EntomoMiam serves a variety of gourmet insect-based snacks, including roasted almonds & grasshoppers, a tomato and mealworm tapenade, and a cricket and mushroom shortbread. CATHERINE REYNOLDS/The Concordian
The Montreal Insectarium recently introduced entomophagy
With the climate rapidly changing, water is becoming less and less accessible. As the need to change the way we eat becomes more and more apparent, food industries are shifting, presenting new forms of food.
Chef-consultant Daniel Vézina, commissioned by Espace pour la vie, developed a series of edible insect snacks. Between Nov. 2 – 5 these snacks were served at a kiosk at Le Central.
“Insects have a lot of vitamins, and proteins, it’s very relevant to make people discover them,” said Elena Zumaran Vasquez, operations coordinator for Les Amis de insectarium.
Zumaran Vasquez explained that her organization specifically works for insect consumption, a practice known as entomophagy. It’s owing to this collaboration with David Vézina that she now believes more strongly that people are more willing to eat insects: “People don’t necessarily see them, they are presented in a different form, where they are integrated into the food.”.
Though insect-eating is not part of Canadian culture, it is a common snack in some countries like Thailand and South Africa. In Thailand, for instance, is it typical to eat fried grasshoppers, crickets, and even worms.
The tasting at Le Central offered four sample foods. There were green hard candies, made from ant sugar and balsam fir. The flavour of the ant sugar was not very strong and did not taste any different from the candies we are used to.
For salty snacks, there were seaweed chips creamed with a tomato tapenade, mixed with mealworm and seaweed dulse. Apart from being extremely salty, they were good.
The second salty snack was the one that people most feared eating. It was caramelized lime almonds with whole grasshoppers. This was the only tasting with a whole insect in it; and despite their sour lime taste, they tasted good. Nevertheless, I’m not sure if I would eat them like I would eat a bag of chips.
Zumaran Vasquez noted that the reactions to the tastings were quite diverse.
“There’s a lot of positive feedback and a lot of interest. At first people are reluctant, but most of them end up trying [it].”
The insects were so processed with the other ingredients that it was barely noticeable that one was eating insects, except for the almond snack, where the grasshopper was in its complete form.
Despite the original idea behind the snacks being the high nutritional value of insects, these bites were so mixed in sugar and salt that it begs the question, would people even eat these if they were not processed with so many unhealthy ingredients?
A suitable analogy would be that of vegan food industries sometimes trying hard to imitate a taste, only to end up making an extremely unhealthy product. Is the avenue of making foods universal for singular palates through imitation necessarily good, or should the food industry shift entirely to proposing foods completely different from what we know?
The crowd of people lined around the kiosk all seemed to enjoy the snacks. Some were more reluctant at first, especially with regards to the almond and grasshopper snack, but after tasting them, many people were pleasantly surprised.
It was only fifteen minutes subsequent to the tasting that my palate tasted strongly of insects. The unfamiliar lingering taste of grasshoppers stayed on my tongue longer than I would’ve liked.
It is indisputable that insects offer a great nutritional value and fill you up. Perhaps our Canadian bodies merely need to adapt to changing gastronomies and the possibility of insect consumption.
Following Concordia’s New Contract With Aramark, The Fight Is Still Not Over For A Food-Sovereign Campus
In April, Concordia’s board of governors signed a new contract with multinational food services corporation Aramark to return as the University’s food supplier until May of 2026, with the possibility of a two-year extension. Aramark has been notorious for its ties to the US prison system ,and offering poor working conditions.
The University’s decision to sign a new contract with the corporation goes against a continual effort to steer Concordia away from multinational corporations and towards social enterprises or not-for-profit food suppliers instead, in an attempt to make Concordia into a food-sovereign campus.
In 2021, it seemed as though the University was seriously considering this alternate option. “Concordia was making an effort to explore options outside of multinational corporations,” said Shylah Wolfe, executive director of the Concordia Food Coalition (CFC).
Oliver de Volpi, Concordia’s Food Services manager, corroborated this claim. “We investigated some other options. The one that was even presented by Concordia Food Coalition didn’t pan out. They weren’t ready to bid.”
Ultimately, the University did sign a new contract with Aramark. But, it’s not the end of the movement for a food sovereign campus.
Currently, the CFC is drafting a business plan for what they are calling the New Food Enterprise (NFE), which will be modeled largely off of Diversity Food Services (DFS), a social enterprise providing food service at the University of Winnipeg.
The CFC’s website states that “the NFE will be an environmentally, socially and economically sustainable social enterprise capable of becoming Concordia’s campus food service provider. We are building a coalition of community stakeholders and local food producers to supply affordable and sustainable food options at scale to the university.”
The NFE will bring together the Concordian Student Union, the Hive Cafe, SEIZE, and collaborate with the University’s senior administration. The CFC website states that “there is already broad understanding that the NFE is the transformative model that Concordia needs. Our job is to bring it to fruition.”
The Concordia Student Union has contributed $50,000 total to the NFE project. The CFC has taken $10,000 of the aforementioned funding to contract Chief Operating Officer of DFS Ian Vickers as a consultant. The VP Student Services Office has also pledged $25,000 to the project, Wolfe told The Concordian, with the remaining funds supporting additional planning, financing and partnership development.
“They’re putting their money where their mouth is, and taking us a bit more seriously. Now that we have four years to develop an alternative that is not just lip service, it will be an actually fleshed-out plan,” said Wolfe.
The money was pledged by the University before Aramark won the Request For Proposal (RFP) bid, with the CSU’s funding coming in during the bidding period.
Since 2020, and during the RFP period, the CFC and other student representative groups sitting on the Concordia Food Advisory Working Group (FAWG) advocated for Concordia to adopt a model similar to that of Diversity Food Services. This would include cooking from scratch, more involvement in local food economies, and providing better benefits for staff.
“What we’re doing now is essentially taking a provenly successful model at the University of Winnipeg with Diversity, and essentially building out an offering on a silver platter to the administration that we would run it with Diversity closely consulting,” said Wolfe.
According to Wolfe, the business would be owned by stakeholders made up of the University, the CFC, and DFS.
According to the University’s sustainable food systems plan, Concordia and Aramark are making efforts to be more sustainable and improve upon their last contract, by bringing in more local products, removing Aramark’s rights to operating vending machines on campus, and making meals offered in cafeterias one-third vegetarian, one-third vegan and one-third meat by 2025.
