Every spring, I like to get away to Toronto to re-charge my batteries. For me, it’s a mini-vacation away from the daily routine and from work. It’s a chance for me to catch up with my girlfriends, do some shopping and, of course, eat! There’s nothing like coming home relaxed with a suitcase full of new clothes and a satisfied stomach. Although my piggy bank might not necessarily agree… Because I travel during spring break, my friends are usually at work during the day, so I am left to my own devices. During this year’s... | Continue reading article
When was the last time you gave lunch a second thought? Seriously, the midday meal most of us take for granted, hastily packing whatever isn’t nailed down in the fridge or scrounging up a couple bills and change to spend at the office cafeteria. No, Saturday or Sunday brunch with three egg omelets, bacon, sausage, and biscuits doesn’t count. But, our reverence for weekend brunch underscores how much we neglect weekday lunch. Usually, navigating the guidelines issued by schools about what not to pack in the kids’ lunch boxes is the upper limit of our... | Continue reading article
Last week we urged you to make reservations at pubs and restaurants, participating in this year’s A Taste For Life fundraiser. In total, there are almost 50 dining destinations, including one caterer (dinner-to-go), signed on. Each will welcome patrons, host volunteers, and donate 25% of sales to causes that support and house persons diagnosed with HIV/AIDS. Proprieter Dave Loan announced ZenKitchen (634 Somerset Street W.) will even serve a special cocktail, a “Frozen Pineapple Daquiri,” $2 from the sale of each going to his restaurant’s donation. Eight hours ago, organizers of A Taste for Life... | Continue reading article
Index: Atelier, Odile During the Easter weekend, we submitted our regional “ballot” to Vacay.ca for its second annual Top 50 Restaurants in Canada List. Needless to say, our suggestions for great food, ignoring service and decor, were somewhat specific to the National Capital Region, Ottawa and Gatineau. We considered the entire gambit of options from fast food to higher end fine dining, even food trucks. Coming to a consensus on the list, scoring the restaurants, and justifying our top 5 choices proved more difficult that we expected. When Vacay.ca asked us to be be part... | Continue reading article
To everyone lamenting the slow approach of warmer weather in the Ottawa region, we would like to point to the receding ice and almost completely dissolved snow banks. We would like to point to the grass that is beginning to green. We would like to point out the windchill augmented subzero temperatures are limited to the morning commute. Spring has arrived. Last year’s early onset warm weather was an anomaly. It also wreaked havoc with fruit crops, causing trees to bud and bloom early. When more seasonal temperatures returned, blooms were destroyed by frost. Winemakers... | Continue reading article
Two years ago, veteran restauranteur George Monsour opened Back Lane Cafe (1087 Wellington Street W.). Newly returned from France, he had a vision for serving “back-to-origins” cuisine. It runs somewhat counter to Paris’ present “Young Cuisine” movement, which is seeing young culinary disciplinarians put aside centuries of tradition in classical French food. Essentially, they looked to new world restaurants for inspiration: smaller plates that change daily to accommodate the best local meat and produce at the market; dishes that feature artisanal ingredients fashioned in-house; and entirely blind tasting menus. Think accessible food, flexible meals, and... | Continue reading article
Index: Stone Soup Food Works, Relish Food Truck, Bite This, Trailer Pork Boys, The Flat Bread Pizza Company This past Friday, the City of Ottawa released the list of successful candidates from its “New Street Food Vending Program.” Of the sixty-one applicants, eighteen were given the green light to move ahead with novel food trucks and carts this coming May. The licenses issued entitle the selected food truck and cart operators to fixed physical presence on public streets. Previously, streets were restricted to vendors of hamburgers, hot dogs, sausages (sometimes pogos), and fries (including poutine).... | Continue reading article
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