fringe festival 3: Momesso

Fringe festival: a continuing series covering deliciousness on the edge of town.

Momesso hardly qualifies as being "on the edge of town"--it's in NDG, for crying out loud*--but our last visit was the culmination of an excursion on the city's outskirts, so there you go...

fig. a: deceptively calm

You see, we'd gone out to Lasalle to take a walk along the Lachine Rapids.

From a distance, they look pretty calm, and there's little sense that the Lachine Rapids were a major natural impediment that severely restricted the amount of shipping that could flow along the mighty Saint Lawrence, a major natural impediment that forced the city fathers to construct the Lachine Canal as a bypass.

fig. b: Lachine Rapids 1

Up close, however, they look, sound, and feel quite a bit more treacherous, and it's clear just how much of a challenge they posed to river traffic. It's also clear just how exhilarating it must have been when the first steamships began taking thrillseekers through the rapids,

fig. c: S.S. Corsican, 1891

piloted by gentlemen like Jean Baptiste Rice, a local Mohawk captain.

fig. d: J.B. Rice

These days, there are still boats that take daredevils through the Lachine Rapids, but, unfortunately, they're jet boats and not wooden steamboats, so you miss out on that wonderful Fitzcarraldo vibe that you got back in the 19th century. And, frankly, most of the thrillseekers we spotted on our walk were bird watchers armed with powerful binoculars and photographic contraptions of all types.

fig. e: bird watchers, unite!

We saw lots and lots of beautiful birds, but, sadly, we never did spot a Hooded Merganser.

fig. f: Lachine Rapids 2

Afterwards, we made some pretty interesting discoveries in parts of Lasalle that were new to us, like the poetic Avenue du Trésor Caché and the Whiskey Tower,

fig. g: Whiskey Tower, Outer Lasalle

but when it came time to eat (and after our long walk along the river, we were hungry), we found ourselves craving one thing, and one thing only: a hot sub from Momesso.

Partially, it was because of Momesso's classic "neighborhood joint" atmosphere.

fig. h: diner

Partially, it was because the Canucks had just been humiliated for the second time in three days, and we figured that making a pilgrimage to Momesso--where numerous relics pay homage to that combination of soft hands and tough-guy attitude that made Sergio such a mercurial force and an important part of Vancouver's 1994 playoff run--might actually give the Canucks the spiritual boost they so desperately need.

fig. i: Sergio!

And, partially, it was just because we were craving their hot sausage sub--hands-down one of the city's most satisfying sandwiches.

fig. j: sausage sub

Michelle is partial to their Suprême, which comes with steak, sautéed peppers, sautéed mushrooms, melty cheese, and shredded lettuce, in addition to their killer sausage, but I'm still something of a purist: spicy Italian sausage with extra hot peppers.

Did our act of sacrifice work? I'm not sure (I guess we'll find out tonight), but it was oh-so tasty and it made us pretty happy (even if we had to suffer through the Game 4 "highlights" reel over and over again on the big-screen TV).

Momesso, 5562 Upper Lachine, 484-0005 (NDG)



aj

* Although, it is in a portion of NDG that's cut off from the rest of the city by the Décarie Expressway, Autoroute Ville-Marie, and the train tracks, so it feels more remote than it actually is.