De Volpi further stated that while Concordia did decide to re-sign with Aramark, the decision was not motivated purely by finances.
“75% of the criteria for coming back to campus is not financially related. It’s sustainability operations, it’s nutrition, it’s that part of it. And Aramark won the bid. They’ve made contractual obligations to be easily a leader in Canada in both sustainability and nutrition. We’re going to hold them to it as well,” he said.
But many advocating for a new food service model feel that their current goals aren’t enough.
“I think that the goals that the University has are commendable, but they’re not transformative. I think that it is difficult for them to ever do anything transformative if they continue with the bureaucratic processes that they are using,” said Wolfe.
“That last 25 percent is weighted twice as heavily as the other 75 percent,” explained de Volpi.
Erik Chevrier, a part-time professor at Concordia who did his PhD on building food-sovereign campuses, and a Concordia FAWG member, explained why Concordia’s sustainability goals can’t be too transformative under the current RFP model.
“If you look at the targets, they’re not too hard to meet. So the targets are somewhat written for the big food service providers to be able to meet them, because if not, they’re setting unrealistic goals. So in some way, the idea that if they make this criteria too stringent nobody could actually fit the criteria. They’ll have no food service provider,” said Chevrier.
Financial aspects are involved in the RFP process. According to Chevrier, Companies need a minimum of $5 million annual revenue in food service before being able to bid. This requirement makes it difficult for small or new food service entities to compete for a contract. This is to help ensure that the companies Concordia partners with can remain viable throughout the year, and makes it harder for smaller-scale or new companies to compete during the RFP.
“There’s a big risk for us. We bring in [a food supplier] who’s never existed before that, you know, a month in and they say we just don’t have the personnel to operate anymore. We’re going to close down. Then what do we do with 1,000 students that live here and the rest of the population that depends on us?” said de Volpi.
Wolfe feels that the risk is on the CFC and now with the ability to develop their own business plans, when the next RFP comes around in 2026, the New Food Enterprise will be able to prove their viability.
“We’re basically taking all of the risk for them, to develop this, to garner the support, the political will and also build out the actual back-end with a supply network. We’re essentially going to build them a business that will do all the things that they said they were going to do, but give them none of the risk,” said Wolfe.
Chevrier pointed out that Concordia has a number of student-built food initiatives that have been able to remain viable for many years.
“We’ve created them in the past, or students have, like the People’s Potato,” said Chevrier. “Nobody believed that it would last 20 years when it was first incarnated.”
Across Canada, Concordia has one of the strongest student-run food economies, with seven organizations operating in 2018.
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These economies all work together across Concordia in a way that Aramark doesn’t.
Aramark makes half of their money off a mandatory meal plan for most students in residences. This plan provides flex dollars that can only be spent at Aramark’s other retail locations across campus. Chevrier believes that allowing flex dollars to be spent at student locations would be largely beneficial.
EVAN LINDSAY/The Concordian
“First of all, it’ll create competition for the big food service providers, maybe get them to behave a little bit better. And second of all, it could actually provide a local economy, where students can actually choose where they want to go,” said Chevrier.
While DFS, the business the New Food Enterprise is based on, did struggle during its start-up phase, has now yielded a better performance for the University of Winnipeg than their previous multinational supplier, Chartwells.
“The University does better with us than they ever do with Chartwells because we sell three times what Chartwells did. People actually want to eat real, made from scratch food a lot more than they wanted to eat that processed food.” said Vickers.
The new contract with Aramark is an improvement on the last, but the problem many have with it is not Aramark themselves, but Concordia continuing to work with multinational corporations.
“There’s a lot of evidence to show that actually, the global food industry is decimating our planet. So basically, most of these big corporations, externalized costs in that they basically externalize them to people,” said Chevrier.
Concordia has a long history of working with multinational suppliers. Their relationship with Aramark began in 2015, and prior to that they worked with Compass-Chartwells and Sodexo, two other multinational food supply and hospitality corporations.
Combined across Canadian universities, these corporations make up 60.8 per cent of the food suppliers among universities in Canada, according to Erik Chevrier’s thesis on building food-sovereign campuses.
“Each of these corporations really relies on supply chains that actually drive down costs as much as they can by externalizing the environmental and social costs,” said Chevrier.
“Concordia, as an innovator, I think should actually be looking towards how we can better the world, especially in some of the industries that they’re actually partaking [in.]”
The advantage of moving away from multinational corporations and towards social enterprises like DFS is that they are able to better interact with local farmers and food producers. Currently, according to University Spokesperson Vanninia Maestracci, 43 per cent of food offered in cafeterias is local or sustainability sourced.
JAMES FAY @jamesfaydraws
Vickers stated that last year, 72 per cent of food served by DFS was locally or sustainably sourced. Purchasing locally most of the time is naturally better for farmers, who have experienced a 31.5 per cent increase in total outstanding debt across Canada since 2017, according to Statistics Canada.
By working with more local food suppliers, DFS is able to better manage its supply chain and from-scratch cooking is made more possible to attain.
“Our cooks come in first thing in the morning. They bring in fresh turkeys, the first thing the chef will do is throw the turkeys in the oven instead of roasting them off so that she can slice them out and then cut it down and that becomes turkey sandwiches. She takes those bones and she puts them in a pot and starts making turkey stock. Then she can make gravy for what’s going to go on the poutine, as well as make soup,” said Vickers.
According to Vickers, the cost of bringing in local food is largely the same as well.
“We tend to be between two and three per cent less expensive,” he claimed.
Independent food suppliers have the freedom to work with as many producers as they like and don’t suffer the same turnaround times for payment as larger corporations do.
“When it’s an independent business, being able to pay farmers for cash right at the farm gates or out of their delivery truck is more possible,” said Wolfe. “We can work with as many suppliers as Diversity does, which is sometimes up to 100 different local producers.”
“Large corporations like Aramark or even the University would not be able to do that because they have like sometimes 90- to 120-day payment processing so they have to work with huge distributors,” she stated.
“Part of the reason Diversity is able to do this is because, while they are a for-profit business they are also a social enterprise,” explained Vickers.
“What would normally be the profit that you would pay to your owners, is invested instead in environmental, social, cultural, or local economic sustainability,” he continued.
