabane.ca)

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(spring vacation) It’s still March Break and Montreal knows it, with all kinds of activities to keep kids happy. Stay active outside while enjoying the last month (fingers crossed) of snow on Mont Royal and other city parks: snowshoe, skate, go ice fishing at the Old Port, sample maple syrup at Botanical Gardens, and more. Inside, let kids literally climb the walls at Allez Up, catch circus show Mi Otro Yo to March 10 at La Tohu circus centre, or watch Mickey, Minnie, princesses and sidekicks play that rock n’ roll music and skate around the whole time in Disney on Ice’s Rockin’ Ever After at the Bell Centre, also to March 10. Also on ice, along with the NHL Senators vs Canadiens game on March 13 at the Bell Centre, Olympic players dazzle as Canadian Women’s Hockey League team Stars play two games this weekend at Aréna Étienne Desmarteau: On March 9 and a fan-appreciation game – FREE entry for all! – on March 10.

(eat well) Celebrate the slow onset of springtime by sampling new menus at great restaurants around the city. March also marks the start of sugaring-off season, when maple syrup is ready for pouring on anything and everything: eat it and much more to your heart’s content at La Cabane in the Old Port, and at Montreal’s Snow Village. The SAT’s FoodLab throws a La Grande Bouffe/Bal with a special locally sourced four-course meal followed by a DJ set from Suuns on March 9. Take a jaunt up to the posh neighbourhood of Outremont, just west of the Plateau and south of Mile End, for delicious delicacies. And find good food the new-fangled way, by perusing Montreal-friendly food apps.

(theatre & dance) Opera de Montreal tackles serious subject matter in a new production of Dead Man Walking, based on a true story and made famous in an award-winning film about a nun who connects with a prisoner on death row. The Mahalia Jackson Musical tells the astounding life story of “The Queen of Gospel” award-winning singer and civil rights activist, starring Montreal sensation Ranee Lee, at the Segal Centre for the Performing Arts, to March 24. Experimental, theatrical Dutch contemporary dance troupe T.r.a.s.h. stuns the senses at Cinquième Salle, to March 9. And In Your Face Entertainment takes a bilingual approach to musical Jacques Brel Is Alive And Well And Living In Paris, featuring 25 of the songs of famed French folk writer-singer, at Mainline Theatre, starting March 14.

(city-wide art) Montreal’s underground city, connecting metro stations, office buildings and malls, is home to all kinds of innovative art work during Art Souterrain - wander through under March 17. The McCord Museum brings the realities of life in Haiti to Montreal in Benoit Aquin’s stunning exhibition Haiti: Chaos and Daily Life. Cutting-edge performance art with multiple feminist perspectives is the great stuff of Edgy Women 2013: Arts/Sports/Gender, to March 10 at various venues. And the International Festival of Films on Art begins March 14, screening documentaries, shorts and more films focused on all aspects of the arts, from painting to writing to dancing – also check out the  Zon’Arts exhibition at Place des Arts starting March 9, where Diane Obomsawin’s animated films fleur (2012) and machine (2012) are being projected.

(march music) The weekend beings with the experimental indie-rock sounds of Animal Collective, with opener Dan Deacon, at Metropolis, March 8. Fans of underground music will want to check out the Montreal Underground Music & Arts Fair at St-Denis Church, March 9-10. On March 9, American metal band Soulfly rumbles into the Corona. On Sunday afternoon head down to the Old Port near the Pointe-à-Callière museum to hear the Port Symphonies, a composition created for boat whistles, horns and percussion, and later on check out Classic Album’s Live, an internationally touring show of pitch-perfect cover songs, at the Corona, or a talent-packed night of music and more at the Rialto Theatre to celebrate International Women’s Day. Australian psych-rockers Tame Impala storm Metropolis on March 11. On March 12, it’s power pop to the rescue as Pink plays the Bell Centre. On March 13, UK singer-songwriter-rocker Kate Nash comes to town at Cabaret Mile End, while Dischord records unsettles in at Il Motore with Deathfix, featuring Brendan Canty of Fugazi, Dubpixel and Modern Primitive. And in classical music, the Montreal Symphony Orchestra celebrates mid-March with Kent Nagano conducting Brahms Requiem, March 13-14.

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