“Did you hear the Eagles just traded Cam Jurgens?!”

I doubt I was the only one to learn this hot bit of Eagles offensive line news over a cheesesteak. But I’m 100% certain I was the only one to hear this juicy development — moments after it was announced — while devouring a “Lemon Pookie Cheesesteak” from arguably the most obsessive Eagles fan in Montreal, Victor-Alex “Coach Vic” Petrenko. (“It’s spelled V-I-C, as in Vic Fangio!” he says, referencing the Eagles’ defensive coordinator.)

Petrenko is the co-owner and front-of-the-house dynamo of Pasta Pooks, a year-and-a-half-old restaurant in the Little Italy neighborhood of Montreal that has rightfully earned accolades for the exceptional hand-rolled pastas made by Vic’s best friend, chef and co-owner Luca “Pooks” Labelle Vinci. A few bites into a bowl of his sage butter-glazed ravioli stuffed with sausage, then a twirl of delicate taglietelle ribbons tangled with fragrant lamb ragù bianco, and I could understand why it ranked on multiple best new restaurant lists in Canada.

The pastas are obviously the local draw. But Pooks’ cheesesteak has also become a powerful point of interest for an enthusiastic niche audience. This is a Philadelphian’s friendly home away from home, as is clear from the soaring Eagle painted across its front window and the two Phillies P’s incorporated into the restaurant’s logo.

Petrenko’s lifelong obsession with the Eagles began as a kid while pretending to be Donovan McNabb throwing to Terrell Owens on ESPN’S NFL2K5 video game. An eventual visit to Lincoln Financial Field to watch the Eagles battle the Cowboys cemented his and Vinci’s love for the City of Brotherly Love.

“We really connected with the whole underdog mentality, and I felt close to heaven tailgating in that parking lot — we don’t tailgate in Canada,” Petrenko said. “We were like, ‘Wow, Philly is our soul city!’”

The decision to make their own cheesesteak began during the Eagles’ 2025 Super Bowl run, while the co-owners were hosting Pasta Pooks pop-ups at Petrenko’s Philly-centric sports bar, Double’s, and it has remained on the restaurant’s otherwise traditional Italian menu as a quirky casse-croûte (“snack”) outlier.

It is the latest in a long line of international cheesesteak tributes, most notably Nihonbashi in Tokyo, Passyunk Avenue in London, and Wiir Philadelphia in Seoul, not to mention a world tour of global cheesesteak variations already made in Philly itself.

Petrenko and Vinci’s goal was not to slavishly replicate every detail of their Philly favorites — Angelo’s and Del Rossi’s. That would be impossible, because ingredients like Cooper Sharp are hard to access and the significantly higher cost of Canadian beef makes it prohibitively expensive to serve the overstuffed portions that have become the Instagram-driven norm here. They also could not replicate our rolls, because the character of even the best bread is different in every city.

“We just wanted to honor the King of Sandwiches in the best way possible, with a fun name and cooked our way,” Petrenko said.

A touch of lemon pepper seasoning on the seared Canadian rib-eye is probably the most unconventional touch, although the citric tang is appropriately subtle. (“In Montreal, we love acidity in food,” he said.) The clever blend of mild Italian provolone and shredded processed cheddar cheese to mimic Cooper Sharp is effective, especially since it’s bumped up with heat from marinated peperoncini. It’s a satisfyingly zesty mouthful of beef and cheese laced with sweet caramelized onions.

Pasta Pooks sources a seeded roll from one of Montréal’s best bakeries, Automne, and its well-developed yeasty crumb is a bit breadier than my preference. (In Philly, the core of such a roll would be likely gutted to make way for more meaty stuffing.) Petrenko said the roll’s body has a double purpose, though. They typically serve the cheesesteak as a follow-up to their pasta course, so the sandwich can be used, scarpetta-style, to sop up leftover sauce, ideally from the rustic tomato-and-pepper pepperonata or anything with mushrooms.

In the end, given the cost of ingredients to produce this Quebecoise tribute to Philly, the restaurant makes no profit on the sandwich, which costs $25 in Canadian currency (just under $18 USD).

“It was never on our bucket list to become a tourist destination for Philadelphians, but we are always so happy when they come in and talk to us about the Eagles and their city,” Petrenko said. “We haven’t made a lot of money [making cheesesteaks], but we’ve made a lot of friends.”

Pasta Pooks, 6704 Rue Clark, Montreal, QC H2S 1P1, Canada; instagram.com/pasta.pooks