“What [the University] charged myself and the rest of our management team with is taking the profit and reinvesting it into being a good player in the global economy. So what does that mean? It means that we buy as locally as possible every single time.”
Additionally, under this model Diversity Food Services is able to offer a living wage, benefits and pension plans to all of their employees.
EVAN LINDSAY/The Concordian
There is a lot of money to be made in these contracts — a study by the CFC found that the food service providers who won the RFP process in 2015 stood to make a minimum of $7 million in revenue annually.
Under the new food enterprise model, any money made by the business could then be reinvested.
“The profits, if there are any, would be in the community,” said Wolfe.
“That money would be reinvested in the business so that it’s cheaper, so that meal plans and generally food is cheaper, or so that workers get more money or it would be donated to the community organizations that need funds to run their projects.”
Creating a project like DFS at Concordia is ambitious, and bringing in more local food to supply the 3,000 meals a day that CFC provides is a big task. It’s one that Vickers says will need a really solid plan, but he doesn’t think its impossible.
“Your local agriculture is so much better equipped to do this than we are,” said Vickers. “It would be incredibly feasible.”
Welcome to The Podcast. Cedric Gallant will produce and host this podcast alongside our Section Editors every week. The shows will rotate weekly to cover topics from each section of our newspaper!
This week’s show, Chatcordia, was produced by Cedric Gallant and Dalia Nardolillo, The Concordian’s Community Editor. Tune in for future episodes of Chatcordia, where we interview students about all things from serious to silly!
In this episode:
Cedric Gallant covers this week’s headlines and interviews Concordians at the Climate march last weekend.
For our Chatcordia segment this week, Community Editor Dalia Nardolillo asked Concordia students what they’re eating as we head into the busy (and often without lunch) days of the Fall semester.
Thanks for listening and make sure to tune in next week!
The Concordia anti-capitalist space Le Frigo Vert reopens its doors to the student community
With the start of the new school year, the food collective Le Frigo Vert (LFV) at Concordia’s downtown campus has reopened its doors to students. The collective’s main focus is to offer affordable food, alternative health services and a community space that every Concordia student body can access.
The collective was founded 25 years ago and strives to be anti-capitalist, anti-colonial and anti-oppression, partnering with activist groups across Montreal all while not prioritizing their bottom line.
Sarah Mohammed, a collective member, explained that LFV functions as a non-hierarchical worker-run organization. Instead of having set positions and responsibilities, Mohammed added that LFV members have many different roles within the collective.
During its 25 years of existence, LFV has had to constantly reinvent itself to fit the evolving needs of students.
“It went from a big grocery situation to becoming a not-for-profit, then began offering all kinds of extra products and we realized we were moving away from our mandate because there were more ‘fancy’ things, and we had to really check in with ourselves and really return to the roots,” Mohammed said. “We are always trying to keep in mind the needs of the student community which are changing all the time.”
Hunter Cubitt-Cooke has been a collective member at LFV for almost eight years. Cubitt-Cooke was originally drawn to the collective for its mandate to offer accessible and affordable services to students.
“Everything about our mandate I really like, I can totally be myself completely,” Cubitt-Cooke said. “I get to bring all of myself and different skills into one place.”
Through LFV, Cubitt-Cooke is able to use their professional skills as a herbalist to serve students in need, regardless of their financial capabilities.
“I really align with the values of Frigo and I care about what we do,” they explained. “I wanted to be able to make herbology accessible not only to rich people — which is most herb clients — so for me that’s a way I can do that here.”
Jessie Dzambu has been a collective member at LFV for over a year. Dzambu discovered LFV during the pandemic through the food baskets they offered and decided to join them.
“I just really liked everything that they stand for,” said Dzambu. “I appreciate that they’re anti-capitalist and I really think that there is a lack of public spaces where you can just be except for the library these days. I really like that people can just come here and you don’t have to pay anything, it is a spot for people to just exist.”
Despite the services LFV has to offer, not many Concordia students are aware of its existence.
LFV will be hosting a reopening event on Sept. 22 where food and drinks will be offered from 2-7 p.m.
“We’re trying to create a bit more awareness for newer people,” said Mohammed. “Even though we’ve been around for [nearly] 30 years we still have people coming in saying ‘oh we never knew about you.’ And as it is the beginning of the school year we wanted to just host an event to bring everybody together, make our presence known.”
Boustan is expanding to Toronto, but its new location in Scarborough is only part of what could be the master plan to conquer the GTA – one pita plate at a time.
“Toronto has a lot of shawarma restaurants. But Boustan, it’s a unique flavor,” said Mohammed Khalid Iqbal, the owner of the new franchise, located on Lawrence Ave., Scarborough, Ontario.
“Toronto is a big market, bigger than Montreal,” said Iqbal. “We will go even further actually. We are talking to people in Hamilton, in Niagara Falls. The plan is to have 50 new locations in the next five years.” Boustan’s plans are ambitious, considering their humble origins as a Montreal neighborhood Lebanese spot.
Boustan’s first location was opened in 1986. Imad Smaidi, known to regulars as Mr. Boustan, ran the small location down a flight of stairs on Crescent St. until 2012. Smaidi made it a hotspot for late night, tasty Lebanese food where ex-Prime minister Pierre Trudeau would occasionally visit.
Smaidi sold the restaurant in 2012, and it has not stopped growing since. The chain went from five locations scattered around Montreal in 2016 to currently having over 40 restaurants open as far as Ottawa and Quebec City.
“I’m really looking forward to the shawarma war,” said Liam Earle, a Concordia student from Toronto and top 0.02 per cent Boustan customer at their St. Catherine St. location according to UberEatsats. “Ali Baba is finally going to have some competition,” he said, referring to another well-established Middle Eastern restaurant chain in the GTA.
Boustan is also welcoming new franchisees. Their website states opening a Boustan franchise is “an affordable investment starting from $125,000.” Along with the name, franchisees are supervised and receive the input of an operations team.
When asked about the goal of the new location, Iqbal said that the spot is “for people from Toronto but [also for] people who know us from Montreal.”
The question now is, will Boustan go even further west? “I don’t know of any shawarma place in Vancouver as famous as Boustan,” said Isaac Tetreault, a Concordia student from B.C.
