We have gathered quite the backlog of images and recipes that I have been meaning to post...Shall we start clearing it out?

Peach Yogurt Muffins
Several months ago, my better half discovered that she had a Zeller's and a Home Outfitter's gift card leftover from her participating in baking competitions at her former office. Checking for an expiry date, we discovered the cards can be combined and used at Zeller's, Home Outfitter's or the Bay.

As such, we headed off to pick up a new muffin pan from Home Outfitter's at the Centrum mall in Kanata. We ended up picking up a KitchenAid silicone muffin tray with a metal rack.

To test it, we made "breakfast muffins" using our tried, tested, and true recipe that was adapted from Alton Brown's yogurt muffin recipe. This time, however, we omitted blueberries and tossed in Balkan-style peach-flavoured yogurt with peach pieces.

The results were fantastic. Because the yogurt took on the peach flavor, the muffin tasted of peach throughout.

Muffins in a Brand New Silicone Muffin Tray

Peach Yogurt Breakfast Muffins

Chive and Cheddar Scones
For my 29th birthday (eons ago), my better half bought me baking lessons at Three Bakers and a Bike. There, the youngest of the three baking sisters who own and operate the bakery, Lule, taught us how to make a pie crust and apple pie, whole wheat bread, and cranberry and oatmeal tea scones. She also gave us written recipes, which we all marked up with invaluable tidbits from Lule. I have since made the scone many times, usually as Christmas potluck.

This past Christmas, Jenn and I spent some time modifying the recipe, which we are not at liberty to share, to employ butter, instead of margarine. Wondering if people could tell the difference, I brought two batches of individually wrapped and marked scones with me to work, one using margarine and one, butter. 8/10 of my colleagues preferred the butter scones.

Several weeks ago, with a bumper crop of chives in the balcony herb garden, we made a batch of savory scones for a friend to encourage her to stop smoking.

Cheddar and Chives Scones

We made another batch for my better half's dad for Father's Day.

Another Batch of Cheddar and Chives Scones
This time around, I sprinkled shredded cheddar cheese on top of several scones to create a crust.

Buttermilk Berry Cake
Speaking of Father's Day, here is a "just about perfected" buttermilk berry cake that I attempted for Jenn's mom's Father's Day Dinner (try saying that 3 times fast!).

At first, I followed Smitten Kitchen's Raspberry Buttermilk recipe to the letter, but found that, during the prescribed really quick cooking time at high heat (20-25 minutes at 400°F), not only did the berries cook, but they also sank into the cake.

Batter made and topped with strawberries

Sunken strawberries

To make matters worse, when the center strawberry sank, it also bled, leaving the center a gooey mess.

Gooey mess, ready to be binned

For the record, blueberries fare better, but they also bleed profusely.

Bleeding Blueberries
More than likely, the viscosity of the batter better supports the lower mass of the individual blueberries as the cake bakes.

After borrowing some innovation from Sippitysup's "Manly" Strawberry Cake recipe, picking up a new batch of locally grown strawberries (Savour Ottawa-certified Rochon Farms), and tinkering a little, we turned out the following cake.

Successful Strawberry Cake
Topped with icing sugar, it and a blueberry redo were very well received by Jenn's mom's Father's Day guests.

Topped with Icing Sugar

Sliced

One Serving

Leftover Halves

Recipe for the Berry Cake follows after the jump...

Today, the Real Estate Section of the Globe and Mail website is featuring an image slide show of a Toronto luxury loft in what the newspaper calls a "1919 Edwardian bakery" (306-183 Dovercourt Road).

This particular section of the recently revamped Globe and Mail website features slide shows of luxury properties. Here are pictures of the bakery loft's interior:

Kitchen
Source: Globe and Mail


Living Room and Stair to Loft
Source: Globe and Mail

Whilst wondering if the centrally located unit with extremely high ceilings still smelled like bakery, I googled the building's address to see what other information I could turn up. According to the Toronto Condominiums website, the 5 storey building is called the "Argyle", as Dovercourt Road is south of Dundas Street West at Argyle Street. It was built in 1873 and once housed a bread factory, not a bakery per se. It was formerly owned and operated by the Ideal Bread company. According to the Toronto's Historical Plaques website, the building was in-use as a bakery until 1957.

