©2021

patates oignons

March 01, 2020

‘patates/oignons?’, she asked.

Of course she did, every time. It’s her job.

I never said ‘No!’

‘Mais oui!’, I reply…

‘Votre commande est: deux oeufs tournées, toast brun, bacon – oui?’

‘Oui’, I respond. ‘Mais pas des fruits. remplacez aves les tranches tomates s’Il vous plait.’

‘Parfait – pas de cretons?’

‘Non merçi – et plus de café, s’il vous plait.’

‘Immédiatement. Bon appetit.’

Most early mornings I would start my mornings with that exchange.

At the New System Bar-B-Q diner at 3419 ouest Notre Dame. A stone’s throw, kitty corner sortof, from the venerable Marché Atwater.

Those early mornings, in those days, were generally about 6:15, 6:30. It was a ritual. A very comforting ritual. Whether bitter icy wind cold and snow or the sun-up heat of summer. The routine never changed.

Mostly, neither did the other patrons you’d always find there. Hydro Québec crews, construction guys, a wide assortment of colleagues having their break/fast before another slogging hard day in their kind of work.

And, there’d be guys like me – loners, cradling a hot coffee – some reading Métro, many just staring blindly/blankly. Watching the cook as he rattled and banged along behind the open kitchen. It was, comforting, always.

Never did know if the cook was the owner or just simply, ‘le chef’. Didn’t matter. He was clearly a master of his domain. And the New System is the only restaurant I’ve ever been in in Québec that offered patates-iognons, as the standard staple. It may well have been that it was their own invention. So simple! A mixture of coarse potato mash with delectable caramelized onion strands throughout. It could be, and may have been for some, the only thing they had for breakfast.

Sadly, it is now gone. At least for the foreseeable future it is gone. Yes, New System Bar-B-Q has been a local fixture for decades and by the appearance, the décor, that is instantly obvious.

But their little yellow delivery cars have always been seen bopping about the Point, all around that whole area. They had distinguished themselves with a tasty delivery menu. Which is, still available today.

Except that, patates/oignons simply do not ‘travel’ well – nor do ‘les oueufs tournées. ‘

I know I’d never order it for home delivery.

And so, for now, until the sun again rises on a world that has returned to years past,

‘patates/oignons’, have gone the way of the dinosaur.

One simple additional loss in a landscape of things ‘missing in action.’

Perhaps, if when life returns to normal, following the forced closures of places and businesses like this, perhaps when the  scourge of the rampant virus has been vanquished, it will moved from the MIA column and be restored, rightfully, to the ‘Open for business, ready for action’ column.

I will return to New System one day – hopefully soon – and hopefully I will see that they have indeed survived. Which, as I walk through the old glass door to be welcomed by the distinct aromas and smells, will mean that I too – have survived.

©michael moore 2020