5 ways Montreal should be more like Philadelphia

These were harder than the reverse, I would say.

1) Ice is not a luxury item. It is infuriating watching Montreal bartenders and servers practically counting cubes individually for your drinks. Guys, get a nice big ice machine, eh?

2) As in most French-influenced cultures, a lot of restaurants and bars don't carry extensive selections of liquor; even Philadelphia dive bars have more. In Montreal, yes, they have Scotch - one kind. Gin? Beefeater. And Beefeater. And Beefeater (this was so at one of the fanciest places in the city). Montreal joints do have, delightfully, extensive selections of aperitifs, liqueurs, digestifs, fortified wine, and the like -- but liquor? Not so much. Four or five bottles of each major liquor would make Montreal bars and restaurants worlds better. This does not apply as much in Anglophone-area bars, btw.

3) Be polite in the Metro. Montrealers are pleasant, friendly people everywhere else, but I have never seen such rudeness and nastiness on a subway/Metro. New York is Courtesy Central compared to Montreal, and Philadelphia a paradise. I watched one man throw an old woman out of his way on the platform as he was getting OFF a train. Seats are not yielded to the elderly or disabled. People are shoved, slammed, and buffeted even when trains are not crowded. Surliness rules. Take the bus.

4) Get a chain of convenience stores such as Wawa that understands concepts such as "broom", "scrub" and "mop". Montreal brims over with "depanneurs", as they are called, but most are a mess and some are appallingly filthy. Wawa does clean very well, even if Philadelphia does not.

5) Make your train station special. Dowdy Central Station is pleasant enough, but feels like an Amtrak stop in a place like Fort Wayne or Omaha, not a cosmopolitan metropolis such as Montreal. Philadelphia's 30th Street Station makes a grand entrance to the city -- Montreal deserves one too.

Why I will never buy another bottle of white wine from the Pennsylvania state stores

I've had it.
In the last two months, I purchased four bottles of white wine that turned out to be oxidized and undrinkable.
One, a Macon-Villages, was from Fred's Avalon Liquors near my mother's house in Avalon, N.J. Fred's is a reliable shop with a good selection, if a bit pricey due to being on a resort  island. I have bought dozens of wines from them over the years and had one or two bad bottles. So, a corked Macon was upsetting, but it happens.
The other three  -  another Macon , a Vouvray and a Trimbach Riesling, all 2010 or later - all came from the Pennsylvania LCB operation, indeed from one store, the rather spiffy one on  Columbus Boulevard  in South Philadelphia. All were awful. All poured down the sink, along with about $60 of my money. My lovely homemade choucroute garnie had to be paired with an inappropriate wine rather than that Trimbach.
I suppose it's possible all three wines were bad from the time left the domaines in France, but I suspect  that's not so. All were from quality producers with long histories of success.
What I suspect is that the dunderheads of the LCB have no idea how to store white wine. Red wine can take a bit of a beating and still be OK, but not whites; temperature and proper storage are critical. Look at the 1994 Ampeau Meursault that I have been drinking that is heavenly -- stored properly in  Burgundy, in transit, in Moore  Brothers' store and in my wine cellar.
So no more whites at the State Store for me! No reason to gamble that much cash on potential garbage.

Restaurant report: Bella Cena

It's hard to write about a friend's restaurant, usually, because you hate to say anything critical or that may be ill-received.
But this is a good time to write up Giancarlo Frusone's long-running Italian joint on Spruce Street in Center City Philadelphia, for two reasons: 1) he needs the customers and 2) it's going very well right now.
The place was shuttered for months due to a fire in an adjacent restaurant, and judging from the three tables occupied at 8:30 p.m. on a  recent Thursday, the word has not gotten out that 'Carlo', as he's well-known in the community, has re-opened.
The issue at Bella Cena has never been the food. Carlo buys good ingredients and his kitchen staff is always superb. The issue has been service -- long delays in getting food, mixups, etc. However, with the place not busy, this is much less of an issue, and one gets the idea that maybe the service issue has been fixed, anyway.
And this is a good time to drop in because Carlo's colorful brother, Sandro, is manning the stoves and the man can flat-out cook, especially seafood. I had a scallop appetizer to die for, three big sea scallops cooked a point with sauteed veggies and a light wine sauce, and a terrific piece of rare-ish salmon topped with a tangy livornaise sauce. The menu is full of Italian favorites, more Roman and Northern than Southern, pasta - the gnocchi are always good - and some big meat dishes such as rack of lamb or ribeye steak for carnivores.  
Sandro's creative too -- a mixed-green salad topped with fresh mango and a mango-laces dressing was worlds better than it sounds. I could have eaten a double portion. 
Desserts are basic, but Sandro's tiramisu is light and airy and his "chocolate souffle" -- I would call it a molten-chocolate cake -- was sinfully rich yet appealingly not-too-sweet. Espresso was fine, though it hasn't always been.
The Bella Cena wine list is pretty much Italian with a few U.S. bottles thrown in, which I would avoid. He has plenty of high-end Piedmontese and Tuscan reds at fair prices, and some decent quality value wines too; I'd avoid the house wines, though. I had a luscious, lemony and long 2010 Castellari Bergaglio Gavi Fornaci Gavi del Comune di Tassarolo, perhaps my favorite Italian style of white, at $39 a bottle. Served a little too cold, but still a refreshing and tangy bottle.
Service was fine except when Sandro yelled at my server for offering me black pepper for a dish, that he, Sandro, deemed it unnecessary for -- "that dish need-a nothing" -- Sandro is, um, shall we say, a gent who knows what he likes. And the bread could be a lot better in a city filled with quality bakers.
There's a pleasant and well-stocked bar to enjoy port or brandy in afterwards.
Near the Kimmel Center, you won't do much better for value or quality. The mercurial Sandro may not be around for long, but don't miss his cooking. He's special. And, right now, so is Bella Cena. 

Bella Cena, 1506  Spruce Street, Philadelphia, (267) 858-4600. Reservations at opentable.com. Dinner nightly.