Over the 30-plus years since I moved to Vermont, I’ve made it to Montréal about two to three times annually. While those trips haven’t exclusively focused on food and drink, they have always involved eating. It still astounds me that a 90-minute drive can transport me to a French-speaking metropolis boasting a cornucopia of international food options, from Portuguese-style rôtisserie chicken to high-end sushi; neighborhoods with distinctive culinary personalities, such as Chinatown and Little Italy; and regional icons such as poutine, smoked meat and the city’s unique bagels (see “Open Sésame”). Every time I head across the border, I review my extensive list of Montréal dining possibilities, consider the needs of my travel companions, and eventually (and painfully) whittle it down to a few target destinations. On a recent reporting trip, which was exclusively focused on food and drink, I had about 30 waking hours budgeted for my culinary journey. Along with my photographer colleague Daria Bishop and our intrepid chauffeur and guide, native Montréaler Marie Comtois, I also had virtual travel companions: Seven Days readers, whose varied tastes and budgets I hoped to tantalize and accommodate, respectively. Whether over 30 years or 30 hours, the perennial challenge is how to narrow the list. There are a lot of restaurants in Montréal: 4,252 full-service establishments alone in 2022, according to the nonprofit Association Restauration Québec. On my recent gustatory mission, our band of three crisscrossed the city and managed to hit 16 spots, from humble neighborhood haunts to sophisticated dining destinations. In service to culinary research, I ate more bites of more dishes over a concentrated period than I have in my 20-plus years as a food writer. Regrettably, I could not also savor as many cocktail, wine or beer pairings or after-dinner nightcaps as I would have liked. (It’s hard to take good notes when tipsy.) Now that the bacchanalian blur has receded, a few taste memories float to the top: a glass of mandarin-carrot-ginger-lemon juice that tasted like fresh-pressed sunrise; a deceptively simple wedge of cold pizza with tomato sauce; crunchy, quarter-size fried crabs dunked in a subtly spicy housemade sriracha; a cloud of chicken liver mousse served with crisp radishes; and an impeccable almond and pistachio croissant. What Do You, My Family and Molly Benoit Want to Eat in Montréal? When I began planning my itinerary, my first question was: What kind of…