Dic Ann's opens first ever "hamburger emporium" in downtown Montreal

Dic Ann’s, the storied hamburger chain which was launched by the husband and wife team of Dick Potenza and Ann Collechia nearly 60 years ago, officially opened its first ever downtown  location on  St. Catherine Street near Forte Avenue on October 15. When I visited the place at noon on day three of the new operation, lineups were out the door already. Lloyd Brown, who brought us the first NDG Dic Ann’s on St. Jacques seven years ago, initiated the “Centre Ville” project as well. That now makes 15 Dic Ann’s restaurants in the  Greater Montreal area. Marché Central and the Old Port (a food truck) were added to the mix last summer.

 

Lloyd Brown at the new locale.

In a few short weeks, Brown will make an unprecedented announcement where Dic Ann’s Centre Ville is concerned. Let’s just say that there will be something added to the offerings that no fast food hamburger spot has done here before.

First of all, what a superb location this is.  This was once a pet store. Located right across the street from LaSalle College and only blocks away from both Dawson College and Concordia University, this is already attracting a strong youth clientele.  However, the area itself has recently been rejuvenated and there is a lot of traffic from shoppers and  businesses. As he did on St. Jacques, Brown has installed one of his Bonatarte dessert emporiums here featuring great pies, pastries, cupcakes, brownies,  smoothies, bubble tea, milkshakes and a full coffee bar. A small breakfast menu will be introduced soon.

 

Lineups already at the new locale.

There are 40 seats in the new location (and 40 ready for a terrasse next summer), which is a mixture of old (retro) and new décor. Above the  traditional menu, featuring  pricing for the famous burgers, hotdogs, poutine and fries are LCD panels. Brown has even installed thematic tables: four for  sports (Impact, Expos, Canadiens, Alouettes), three for entertainment (Jazz and Just For Laughs Festivals and the Grand Prix; two of Dic Ann’s nostalgia; and one for La Place (the electronics store Brown ran for years on St. Laurent Blvd.

I do tend to be in this area often and its is great to have an alternative to McDonald’s.  Dic Ann’s the trademark flat hamburger patties are made fresh each morning from 100 percent beef and of course there is the famous hot sauce to look forward to.

Pasquale Massa waits on his order.

I saw several recognizable faces when I was there, including the owner of Côte Saint-Luc’s highly popular Quality Fruits store, Pasquale Massa. He has known Brown for years  and carries Bonatarte products.

A delicious order of a burger and fries.

Where will P.F.Chang's expand to next? Edmonton gets the nod

There are now three P.F. Chang’s  China Bistro locations in Canada: one in Toronto and two in the Montreal area. I have had the good fortunate of dining in all three –Toronto last winter, the Decarie Rue des Jockeys spot near the former Blue Bonnets a few times and the other at Carrefour Laval once. I grew to love this chain when travelling in the United States and I thank businessman Michael Aronovici and his partners for bringing the concept to our country.

P.F. Chang's is an international brand that features a unique dining experience within an elegant, contemporary and family-friendly setting.  With over 230 restaurants globally, each P.F. Chang's restaurant is a culinary journey inspired by the cuisine of the five regions of China, from Mongolia and Sichuan, to Beijing, Shanghai and Hunan.  Each restaurant also features a variety of signature cocktails and unique desserts. 

P.F. Chang's menu items are cooked-to-order in traditional Chinese woks, using only the freshest ingredients delivered to the restaurant every day.   The won ton and egg drop soups are traditional starters. But the chicken lettuce wraps remain the true signature dish. The Mongolian beef, crispy honey shrimp and chicken and double pan-fried noodles are house favorites.

The famous chicken lettuce wraps.

 

So where will the expansion go next? I contacted  director of operations Cary Mausner who  confirmed that the gigantic West Edmonton Mall will have one for September 2014. That is likely to be followed by Vancouver in the winter of 2015 and a second Toronto spot in the spring of 2015. Newfoundland was originally part of the plan has well, but seems to be off the table for now. As for Montreal, there is no talk now about the West Island, the South Shore of downtown joining the group.

We had an amazing dining experience at the Rue des Jockeys location on the occasion of a family member’s birthday. Our waiter, Christian, incidentally was superb and operating partner Louie Mercuri is hands on at this 280 seat two level establishment.

Abe Hefter turns to teaching and assumes limited role as radio host

Longtime Montreal sportscaster Abe Hefter has assumed a limited role on local Bell Media radio stations in order to devote most of his energy to teaching.

Hefter, for years a fixture with CJAD Sports,   recently accepted a full-time appointment at Concordia University in the Department of Journalism as a lecturer and undergraduate program director. " I had been teaching at Concordia for about a dozen years, part-time, initially within Continuing Education and, more recently, within the journalism department," he says. " I enjoyed being back at school  so much I decided to head back to the classroom as a student: I'm working towards my MA in Journalism Studies at Concordia."

Abe Hefter

Hefter says he quickly developed a passion for teaching , "the same passion I have for radio. So when the opportunity came up to teach, full-time, at Concordia, I went for it.  It's been an amazing experience: incredibly rewarding."

For Hefter,  what has been doubly rewarding is the fact that he has  been able to continue to connect with Montreal radio listeners as the host of TSN 690's weekend morning show: The Locker Room. He is  on from 7 am to  9 a.m. "It's been a blast talking sports and sharing the airwaves with the very talented likes of Amanda Stein, Eric Thomas, Robyn Flynn and Dave Kaufman," he says. "At Concordia and TSN 690, I've been able to enjoy the best of both worlds." 

Hefter is also part of the Habs pre-game show on the weekends with Flynn.

Hefter joined CJAD  in January of 2002. He was with the former CJFM/FM 96 from 1981 to 1985 before departing for Vancouver.

