THANKSGIVING TURKEY AND BLACK FRIDAY IN MONTREAL

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American friends, lend me your ears. On November 24, long after us Canadians, you celebrate Thanksgiving. But here in Montreal, we’re not above feting the holiday twice. Montreal is a quick and easy getaway where you can still enjoy the comforts of home, albeit in a hip Canadian way. Come on up for your traditional dysfunctional family dinner, then work off your turkey coma scoping out some Black Friday sales…

First up: Thanksgiving dinner. Everybody knows that Montreal is a hub of gastronomical delights and the boys at the wildly popular Joe Beef restaurant have come up with a Thanksgiving turkey recipe that incorporates basically all of the food that this city is known for, as you can see in the video above.

If you’re into seafood, another alternative is Lobster Shack Sundays at Barroco. For family comfort food there are also Taverne Gaspar just off the Old Port, Laurier Gordon Ramsay a little bit uptown, or the new talk of the town Nora Gray where I’ve bumped into a few off-duty hockey players. (FYI: sports fans, Saturday, November 26, the Montreal Canadiens are taking on the Pittsburgh Penguins at the Bell Centre. Catching a hockey game in Montreal is worth the trip alone.)

OK now, let’s really talk turkey. Onto the shopping… Montreal does Black Friday too! Which, if you didn’t somehow already know, is a post-Thanksgiving shopping frenzy known to rake in tens of billions of sales each year. People have been known to do crazy things like camp outside major electronic stores to be one of the 100 first people to buy a giant flat screen TV for some ridiculously low price – or get a free iPod or iPad or whatever the marketing gimmick is. Works for me. So I’m just thrilled that more and more Montreal shops are also getting in on the Black Friday hype.

While I doubt you’ll be looking to lug a new television over the border, Montreal does have many shops you won’t find back home (fellow fashion types will understand the importance of this) that are in the midst of clearing last season’s stock. Think of designers such as Denis Gagnon (pictured above), Philippe Dubuc, Marie Saint Pierre, BodyBag and let’s not forget the trendy, reasonably priced finds at local department store Simons. There are also other shops that will offer Black Friday deals- head directly to downtown’s Saint-Catherine Street West.

Otherwise, you’ll be hard-pressed to walk the retail circuit and not find some major deals. If you find the weather a little too nippy outside, check out the Underground City that connects five malls under street level, an ideal spot to rev up the spirit of buying, um, I mean, giving.

TIP: If you’re thinking of making the trip to come see us, check out this Sweet Deal on Montreal hotels, events and gifts for the fall season.

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