My Midweek Obsession: Á La Carte Express

My Midweek Obsession: Á La Carte Express

Á La Carte Express

Happy Wednesday, Urban Housewives! Hope you guys are all surviving the midweek slump and have your sights firmly set on Friday – I know I do! The weather outside is pretty yucky, and I have to admit my spirits are too! But so it goes. April showers bring May…showers, or at least this week they do. Here’s hoping the flowers don’t get washed away in the rain!

On this particularly wet Wednesday I’m here to talk about a new concept I’ve recently fallen in love with. I was on the phone with a  girlfriend of mine the other day who lives in Montréal. Now I was envious enough already at her French Canadian surroundings and European style city, but she was telling me about a new service she’d recently tried. It’s called Á La Carte Express, and I’m officially in love. The basic premise of the service is that it aggregates the menus, business hours, etc., of various restaurants in Montréal (those who elect to participate, presumably,) and then provides a deliver service to one’s home! If you want delivery Montréal now, well, delivers!

I adore this whole idea. Do we have anything like this is Brooklyn? Ok, I’m sure we do, and I’ll definitely be confirming one of these days. But to my friends in Canada, take note! What a great way to bring the restaurant experience home. I know that sometimes it’s nice to get out of the house and have a lovely meal out, but that’s not always very realistic. Restaurants can be crowned, noisy, booked and slow. And parking can present a variety of problems. But by being able to peruse the menu of your favorite restaurant at your leisure and then order at will, you completely remove all these annoyances. This is especially cool to me if you’re stuck at work and want a nicer meal than what you would’ve packed yourself at home. Lunch box delivery Montréal has finally arrived. Voila! Tres chic, mon amis, tres chic.

The whole Á La Carte Express thing brought to mind a situation I found myself in other day that happens fairly frequently. My husband is a doll, and I’m no stranger to romantic surprises or gestures on his part. I like to return the favor, and my husband is nothing if not cliche when it comes to the old adage that the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach. But he works. And I work. And we have an apartment to clean, and bills to pay, and volunteer commitments, and errands to run. Did I mention we both work? So more often than not, my aspirations of getting home early to surprise him with a big home cooked meal turn into run of the mill pizza or depressing Chinese food night.

But not if I could order delivery from one of his favorite restaurants! (This isn’t a sexist, woman stays at home and cooks thing either, by the way. My husband does the lion’s share of the cooking in our house, and you won’t hear me complaining about that.) But a restaurant delivery service like my friend’s in Montréal allows me to put my expert knowledge of my hubby’s favorite foods to good use and said food on the table before he gets home. Not to mention he could always do the same for me on a day when I work later than he does!

So just wanted to share this little gem with you guys, in hopes that our neighbors to le north will be able to put it to good use. Now it’s back to work, and then errands, and then the gym, and then dinner…aghh!