Ideal bread Company Factory Building
Source: Toronto's Historical Plaques

It was converted into 86 residential lofts, with 11 being 2-story penthouses with decks, in 2007. It was designated an Ontario Heritage Building a year later. Its architect was Montreal's Sydney Comber who designed the factory building in "Edwardian Classical" style. When it operated as a bread factory, bread wagons were loaded from the ground-level archways on Argyle Street. The factory clock even remains above the front entrance.

At the moment, a 1 bedroom, 1 washroom loft one floor below the one featured in the Globe and Mail (210-183 Dovercourt Road) is listed on My Toronto Condo for $276 500. Condo fees are $245/month.

I don't even want to know what the Globe and Mail featured unit would list for...

For those of you who don't know, Jenn and I organized a pre-Canada Day dinner at Atelier, inviting everyone to join us, be they foodies, gastronomes, gourmets, or simply adventurous eaters. In total, 9 people attended, including several local twitter personalities (@spoonsie and @epicuriadotca). Our intention was to support a local restaurant on a traditionally slow day of the week.

Our 12 course meal included an appetizer/amuse bouche, 8 savory courses, and 3 dessert courses. It culminated with what has become a signature dish for Atelier's pastry chef, Chef Michael Holland: the Elvis Truffle.

However, before we begin, let us start with the restaurant itself.

Unassuming Building
Located at 540 Rochester Street, Atelier is situated in an unassuming building with purposely aged iron grates and no signage. This is for two reasons. Firstly, the word "atelier" is French for "workshop" so the building resembles one outwardly. Like other avant garde restaurants, such as Chicago's Alinea, Atelier's food speaks for itself. Secondly, when the restaurant opened, signage simply wasn't a priority. When time permits, Chef/Owner Marc Lepine has said he will look into something subdued.

Here is Atelier's utilitarian kitchen with its compliment of ubiquitous equipment to make highly imaginative dishes, which are best described as "avant garde."

Left to right: Chefs Allen, Holland, and Lepine
It is amazing to think that approximately 552 dishes (12 course x 23 seats x 2 days) are produced in this small space during Friday and Saturday service alone. It is a very efficient space.

Atelier's dining room is elegant with its simplicity. Its walls and ceiling sport shades of white. Its tables, a dark stain. Its chairs, white leather upholstery.

Dining Room

Local Art
The chairs were specifically chosen to allow patrons to sit comfortably through Atelier's 12 course tasting menu. A meal can easily last 3 hours.

I feel the intention is to take nothing away from the meal, whose individual courses are meant to be experiences for the senses. As such, the wall decorations, furniture, and colours chosen are meant to be neutral. They mimic a canvas. They also encourage patrons to dispense with any formalities, speak to each other, and enjoy themselves. Regarding the wall decorations, all of the paintings come from a local Canadian artist, Chef Lepine's (then 3 year old) daughter.

For a little history, Atelier's Chef de Cuisine, Sarah Allen, directed me to a thread on the E-Gullet forum that includes pictures of what the restaurant looked like before. With permission, here are before pics.

Formerly Chaba Thai

Kitchen before renovations
The transformation is striking: repaired masonry, painted brick, gutted and entirely re-built kitchen.

Now, on with the food!
As we were seated, we were presented with Sour Cream and Onion Bread with Flaked Butter and the Wine List.

Sour Cream and Onion Bread with Flaked Butter

Wine List
The sour cream and onion bread is a dish that Chef Holland discussed on twitter (@pastryoverlord) several months ago, even asking his followers what "flavour" he should try next. Before, he baked up loaves of barbecue bread, which Chef Allen (@sarah_j_allen) assured me was delicious, even attracting local wildlife to the restaurant's garbage bin. To make the barbecue bread, Chef Holland replaces all of the liquid from a regular bread recipe with barbecue sauce. I have absolutely no idea how he makes his sour cream and onion bread.

Nevertheless, with its baguette-style texture, oven freshness, and "from my childhood" flavour, I was grateful just to eat it.

Sour Cream and Onion Bread Texture
The bread was served warm and perfectly sliced. The warmth actually just softened the butter flakes enough to allow them to be spread smoothly onto the slices. My dear friend Yannick, who writes the Endorphin Buzz blog and who joined me for dinner, told me the butter was actually sprayed onto the serving tray. This attention to detail (spreadable non-softened butter) and creative take on a traditional restaurant element (table bread), demonstrated the innovative whimsy of the dishes to come.

