It’s mid-January. Do you remember what a just-picked tomato tastes like?

We do, but only because we’ve subscribed to Lufa Farms, which, incidentally, isn’t really a farm but a high-tech rooftop greenhouse across from Marché Central.

Every week, we pick up a large box of their delish locally grown vegetables ($30) at a pick-up location in our ‘hood. It is packed with tomatoes, lettuce, carrots, peppers and sometimes a few must-Google (yet totally delicious) specimens. The best part?

Everything was picked that day.

Eating in the winter just got a lot fresher. —Christine Laroche

www.lufa.com

We’re all about mid-day multi-sensorial experiences, especially when our eyes and taste buds are involved.

We recently stopped in to Café Armatta in the Galerie Armatta, and perused paintings by artist James Playford while polishing off a healthy, tasty lunch. We chose the tangy Tofu Parmigiana sandwich, filled with lightly breaded tofu, flavourful marinara sauce and oozing with warm cheddar and gruyere cheese ($6.93) from the mostly vegetarian menu (don’t worry, carnivores, there will be a few more meaty options in the months to come), and washed it down with an icy, blended "Mango Classi", made with mango purée and coconut milk ($3.95). With no room for the spiced chocolate tartelette ($3.51) in our overstuffed bellies, we promised to come back for more.

We’ve always been patrons of the arts (and the sandwiches). —Jennifer Nachshen

Armatta, 3255 Rue St-Jacques, Montreal, 514- 660-2420, www.armatta.ca

We’ve lavished in the luxurious lobster spaghetti, savoured the foie gras parfait for hours on end and delighted in the whimsical desserts starring sweet soft serve ice cream.

The reason we return to Joe Beef over and over again has as much to do with the larger-than-life personalities of co-owners and chefs, Fred and Dave, as it does with the mouth-watering market-fresh fare. You’ll find both in the new book, The Art of Living According to Joe Beef: A Cookbook of Sorts ($29.74) by David McMillan, Frédéric Morin and Meredith Erickson. The delicious tome reads like a love letter to Montreal, chock full of favourite recipes, tasty tidbits of history and appreciative nods to the restaurant’s St. Henri neighbours.

A heartily recommended read for anyone who calls Montreal their home or home-away-from-home.
—Jennifer Nachshen

www.amazon.ca

There’s not much that we like more than sandwiches, unless it’s a multi-tasker of a machine that makes sandwiches crispy warm and oh-so-gooey inside.

De’Longhi ‘s new sleek and sexy space-saving sandwich godsend is their multi-purpose Panini Oven ($219.99). It’s a toaster oven (up to six slices at once!), regular oven, Panini press and non-stick grill for meat, fish and vegetables, all in one.

Handy, since like Carrie Bradshaw, our big oven is filled with shoes. —Jennifer Nachshen

www.delonghi.com

There are two kinds of people in the world: silly people who hate black licorice, and those of us cool kids who absolutely adore it.

As far as we’re concerned, the stronger the better, and the Italian-made Amarelli Liquirizia ($4) pure licorice drops really pack a punch. Packed in cute retro tins, the drops are made from pure licorice extract without any added ingredients (and that includes sugar).

For licorice lovers only. —Jennifer Nachshen

At Vielle Europe, 3855 St-Laurent Blvd., Montreal, 514-842-5773.

We’d love to take a trip down south, but since its hurricane season in the Caribbean, we’ll stay in Montreal and play staycation with our tastebuds.

From the August 25 to September 25, 15 restaurants, including La Coupole, Lustucru, and will be participating in Martinique Gourmande, a festival celebrating the flavours of Martinique.  Serving up the mix of french and creole techniques and exotic ingredients including breadfruit, cassava and christophine, Montreal chefs will put their own spin on the spicy fare.

Did we mention there would be rum? There will be rum. –Jennifer Nachshen

www.martiniquegourmande.ca

We’ve gotten more than a little bit jealous of the surge of street food in cities like Vancouver and Toronto. As far as we’re concerned, Montreal is the culinary core of Canada, so why shouldn’t we get to experience the joy of ordering à la (food) cart?

Street eats may be illegal in Quebec, but that’s not stopping taco truck Grumman 78 from finding perfectly legal spaces to offer tasty bites to gourmands-on-the-go (they tend to set up shop at festivals and events). Follow the vibrant green truck on Twitter or consult the schedule on the website to find out where they’ll be next. We promise their rich barbecued pork taco topped with tangy veggies will have you petitioning the city to change the law on street food. 

Finally, Montrealers have their own moveable feast! —Jennifer Nachshen

www.grumman78.com

We’re into pretty much any food that you can eat on a stick, especially when said stick hastens the delivery of delicious cakes and pie to our tummies.

Pie and cake have become so much effort, lately, what with all that heavy fork lifting. Now we’re taking the easy route, with cake and pie pops by Sweet Spot Desserts. We ordered online, got our pops, and filled our faces with delectably teeny chocolate cakes and apple pies, leaving nothing but the sticks behind.

Pops rock.—JN

www.sweetspotdesserts.com

Montreal may have laws preventing us from enjoying street eats, but they can’t stop the pop-up restaurants that have been opening all over town.

The Atwater Market has become the most recent location to host fun foodie stalls, fresh for the summer. We were immediately drawn to the Satay Brothers, serving up South-East Asian specialties like savoury beef satays ($2.50) and delicious steaming pork buns (2 for $7). Just a couple of steps away, an extension of the Poissonerie du Marché Atwater sells ocean-fresh lobster rolls ($11), while Roule ma Poule  proffers rotisserie chicken sandwiches with potatoes and salad ($9.95).

Just bring a boy and a blanket and you’ll have everything you need for a picnic by the canal. —JN

North end of the Atwater Market, 138 Atwater Ave., Montreal, 514-937-7754.

We love fine dining but always end up asking ourselves at the end of the meal: “How can it be so expensive when I only ate one thing?”

Le Filet, run by the team behind Le Club Chasse et Pêche, offers elevated cuisine in a long list of tapas-sized plates allowing diners to share in the discovery of their innovative dishes.

We started with a refreshingly crisp salad of jicama, fennel, citrus and fresh mint ($10) along with “tastes-like-summer” scallops with avocado, orange and beet ($15). After devouring the savoury wagyu beef tataki with ginger and sesame ($16) we dug into a rich Dungeness crab risotto ($19) that melted onto our plate and in our mouth. But our lick-the-plate-clean favourite of the evening was the sweet squash-filled ravioli with amaretti and almonds ($14).

Bring on the indulgence.

Le Filet, 219 Mont-Royal Ave. W., Montreal, 514-360-6060, www.lefilet.ca