Tetreault says it would be great if Boustan expanded out west.While Iqbal said that plans to open in Vancouver aren’t yet on the table, the franchise opening in Toronto seems to be the first step of what could be a rapid expansion across Canada.
Let me save you some time: when ordering in, the easy way out is always Dominos. When in doubt, you can always count on their thin crust pizza to be edible.
Personally, I like to be a little more adventurous when I scour UberEats and SkiptheDishes. If I’m gonna spend at least $13 on service fees, tax and delivery, I will make sure the meal is worth it. And so over the past two years (yes, it’s really almost been two years), I have discovered a few gems worth checking out.
Three different price categories will make it oh-so-easy for you to navigate this guide to ordering in our third… or fourth? Maybe even the fifth lockdown.
PRICEPOINT — cheap-ish
For those who still eat meat (such as myself, as much as I hate to admit it), Cantine Emilia is the perfect spot to satisfy your Portuguese craving.
Their delicious roasted chicken is cooked and served in a spicy and acidic fiery red sauce — and you can pick what level of spice you can handle. Sides such as light and yummy green salad, rice, and obviously fries are available for your liking. In my experience, they tend to be generous with the portions. The spicy mayo that comes on the side (as an extra) puts A&W’s spicy mayo to shame; you can also find the sauce-slathered onto one of their chicken sandwiches.
Lastly, my favourite part, the natas. Please, do yourself a favour and heat those babies up in the oven, sprinkled with a little sea salt before eating.
Five different locations around the Island of Montreal make it so you can order from wherever you reside — no excuses.
PRICEPOINT — medium
For a slightly more expensive option, Mont Everest Masala is a great place for some delicious Indian food. The way I see it, ordering Indian food is an investment: it may be a little more expensive than what you’re ready to spend, but you will have delicious leftovers for days.
You can go the “safe route” and order butter chicken, basmati rice and naan, but why not try something different? Go for some lamb korma, palak or shahi paneer, and even some yummy mixed vegetables.
I always order extra naan and make my own rice to save cost (never enough rice in my opinion), but if you have pitas or even some frozen naan, that’ll do the trick to help u save even more!
PRICEPOINT — hard
Obviously, if you are gonna treat yourself, the meal to order is sushi. Cheap sushi is a miss, but good sushi is a MUST.
SOZO Sushi, located next to Metro Mont-Royal or in Saint-Leonard, is a delicious treat you can afford maybe once a semester. Why not surprise yourself and get an assortment of random sashimi and nigiri?
Even if that order doesn’t float your boat, then this place will be sure to have at least one roll to satisfy your belly. The portions are generous, and worth the cost (5 futomaki per order, 6 hosomaki per order, and 8 maki per order).
One thing I really appreciate from this establishment is the rice. Unlike most sushi shops, the rice at SOZO is nicely seasoned, not too wet, and served at the perfect temperature. Rice that is too gummy or falls apart at the touch is so unpleasant, but the worst is ice-cold rice. The rice should be room temperature, stuck together but still distinct individual grains.
Just remember — even if it may be unaffordable for must of us to order everynight, but it’s okay to indulge sometimes… right?
To help save on some of the delivery costs, maybe walk to the location to pick up your food rather than going through an app, or make it a point to try the restaurants within a six-block radius. Save some money and help your favourite restaurant make more money by disregarding a thirst party app.
Chadi Sreis and his franchise B12 Burger are making an impact in the Montreal food industry
Danial Farshchi and his friends enter a small burger shop in Laval. Inside they are graced by one room with a few tables and a counter to order food. From the back, they can see freshly cooked burger patties being flipped in the kitchen. When asked what to order, the group scours the menu available — the selection contains a wide array of halal angus burgers, subway sandwiches, fried chicken, and hotdogs. The young man decides to try the special B12 burger trio served with fries and chips. When he gets his order, he opens the box and is faced with a juicy halal burger. The enormous patty, practically the size of his own head, is covered in a huge load of cheese sauce, and stuffed with onion rings, bacon, lettuce, and tomatoes.
B12 Burger was once a small mom-and-pop shop in Laval. It is one of the few local fast food restaurants that provided an option for halal burgers for Muslim Quebecers like Danial Farshchi.
“There are not many trusted fast food chains that are 100 per cent halal. A lot of places will say they’re legit, but there’s no proof, there’s no nothing,” he said.
One of the main competitors to the B12 franchise is Bergham, which serves halal subway sandwiches. Customers like Danial Farshchi believe their food is good, but the quality of service does not meet the same level as B12.
In 2018, the business caught the eye of entrepreneur Chadi Sreis. He is one of the owners of the Lebanese fast food franchise Boustan. Sreis is a respected businessman who deals with an intense time schedule — our brief conversation was held on the phone while he was in his car. He was excited to discuss B12 and its origins while also bouncing in and out of other work situations that came up during our conversation over the phone.
“I tried out the burgers there and really liked it,” he said. “Initially we [Sreis and his business partners] were looking at all kinds of brands and this is one that we really liked. We believed in it and took it to the next level.” Three restaurants are now open in Laval, Kirkland, and Acadie Boulevard. “After acquiring the first shop, we had to go to the banks to loan us the money to set up our own burger restaurants.”
The growing franchise remains successful despite the pandemic.
“Our revenues went up because the big strip malls were closing, so all these small, quick service restaurants did fairly better in the pandemic,” he said. “The rent is lower, the space is lower, and the bills are generally lower.”
B12 made a yearly volume upwards of $1 million in 2020 according to Sreis. The store set up in Kirkland continues to have around 75 to 150 customers daily with an average customer spending around $18 to $20 on an order. “During the pandemic, the sit down [area] was closed, so our menu was strictly available to people who wanted to pick up and go, or delivery through third parties.” Expenses for the company increased with delivery services such as Uber Eats and DoorDash charging over 30 per cent on orders. Mr. Sreis asserted that the volume of sales during the pandemic balanced out the extra expense of third party partners without debt accumulation. “It wasn’t really that bad. Don’t forget we didn’t really need people to serve in the restaurant, and stuff like that. All you needed is people to cook.”
Going forward, Chadi Sreis has big plans for the B12 franchise. “Right now, our main focus is to expand the business. Montreal is still a virgin market for us, and we only have three stores.” The goal is to have 20 to 25 more locations on the island of Montreal in the next two to three years.
