by Andrew Morrison | I was inside Pourhouse in Gastown before dinner service a few days ago when I saw owner/chef JC Poirier and future St. Lawrence chef de cuisine Ashley Kurtz remove something large, rectangular, and golden brown from the oven. It was a huge ‘terrine en croute’, which is basically a fancy meat pie (complete with steam conduit ‘chimneys’). It was a thing of beauty, and it smelled out of this world. I was lucky enough to enjoy the hell out of something similar at Le Pied Bleu in Quebec City last summer – truly drool-worthy stuff – but this was just massive in comparison. It wasn’t until I looked closely that I saw the entirely appropriate insignia of the Montreal Canadiens hockey team on the top crust. Poirier, born and raised in Quebec, explained that it would be a special treat for guests at the restaurant that night, to celebrate the start of the Stanley Cup playoffs. Sadly I couldn’t stick around to give it a try but I was able to snap this photo. Another one that got away…

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