Montreal's PoutineFest goes beyond traditional cheese curds and gravy

Preparing to take part in Montreal's first PoutineFest a new foodfestival that kicks off todayhas meant little sleep and lots of shopping for Grome Paquette, chef at L'Gros Luxe restaurant.

He has bought 1,200 kilograms of french fries, 400 kilograms of cheese and prepared 600 litres of their gravy, which is vegetarian.

Still, he's hoping he won't run out of ingredients this weekend at the Old Port and he keeps thinking about the competition.

"It's not going to be easy for us to compete against lobster [poutine]and foie gras poutine,but I think we got something really cool," he said.

Sixteen poutine vendors will be set up at the Jacques-CartierPier from 11 a.m.to 11 p.m., starting today and runningthrough Sunday.

The minimum price for a regular poutine is $8, and theprice rises depending on the toppings involved.

Most PoutineFest vendors are food trucks from the Montreal and Ottawa areas. L'Gros Luxe is one of the few restaurant chains participating, with four locations in the Montreal area but no food truck.

That means setting up a tent, having a refrigerated truck on site and trying to stock enough ingredients for recipes the restaurant doesn't normally serve.

Paquette seems most excited about his Philly steak poutine: carmelized onions and steak in a bun, topped with fries, cheese and gravy.

"I think it'sgonna be a big big big seller," he said.

A Montreal food truck business, Le Smoking BBQ, organized PoutineFest after taking part in similar festivals and winning prizes for its poutine in Drummondville and Ottawa.

"I didn't even know Ottawa was doing poutine, I didn't know they had trucks doing poutine and in fact they do good poutine, great poutine," said Gregory Hubert, co-owner of Le Smoking BBQ.

Hubert decided Montreal needed PoutineFest and invited Ottawa vendors to come compete with Montreal's poutine pros.

Range of choices

Great Canadian Poutinerie from Ottawa makes poutine topped with "bacon, beef and mushrooms drenched in maple syrup," according to the PoutineFest website.

Bar Brutus from Montreal makes a "Jgerpoutine", seasoned with German Jgermeister herb liqueur and topped with bacon.

Grilled cheese poutine, double cheeseburger poutine, lobster poutine are also among the many choices at PoutineFest.

When L'Gros Luxe restaurant owner Alex Bastide heard about the event, he contacted organizers immediately.

"Poutinefest sounds pretty awesome...for us it was like, we must be there," Bastide said.

That enthusiasm from the boss may be why L'Gros Luxe's chef is working so hard on so many recipes:

• the Philly steak poutine
• Carnival poutine (topped with nacho chips, corn, black beans, roasted red pepper)
• Thai poutine (topped with bean sprouts, fresh basil, peanuts, Sriracha sauce)
• Traditionalpoutine, made with tater tots

PoutineFest organizers say the public will vote for a winner online.

But Bastide says this weekend is not about winning or losing, it's about enjoying summer in Montreal, meeting customers and making business contacts.

"It's kind of a convention for us, it's all about networking and meeting and greeting," he said.