“There is a big demand on the product because it’s part of a niche market,” he added.
There are some things Danial thinks the franchise could improve upon. The locations are small and do not make for comfortable dine-in experiences. “When I go there with my friends… I can’t tell you how many times we sat on the curb outside the parking lot just because there’s no space in the seating inside!” he said. Another issue he has with the business is the food packaging. Often when he orders from them through Uber Eats, the food is delivered soggy and cold. He also wishes that the burger could be served better while also keeping its humongous size. “For the love of God, why can’t they cut the burger in half? When I pick it up it’s so messy and I have to make sure the burger doesn’t drop out of the buns.”
One exotic snack store, winning the hearts of Montrealers
Snaxies is an exotic snack store that sells delectable treats that you won’t normally find at any other store in Montreal, or Canada for that matter. Sergiu Paunescu, the owner of Snaxies, located in the Mile-End, explains that during the pandemic, his business never stopped running.
Paunescu opened Snaxies in April of 2020, at the age of 26. Before owning Snaxies, he operated a tutoring business during his studies at Concordia’s John Molson School of Business. During the pandemic and over the course of 2020, he decided to quit his other jobs and open up Snaxies. He explained that when he opened Snaxies, he had to build it from the ground up. “So, you dig your way up, then you learn how to breathe, walk and talk. It was non-stop when we opened. I had to do every single shift for close to three months,” Paunescu explained.
The first platform that truly launched Paunescu’s business was DoorDash. “I turned it on and within the first five minutes, I got a $60 order,” Panuescu explained. The owner also described how apps like Uber Eats and DoorDash are not exactly the easiest platforms to manage. “I started operations [in] July of 2020, so that was the first COVID summer. I did not expect the online platforms [referring to Uber and DoorDash] to get that much volume in terms of orders.” Paunescu also explained that 80 per cent of his revenue comes from these platforms, with hundreds of thousands of products sold in the last year.
A turning point for Paunescu was during the curfew in January 2021. “The first day of curfew, I read the law. Quebec issued a certain legal document of what businesses could and couldn’t do. We are an online business, essentially, so we were allowed to operate. However, customers were not allowed to enter the store. So I used my store as a storage space. The only people that were in my store were my employees and I,” Paunescu recalled. At the time, grocery stores and depanneurs were not allowed to deliver, but online platforms like DoorDash and Uber Eats were still permitted.
On the first day of the curfew, his business was still running as usual. “We were working, there’s about 10 Uber drivers lined up outside my door. Then there’s this guy that comes up to the door and knocks. My employee goes up to the door and tells him, ‘Give me a second.’ The guy still knocks at the door and lo and behold, it was four cops. They call me up and say I was not allowed to operate. However, I told the cops, look in the store. There’s no pricing, we’re an online business and we are allowed to operate.”
This situation was a great lesson for Paunescu, as he realized that in these unprecedented times, information changes quickly each and every single day, so it’s hard to get the facts straight.
The first set of cops who came to the store believed that it was functioning illegally. Then, a second team of cops said that they were not sure. Finally, the third group of cops came to his business and said that it was completely fine for him to operate. “I got an apology, saying we [the police officer brigade] tried to pursue you in court, however, the court said we wouldn’t win. We’ve advised all the police in your area not to bother you anymore.” After the incidents with the police, Paunescu relocated Snaxies to its current location at 5026 Parc Ave. in May 2021. He wanted to move to this location to give his customers an in-store experience.
Kaitlynn Rodney, a journalism student at Concordia University, explained her experience inside the store. “When I first heard about Snaxies, I was really excited to show my boyfriend. He is a sugar addict! When I first got in, I remember thinking it was a little more expensive than I expected, but when I thought about it a little bit more, he is importing snacks from outside so it must be expensive.”
Some of Paunescu’s best selling products include Dunkaroos and Nerds Gummy Clusters. “I have whole palettes that are reserved for wholesale customers. To give you an idea, one palette is 2400 gummy clusters. A palette of Dunkaroos is 3600. It’s fun to have both products because people enjoy them so much.”
With his continuous success, Paunescu plans not to open another location, but instead to venture more into distribution. “A lot of companies are steering away from that. It’s costly and a lot of maintenance to take care of the operation. I want to expand my business into distribution. I want to focus on distributing the products rather than retail.”
The stay-at-home order did not stop Paunescu in the slightest. He is quite literally the “Willy Wonka” of Montreal, attracting customers from every corner of the city, and hopefully soon across North America.
McDonald’s Monopoly game has quickly become a tradition for fast food enthusiasts
In 1987, fast food giant McDonald’s came up with a marketing tactic so clever and ahead of its time that it quickly ushered in a recurring yearly event for the chain. Their idea was to combine one of, if not the most, popular board games in the world, Monopoly, with their brand. The result: a worldwide tradition that generates hundreds of millions of dollars.
The idea behind the game is quite simple: Monopoly game pieces are printed on the packaging of various food and beverage items on the McDonald’s menu. You simply have to peel off the sticker and look at what it says. Three things can happen: you can win instant prizes, such as numerous food items, gift cards, or cash; you can win more specific rewards that can be redeemed online, like a Roku Streambar, a video game, a coffee maker or even a drill set; or the third and most common result, you get a special Monopoly-themed sticker that when combined with others can win you big prizes, such as $50,000 in cash, a new car or even a family vacation for four at the Universal Orlando Resort.
However, to win these prizes, you have to be in possession of all the pieces in a group, usually two to four, just like you would have to possess all properties of the same color group to build houses and hotels in the real Monopoly game. The catch McDonald’s uses compared to the real Monopoly, is that some pieces are going to be rarer to find than others. For every sticker peeled, all the pieces are going to be pretty common to find, except those that are next to impossible to track down. What often happens is that people will start collecting the pieces and might be one piece away from winning one of the bigger prizes. For a second, they think they have an actual chance of winning, but in reality, with a total of approximately 115,340,703 total game pieces, the odds of pulling one of the rarer stickers are so incredibly low that it is mostly a mirage.