An absolutely amazing So You Think You Dance 2013 Tour show in Montreal

I have seen a lot of live shows in my time, but few will ever measure up to the So You Think You Can Dance 2013 Tour stop at the Bell Centre on Sunday, October 6. Earlier in the day I had an exclusive opportunity to interview the top 10 performers. Only three members of the media attended this press conference, so I found myself with unprecedented access to such a group of reality show superstars.

The group was composed of female and male first place finishers Amy Yakima as well as Du-Shaunt “Fik-Shun” Stegall, Aaron Turner,  Jasmine Harper,  Hayley Erbert, Jenna Johnson, Makenzie Dustman, Nico Greetham, Paul Karmiryan  and Tucker Knox.

Here I am with Jasmine, Aaron, Amy and Fik-Shun.

What a fine group of young men and women, each of them still pinching themselves over the celebrity status they have inherited as a result of being on the hit Fox and CTV program.

Here is a link to my exclusive video interview with the top four.

Including intermission, the show was just over two hours and the crowd loved every minute of it. This was high level entertainment, a superpbly choreographed series of routines from the get go. On this night the Bell Centre was configured into a smaller theatre, carving out about two thirds of their capacity and leaving a cozy 6,000 seat venue. It was perfect from the  get go as the top 10 dancers, accompanied by a small supporting cast of others from this season, entered the stage from the floor level and the song “Putting on the Ritz.”

With Makenzie and Paul.

While the charismatic Nigel Lythgoe, producer and judge for the show, was not in Montreal, we saw him all evening long on the beautiful big screen behind the stage. An early highlight was the introduction of the top 10 to thunderous applause, followed by Fik-Shun and Amy delivering opening remarks. There were many francophones in the audience and with apologies to Premier Pauline Marois and her gang from the PQ government, not a word of French was spoken. Nobody seemed to care.  This was all about the international language of dance.

When So You Think You Can Dance Canada was on the air here on CTV, two cross-Canada tours took place: one at the Place des Arts and another at the Bell Centre. The reception for the Quebec dancers was incredible. I wondered how wild the crowd would go for the Americans, making their first appearance here. Well, it was huge. The numbers were draw jopping, the costumes superb and the flow of the show just right. There was not one dull second. There were a lot of popular repeat numbers from the show and some new ones. Each dancer did a solo. The first half ended off with Sand,  a contemporary group piece choreographed by Chris Scott and featuring   the whole cast.  It had to conclude the opening hour as they literally did drop sand all over the stage.

Highlights for me included Aaron’s tap dance number, Aaron and Jasmine making 48 moves in seven seconds,  Jenna looking gorgeous in a spectacular blue dress in her  ballroom routine and the emotional finale to the tune of Jennifer Lopez’s Live It Up.

Quite appropriately, Amy and Fik-Shun were the last performers to do solos and they were thanked with loud and appreciative standing ovations. You could see from their reactions how touched they were. Here is a look at the emotional farewell the dancers got from the crowd.

Celebrating its landmark 10^th season, So You Think You Can Dance’s top 10 finalists have been making their way across North America, performing in a mix of theatres and arenas as part of the So You Think You Can Dance Tour 2013,sponsored by BLOCH, an international leader in dance wear.   

The 42-city tour will kicked-off on October 1 in East Lansing, MI with shows scheduled through November 27  in Los Angeles, CA.   Besides the Bell Centre, Orillia and Windsor were the two other Canadian cities chosen for the tour.

 Amy  and   “'Fik-Shun”   this year became the first couple to win that were partners from the beginning of the season.  “I still cannot believe this is all happening,” Amy told me. “A few months ago I was just this average dancer. Now I am recognized wherever I go and I have such amazing opportunities. It is just a dream come true. The whole thing has just not sunk in.”

Fik-Shun already knows what he wants to do from here. “I want to be in the next Step Up movie,” he said, referring to the popular series of dance/romance/drama films. Season Six third place finisher Kathryn McCormick and Season Four second place finisher Stephen “tWitch” Boss  were in Step Up Revolution while others have enjoyed success on Dancing With the Stars and other TV and movie roles.

Where did the name Fik-Shun come from? “During my freshman year in high school I wanted to have a dance nickname.  So I asked and I was told that when I dance, I do not look real. Like fiction. That is where it came from.”

The dancers say that the tour, thus far, has been a lot of fun. “We are like a family,” said Makenzie.   “We have more than 30 shows to go on this tour so it is hard on the body. We definitely need our sleep.”

Fik-Shun said that performing before such live audiences “provides us with that extra dose of energy on stage.” Noted Jenna: “Dancers are usually on stage in the background at live concerts, so this kind of tour is unique as people are coming to see us.”

Tucker likes the fact that they are now getting paid for the job, something which was not the case when they auditioned and went through the preliminaries and live shows leading to the top 10.”To see all of these different cities is cool,” he said.

During the day Sunday the dancers explored downtown  Montreal, notably the underground city of shopping from Eaton Centre to the  Promenades des Cathedrales. At a food court, Tucker decided to give the Quebec speciality of poutine - french fries, topped with brown gravy and cheese curds-  a try. “It was amazing,” he said. “I had never heard of it before.”

Poutine was not on the menu for Fik- Shun. “Nope,” he said. “I was happy to go to Subways.”

Jenna said she was both surprised and delighted with how many people recognized them in Montreal. “We are an American show, so we really did not expect that,” she said. “We quickly learned the French word for ‘smile’ as a lot of the young girls kept shouting ‘sourire’ to us.

Which particular stores did they like shopping at? Brandy Melville, Roots and Lush were their favorites.

I end this story with a plea to CTV. Please bring back So You Think You Can Dance Canada!