Within an hour of landing in Montreal, I’d made it to Au Pied de Cochon, where the Friday night crowd was still buzzing and the mood was merry. As midnight approached, I ordered a bottle of red and the tourtière, a Québécois meat pie traditionally eaten around the holidays. The tourtière, which appears on the menu in December, arrived piled high with a raw-milk Laracam cheese wheel, offal and arugula. As the fromage melted, seared chunks of foie gras, bacon and potato tumbled down. I caught them with my fingers and popped the rich morsels in my mouth.

“There’s no limits,” said the chef, Michael Picard Labelle, whose uncle Martin Picard opened the popular brasserie in 2001. “We love to reinvent classic dishes, to add more flavors. And the tourtière is a good example.”

Still, I didn’t come close to finishing the pie. This was no reflection on the service — impeccable — or its taste: ground and shredded pork subtly spiced with cinnamon and nutmeg enveloped in a buttery shell and balanced with the acidity of the dressed greens. It was because I was stuffed. The next day, I was still thinking about the tourtière and how I just wanted to crawl into it and hibernate for the rest of winter.

Instead, I headed to Mount Royal Park, where visitors can go ice skating, snow tubing and cross-country skiing. The trails were slick with ice from a recent snowfall. Yet, as I carefully walked up the city’s namesake mountain, I noticed a number of joggers and even cyclists. But as much as I admired the Montrealers’ insouciance, I was most impressed by what awaited at the summit: a historic chalet with a grand fireplace and its stunning view of downtown. Plus, no crowds.