Yes, Virginia, it is still possible to make things happen without a lot of money. The secret is a lot of work, creative energy, and collaboration, in this case between Popcorn Youth, Kinfolk Magazine, Foodlab chef Michelle Marek, and a brand-new bar called Alexandraplatz, open just for the summer in a rugged corner of Esplanade.
People are sitting outside at a couple of picnic tables as you turn north from St. Zotique. Inside, long tables are set with baskets of bread, vases of flowers, and ice buckets with bottles of wine.
Co-hosts Natasha Pickowics and Theo Diamantis of Oenopole introduce the evening and the Domaine du Gros ‘Noré Bandol Rosé.
Chef Michelle Marek prepares the cheese
The meal consists of Le Grand Aïoli, breads and cheeses from Kamouraska, and a perfect strawberry tart. The wine is pale, nuanced, and perfect. The company is lively. Fun!
When you leave, about 10 p.m., the second sitting is starting to arrive. Up next, a September date at the newly opened PHI Centre space in Old Montreal. And, in the meantime, an opportunity to check out more of Marek’s work, with Seth Gabrielse, at Foodlab, or Labo culinaire, at SAT Société des arts technologiques on Saint-Laurent.
© Linda Leith 2012
July postscript: There's a great New York Times review of Foodlab here.
Step Six: Buying a Car and a Home
If you insist on buying a house, then at least be smart enough to wait until at least 7-10 years after your arrival. Do the math. You need to spend the first three years on your education, one year getting out of debt, and three years earning enough to put aside a big down payment.
This is when book promotion becomes an art -- in the hands of artists. Turning Mavis Gallant's play into a movie. 
In September 2014, LLP embarked on a process that has led, one year later, to the decision to publish books in French as well as English.
This is Part I of a three-part text. Part II is here.
Mark Abley's Conversations with a Dead Man is an unorthodox mash-up of sources, but it is this generic variety which allows the text to both entertain and succeed.