This game is a great publicity stunt that generates big profits for the fast food chain. People will be more inclined to go to one of their restaurants because they have a chance to earn rewards by eating there. Since the event lasts one month, people are inclined to return more often in a shorter span, because the more they accumulate game pieces, the more they have a chance of winning. The game pieces don’t come with every item on the menu (such as smaller items like a small fry, snacks or a junior chicken), but customers are rewarded with additional game pieces if they purchase larger portions. For example, by upgrading your medium fry by a large fry, you would be rewarded with extra pieces. All of these tactics help the customer grow interest towards the game, which means they have a higher chance of coming more often to McDonald’s and most likely eating more intended.
Overall, the McDonald’s Monopoly game is a massive win for the multi-billion dollar franchise, because it creates a game that gives the illusion to customers that they actually have a chance to win the big ticket prizes. At least for the clients, some of the smaller prizes are winnable. Either way, the game succeeds at attracting more people to come eat at their franchises for a month straight, resulting in the chain restaurant reaping more than what they sow in a true Monopoly win.
Sorry to my gluten-free friends, this one might not be for you.
So… Who else has been obsessed with the Great Canadian Baking Show (GCBS)? Just me?
As an amateur chef myself, I like to watch cooking and baking competitions while picturing myself as one of the contestants. I ask myself what I would do for a certain challenge — and I make sure to tell whoever is watching with me.
But realistically, I do NOT have that kind of skill.
I’m in no way good enough to be a contestant on GCBS, but I like to think that I’ve mastered a few basics that are great gateway recipes to a baking addiction. These tips and cooking guides have allowed me to feel as if I was following along with the contestants. All three “bakes” I am mentioning are done in the show, so now you can follow along too.
These aren’t Linzer cookies like those featured on episode three of this past season, but any cookie is a crowd-pleaser.
Molasses cookies are my unusual favourite — the bitter and rich sweetness from molasses cookies, combined with my favourite seasonal spices like cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger create the deepest fall-flavoured cookie you will ever eat. I will say these tend to be an acquired taste, but I adore them, and encourage you to try them!
To reiterate: I am not talented enough not to use recipes. However, I have gotten good enough to know what I want, and apply my own tricks to the recipes I use. For example, I recommend killing two birds with one stone and turning your baking into a workout routine as well. Simply mix your butter and sugars together by hand, and incorporate the dry ingredients into the wet batter with a spatula, using a “folding” motion instead of an electric stand mixer.
“Folding” motion = folding your batter over into itself and gradually adding in dry ingredients. This slow-motion will stop your dough from becoming too tough — or as the pros would say it — “overworked.” Pour in your dry ingredients in three batches and FOLD to give your cookies a much more ooey-gooey chewy texture.
My favourite recipe to follow is Alison Roman’s rendition on Bon Appétit.
One of my personal favourites to impress your guests — Focaccia bread was featured in episode three of season four.
I find if you dedicate the time and effort (and maybe an entire jumbo bag of flour) to baking focaccia a couple of times, you can perfect it and make a delicious, crispy-but-soft bread that wears more than one hat.
Whenever I make focaccia, I use it for everything. It makes delicious sandwiches — think roasted eggplant, zucchini and roasted garlic hummus smooshed between the two slices of bread — or even toast. To create slices of bread, cut it in half to expose the beautiful air-bubble bread guts — or even that classic student meal of cheese with add-a-lil-jam-to-make-it-fancy and bread.
For this, it’s important to have good yeast. No yeast means our focaccia won’t rise, and you will be left very disappointed… and hungry. To test your yeast, it’s important to bring it to life by putting the required quantity of warm water, sugar and yeast in a bowl, and letting it rise for five minutes.
Maybe this is a baking faux-pas — and to be honest, I don’t care — yet no matter the type of sugar a recipe calls for, I will use honey. Not that plastic bear that has been in your pantry since you moved in; invest in a jar of some delicious, fresh honey. Just a weird bit of knowledge but honey literally does not go bad! Honey has been found in ancient Egyptian tombs! #Honeyfactoftheday.
Some of my favourite recipes to refer to are Gimme Some Oven’s version of focaccia, but if you’re looking for a more advanced recipe try Claire Saffitz’s recipe from the book Dessert Person, or watch this YouTube video.
I will not be attempting a two-tone garden dumpling dough from scratch like the ones featured in the GCBS’s episode five of season four — I won’t even be making the filling.
I could try, and one day I am determined to, but as a contestant Sheldon Lynn said during the garden dumpling technical challenge, “Why make dumpling wrappers when you can buy them?” I like to go a step further, and just get them frozen.
Frozen dumplings are elite freezer food, but you have to know which ones to get. I will never stop recommending that you take yourself down to Chinatown to the G&D supermarket and browse their many options, but if like me you are sometimes too lazy, there are some places to find great frozen dumplings in the Plateau.
My favourite brand of dumplings to look for is O’Tasty. It’s packaging depicts a picture-perfect plate of pan-fried pot-stickers. My all-time favourite is the pork and black mushroom, followed by the chicken and vegetables.
To cook these, I normally get a non-stick pan and a little bit (two tbsp) of sesame oil, or another neutral oil. Next, once I’ve allowed my oil to get hot enough that it moves easily in the pan, I add a dozen dumplings with their seams facing up. I let them get slightly golden brown on the bottom (five-seven minutes), and now comes the fun part: cornstarch slurry! Mix one-quarter cup of water with two tbsp of cornstarch to create a thick liquid, and pour into your hot pan, getting it in between the dumplings.
Cover and lower your heat to medium-low, and let simmer until the top of your dumplings seem cooked (i.e. your dough is soft and shiny). Take off the lid and let the rest of your liquid evaporate — you should be able to tell once your cornstarch slurry turns into a giant crispy chip connecting each dumpling. Flip onto a plate, top with chili oil and scallions and serve.
We all know you can’t eat dumplings without sauce, so try Pickled Plum’s dipping sauce recipe to elevate your dumpling experience.
The front of the bakery Hazukido in dowtown Montreal in Septembre 2021.
A croissant review by a self-proclaimed expert
My TikTok “For You” page is filled with videos starting with, “If you’re from Montreal, you’ve GOT to try this spot…” Being a lover of all foods, I watch these very attentively, pulling my face as close to my phone screen as I can to absorb all the details, sometimes even bending in half so that my body wraps around my phone.
Despite my obsession with finding the newest trendy spots on the island, I have rarely taken the time to actually try these places out. I’m either too lazy, or can’t justify spending the money on something I could make myself. But one thing I cannot cook at home for the life of me is croissants.