Regarding the wine list, I should point out that Atelier has two sommeliers on staff. The first is Steve Robinson, who presided over our meal. The second is Chef Lepine (@marclepine). Besides being a celebrated chef, he carries sommelier credentials and trained at Ottawa's Algonquin College.

For an additional $55, Atelier includes a wine pairing to go with its 12 course meal. The wines chosen represent a veritable multi-continent tour, with a partial preference towards Canadian wineries. While members of the other table opted for the pairing, I chose not to. I was however assured by those who did that the pairings were well chosen.

First Course: Pretzel Pop

Pretzel Pop
When our host explained what went into this first course, I immediately thought "creamsicle." The "pop" portion was attached to an authentic rolled-paper lollipop stick. It consisted of a Dijon mustard cream that was frozen on an "anti-griddle", dipped in honey, and then covered with crushed salted pretzels.

Cross Section
An anti-griddle is the opposite of a regular griddle, rapidly cooling foods instead of heating. It gave the cream an ice-cream texture.

The dish's flavour pairing is classic (Bavarian pretzels with hot mustard), just completely revisioned: slightly sweetened, with contrasting textures, and cold. It was great. Even my better half, who dislikes dijon, enjoyed this appetizer/amuse bouche.

Second Course: Halibut Cheek

Halibut Cheek
This fish course served a portion of fish that is extremely prized in Asian cultures. Cooked sous-vide for several minutes with star anise, it sat atop Jerusalem artichoke puree and was accompanied with asparagus heads, pieces of crumbled bacon, and drops of olive paste (finely ground tapenade).

Overall the dish was good. Its flavours worked well with one another and everything was expertly plated. For unfamiliar patrons, this would have been an excellent fish course. However, since my better half and I grew up eating this portion of fish, we found it slightly overdone. While it was by NO means harsh, we are just used to this portion being softer and much more succulent. Interestingly, before dinner started, my table even discussed a Chinese meal of fish heads.

Aside: It was after the second course that we started seeing subtle differences in the service between Atelier and other restaurants.

• Our hosts were extremely knowledgeable about the dishes, demonstrating an understanding about them, not just reciting facts. With the sheer number of different dishes and constantly changing menus (sometimes weekly), we assumed they must be food enthusiasts. Else, Atelier employs two of the best front of house staff in the city.
• The cutlery changed with each course, ensuring no leftover flavours or textures.
• While each course came promptly after the previous, the ladies of our party were served theirs first, a courtesy that other restaurants seem to have lost.

Suffice it to say, despite the number of courses, we were tended to very well.

Third Course: Lobster

Atlantic Lobster
The third course was a wonderful multitude of textures and flavours. Butter poached Atlantic lobster came serve atop truffle oil pancakes. It was topped with a very thin slice of black truffle and a chardonnay foam. It was accompanied with cinnamon mushrooms, a dehydrated leek ring, a piece of chive, and two sauces: watercress mayonnaise and egg yolk.

This course made up for the previous one. The lobster was perfectly cooked and the earthy truffle and mushroom flavours, a wonderful compliment. The onion, raw chive, and watercress provided a nice green and onion contrast, all carried well by the rich egg yolk and mayonnaise. My perfect bite: lobster, with several bubbles of foam, a sliver of truffle and pancake, a bit of chive, a scant touch of mayonnaise, and some egg yolk. Yum!

Fourth and fifth courses follow after the jump...

Yesterday night Jenn and I, and 7 other guests, headed over to what is shaping up to be Ottawa's trending foodie destination, Atelier. There, we sat for 12 courses of what promised to be a true culinary adventure. It was.

Ottawa Citizen's own restaurant critic Anne Debrisay calls it a "brilliantly creative place." The Citizen's food editor, Ron Eade, writes that Atelier practices "kitchen alchemy." The National Post's Amy Rosen writes that Atelier practices culinary chemistry. Pure Canada writes that "Atelier gives old-school ingredients new-school treatment." Its dishes have even been featured on Wired.com.