You’ve seen the videos of pastry chefs laminating dough with obnoxious amounts of butter, the precise folding and rolling — it’s all too much! I will always buy fresh pastries, and I won’t ever feel bad about it!
Last week, I saw a TikTok about Hazukido croissants, a new spot right near St-Catherine St. and Guy. The Japanese/Taiwanese fusion pastry shop specializes in croissants made with Elle & Vire, a type of French butter that makes for especially great croissants. The pastry shop also adopted a method of proofing the dough that creates a complex “honeycomb” pattern in the pastry.
There have been long lines to get in since the opening; when I talked to the people behind me in line, they told me they had also found Hazukido on TikTok, and had made the journey downtown to try them. A limit of three croissants per customer was placed to ensure everyone would get some — but I got four!
Now let’s get into it.
Raspberry Panna Cotta
Okay, now this is a croissant I can get behind.
Here, the honeycomb structure and buttery-flakiness that is mentioned all throughout Hazukido’s advertising rang very true: the croissant was light, and had the perfect orgasm-inducing crunch sound and feel. The outside was crispy, golden and light, while the inside was soft and chewy.
The raspberry panna cotta filling is different from anything I’ve tried before — unlike your typical jam-stuffed pastry, this filling was creamy, almost like a tart raspberry custard. This may be too niche, but have you ever had the berry and yogurt smoothie from Pret A Manger? Well, it was reminiscent of those delicate flavours. The filling was evenly piped in, making for an enjoyable experience throughout.
I ate this one up so fast I surprised myself. 8.3/10.
Smoked chicken croissant
This is the first of the four that I tried. The croissant was sliced horizontally down the middle (creating two triangles) and then sandwiched on top of one another. The halves were coated in what seemed to be a béarnaise sauce — made with mayo, garlic and some parsley. On top of each layer was a slice of deli-cut smoked chicken and some melted cheese.
When I took my first bite, the savoury flavour and buttery texture hit first, followed by the slightly dense dough. The croissant had been weighed down, taking away from the flakiness of the layered pastry. I also ate this one cold.
I’m gonna be honest: this croissant was not my favorite. It tasted like a slightly better Starbucks breakfast sandwich, and at the tune of $5.25. From what I could tell, the cheese was a single Kraft slice and generic shredded cheese that had been melted and created a tough, chewy, leathery layer that was difficult to get through.
The flavour was there, but the execution on this was a 6/10 for me.
Salted Egg Yolk
This is one of the most coveted items on the menu — it’s been written about, praised, and is one of the reasons Hazukido made it to North America.
This salty-sweet creamy croissant is topped with black sesame, which brings a surprising depth of flavour to the classic pastry.
The croissant itself was delicious, and brought to my attention the superiority of sweet croissants — maybe that has to do with the weight of the fillings, but who knows. The salted egg yolk was creamy, granulated, and had very strong red bean paste vibes (I think that may have come mainly from the black sesame though).
All around, I enjoyed the experience created by this unorthodox flavour pairing. 7.5/10.
Golden Cheese
This final savoury treat brings our croissant tour to a close. This croissant was cut in two, sub-style, and stuffed with what looked like shredded gouda. On the top of your unconventional sub, there’s a melted piece of “golden” Australian cheese, topped with flaky salt.
I have no idea what Australian cheese is, but to me it tastes like a piece of snazzy Kraft Single was melted and then left at room temperature to harden and turn into the strangest rubber substance. The taste was good — once again giving me notes of a fast-food grilled cheese, but with more butter. The pastry itself was nice and soft, but altogether I found it a little too heavy, and I was left feeling a little nauseous.
In all fairness though, I had just eaten four croissants in a row… 7/10.
Try it out for yourself and see if you agree with my opinions by visiting Hazukido! The address is 1629 Saint-Catherine St. W in Montreal.
We need to talk about the problem with food options at the Loyola campus, or lack thereof
It’s your first day at the Loyola campus. Maybe you’re a second-year student, and you spent your entire first year of university learning from home. Maybe you’ve only ever had classes at Concordia’s downtown campus, and this is your first foray into Notre-Dame-de-Grâce (NDG). No longer used to getting out of the house in the morning, you rushed to get her to make it to your 9 a.m. lecture — no coffee, no morning bagel, and no lunch in your bag. Your first class ends and your stomach is growling. You checked Google maps for a place nearby, but realized there isn’t enough time for you to commute to grab lunch and make it back to your next class. Where do you go?
We’re back at the Loyola campus, but the food options nearby are few and far between.
As a part of Concordia’s return-to-school plan, the student cafeteria is limiting its capacity to students in residence. The on-campus Tim Hortons closed its doors once the pandemic hit and there are almost no restaurants nearby. You think there may be a student cafe somewhere on campus, but you have no idea where it is or if it even exists.
Whereas the downtown campus offers various on-site food services including Le Frigo Vert, People’s Potato and Reggies, students at Loyola have few options to rely on. And this isn’t exactly a new problem.
“Loyola campus never did have the same type of numbers or campus activity as downtown,” said Claudette Torbey, food services sustainability and quality administrator at Concordia. “It’s a calmer campus, even in pre-COVID years.”
But now the pandemic has created a new set of challenges at the Loyola campus when it comes to food. Sanitary measures, uncertainties with suppliers and the decrease in student traffic on campus are all challenges eateries are facing when trying to respond to the needs of the Loyola campus community.
The Buzz Dining Hall
You’re wandering around campus looking for a place to eat. You get lost for a minute and finally end up in front of the SP building where you notice the Buzz Dining Hall, the student cafeteria. You untangle your blue mask from around your wrist and put it on as someone is kindly welcoming you inside. After putting some hand sanitizer on, you’re asked if you’re a resident student living on campus. You shrug your shoulders, say no, and are turned away. Disappointed and hungry, you make your way down the stairs and stare out into the open courtyard in front of you, not sure of what to do or where to go next.
The Concordia return-to-campus plan restricts access to spaces in respect of the Quebec government’s COVID-19 health and safety measures. As of September 1st, non-essential academic services, including eateries, are required to scan vaccine passports in an effort to control the fourth wave of COVID-19. The university’s health and safety protocols also require individuals to maintain a two-metre distance indoors in places where food and beverages are consumed.
Since the pandemic increases uncertainty when it comes to the number of students on campus, adaptations are more complex.
“It is really hard to plan operations when we don’t know what the campus is going to look like,” explained Torbey. “Hours and locations are more limited because we are unsure about traffic on campus.”
Now that the Buzz only opens its doors exclusively to students in residence that are registered to a Concordia meal plan, those from beyond this category are left with few food options on campus.
As you turn away from the Buzz, you notice a café sign over the dining hall. At second glance, you realize students are holding coffee cups as they come out of the building behind you. You figure it’s worth a shot. You return inside and go upstairs.
The Hive Cafe Solidarity Co-Op
You march past the Buzz dining hall and set your sights on a new mission: finding the elusive student cafe. Up another flight of stairs and you’ve made it: you’re standing at the doors of the Hive.
Since its launch in 2014, the Hive Café Solidarity Co-op has been a go-to lunch spot for sustainable and affordable food for Concordia students and faculty. However, this situation is still far from ideal.
“Coming back from a pandemic has been a huge challenge,” said Calvin Clarke, general coordinator for the Hive. “And because of our location at Loyola campus, it makes it really difficult for students to know we’re here.”
Returning to campus more than a year and a half into the pandemic, Clarke says the Hive is ramping up an almost entirely new staff and re-familiarizing clientele to their cooperative model.
As a cooperative, the Hive works differently than your typical restaurant. You’ll notice there are two sets of prices for everything on their menu, non-member and member prices. You have the option to become a shareholder by paying a one-time 10 dollar fee, after which you’ll be entitled to the lower member prices and gain the ability to participate in the democratic functioning of the co-op.
“We’re a model of a food structure that can be something for students,” said Clarke. “Being a pillar of living and breathing proof of what can happen on campus.”
The Hive has been taking a slow approach to reopening in order to gauge demand, adding menu items slowly to avoid unnecessary waste. After quietly resuming operations at Loyola in the second week of September, they’re planning to be open Monday through Thursday for the rest of the fall semester.
“We’re really targeting and showing that there’s a necessity, especially on a campus like Loyola that’s so isolated, that there needs to be better food options on campus for students,” said Clarke.
The Hive Free Lunch Program
As you arrive at the Hive, you notice the counter, a display case with burritos and, yes, the coffee machine. Finally, you’re at the right place. But wait, are students getting chili from another counter on the other side of the space? A little confused, you come closer. You have found the Hive’s free lunch.
All students have access to this food option at Loyola, developed to provide free and healthy lunches in an area where food options are minimal.
“No one should go hungry or stressed about where they are getting their next meal while they are trying to educate themselves,” said Alanna Silver, the Hive’s administrative coordinator.
The program is supported by various Concordia-affiliated associations including the Concordia Student Union (CSU) and the Arts and Science Federation of Associations (ASFA). The food bank Moisson Montréal also collaborates in providing the Hive Free Lunch with fruits and vegetables. The program provides students with free vegan meals every weekday.
During the first week of the semester, Silver confirmed they served about 40 meals a day, and that number has been growing week to week.
“We are hoping, as the semester goes along, we’ll be serving 200 servings a day,” said Silver. “We really don’t want to leave any students hungry. We are trying to increase our production as much as possible.”
Hive free lunches run from Monday to Friday and are available from 12:30 to 1:30 pm. As the program can no longer serve meals on plates with utensils due to sanitary measures, you are encouraged to bring your own tupperware to minimize “to-go” garbage.
Next time you find yourself with time to kill between classes and study sessions, don’t hesitate to stop by the Hive for a free lunch and some house-baked goodies (the cookies are something else).
Le Marché Express
You’ve hit the midday point of your school day. You’re just looking for a coffee, so you cross over to the SP building. Chatter and cash register sounds lead you down a flight of stairs where you arrive in front of Le Marché Express.
The university-contracted Marché Express has coffee, snacks and even some quick meals to grab on the go. As with the rest of the food service industry this year, supply has been harder to organize as restaurants adapt to re-opening.
“This year is really tough,” said Torbey. “Even now, we’ll order one product and we’re not able to get it. The supply chain still is experiencing a lot of difficulties.”
As a result of pandemic-related uncertainties, Le Marché Express is open for limited hours — but it can still get you your caffeine fix most of the time.
Off-Campus Restaurants
You’re feeling like you’ve walked the entire campus in search of a place to grab some food. The Hive is already filling up with students by the time you arrive and the Buzz is asking for residence proof, which you don’t have. Getting off-campus seems like it could be a better option for you, so you walk out the gates and march along Sherbrooke street, in a desperate search for some lunch.
Time flies and you realize that you have to be in class in a few minutes. You spot a Second Cup and a Subway in the distance, and in the opposite direction, too far for the eyes to see, lies Souvlaki George.
You realize that there are almost no options for restaurants near the Loyola campus, which brings you back to your two options; the Hive or the Marché Express. Hopefully, the line won’t be too long, giving you a chance to rest from your food hunting before attending your last lecture of the day.
Problem solved?
This may have been a fictional account of one student’s journey across the Loyola campus, but the issue with food is a real one. Lack of food services on this part of the university’s grounds is an issue that has been previously acknowledged by Concordia University, and moves have been made in an effort to address concerns.
The Loyola Campus Working Group established a plan in 2020 concerning food services development on campus. The Working Group has the general mandate to consult with the Loyola community to get a greater sense of its needs.
In recommendations provided to the university, members prioritized diverse food projects to remedy the situation; the principal ones include the creation of a new eating space, a designated place for a pub, and the promotion of free food options on campus.
“We’re working closely with the administration right now in opening up a second location on Loyola campus,” said Clarke. “Hopefully that will become more accessible for students on campus.”
Finally, your food hunting has come to an end. You’ve gone through all the [minimal] options around Loyola!
You might have been tempted by the Hive’s brownies or got lucky getting a free lunch. Maybe you decided to grab a sandwich from the Marché Express with a cup of coffee. Perhaps you have returned to Sherbrooke street to grab something from the Second Cup. You’ve filled your stomach, and made it back to class.
Next time, you will probably come to campus with some snacks in your bag. On top of that, this experience has you strongly considering becoming a ‘meal prepping’ person. Most importantly, you will definitely wake up earlier to get coffee from home.
Photographs by Catherine Reynolds and Autumn Darey