Atelier has also been referred to as Ottawa's Alinea. Alinea is an award winning Chicago restaurant that serves what its Chef/Owner Grant Achatz calls "progressive American" cuisine. He openly denounces the jargon "molecular gastronomy" because he believes his is not food born of science. While he happens to use equipment that is more familiar to laboratories, similarities end with the shared toolset. In fact, the word "alinea" has etymological roots in alchemy, not chemistry. Similarly, Atelier has been said to serve "progressive Canadian" cuisine. There are no gas lines in Atelier's tiny kitchen. There are no banks of convection ovens. There are no gas burners. In their place are sous vide setups (powered by immersion circulators), hot plates, and canisters of liquid nitrogen. Its chefs, Marc Lepine (Executive Chef/Owner), Sarah Allen (Chef de Cuisine), and Michael Holland (Pastry Chef), would prefer their practiced cuisine be referred to as "avant garde." It is frontier cuisine that represents a natural progression from what has come before, evolutionary not revolutionary.

Indeed, chefs in the restaurant industry have started adopting "avant garde" cooking techniques in their professional kitchens. Cooking food, vacuum-sealed in plastic, sous vide ensures that juices are not lost to the cooking liquid and temperatures are carefully controlled. Using liquid nitrogen to make ice cream permits chefs to use otherwise unheard of flavours and ordinarily impossible ingredients. The ice cream is also "frozen" so quickly that large ice crystals cannot form. As such, the mouth feel of the resultant ice cream is impossibly smooth. To many, the equipment and techniques originally popularized by master chefs Ferran Adria and Heston Blumenthal each represent today's "blender." They are becoming mainstream. Some may become indispensable.

Atelier's kitchen also accomplishes something that other professional kitchens do not, versatility. With mostly ubiquitous equipment, its chefs can maximize their minimal workspace, enabling them to put together a large breadth of possible dishes. Equipment can simply be put away and others taken out, almost in a modular way. Such becomes necessary to produce the 12 innovative tasting courses that make up Atelier's ever changing menu.

Before my guests and I sat for dinner, Jenn and I stopped by Atelier to interview its chefs.

Left to right: Chefs Allen, Holland, and Lepine
We asked the following questions:

1. Why did you choose to open Atelier? Why did you join Atelier?
2. Why do you choose to make avant-garde dishes?
3. Do you play music in the kitchen? If so, what genre and what do you think your choice in music says about you?
4. Which chef do you consider your inspiration?
5. What is your favourite ingredient to use and why?
6. Where do you get your inspiration for your dishes?
7. What dishes have you yet to attempt, but want to serve at Atelier?
8. If you could choose 1 person to cook for you tomorrow evening, who would it be and why?
9. What do you hope to contribute to Ottawa's restaurant scene?

Here is what we gathered:
Why did you choose to open Atelier? Why did you join Atelier?
Regarding why Chef Lepine opened Atelier, he saw it as the next step in his restaurant career. "It was time." To work out the logistics of dispensing with the traditional "a la carte" menu in his new endeavor, he even spent some time in the kitchen of Chef Achatz's Alinea. There, patrons can be served tasting menus with as many as 24 courses.

Chef Allen had worked with Chef Lepine before, including at the Courtyard Restaurant in the Byward Market. She wanted to work nowhere else. Atelier simply offered her the opportunity to be part of something new and exciting in Ottawa's restaurant scene.

Chef Holland is new to Ottawa, coming from Fredericton. When he arrived, he applied to several places in Ottawa and chose Atelier again because it was something "different."

Why do you choose to make avant-garde dishes?
When asked this question the chefs responded that they actually didn't set out to. However, to distinguish themselves from other restaurants, they chose techniques and developed dishes that set themselves apart from more pedestrian entrees like "rack of lamb" or "salmon."

All three agreed that the "time was right" in terms of new technology and Ottawa's openness to Atelier's new format and "evolved" dishes.

Further, with a dining room that only seats a maximum of 23 patrons, they are able to make more intricate dishes that would be impossible at larger establishments. The patron:chef ratio at Atelier is approximately 7:1.

Do you play music in the kitchen? If so, what genre and what do you think your choice in music says about you?
The chefs actually play no music in the kitchen during prep. Nor do they play music during service. There are two reasons. Firstly, during service, the chefs need to concentrate their attentions on the dishes to be served. Secondly, with a kitchen that has essentially the same floor space as its tiny dining room, playing music in the kitchen would disturb patrons.

Chef Allen "We work to the sounds of the blenders"

Besides, with maximized counter space, room for a sound system was sacrificed.

In some ways, I believe the lack of music actually allows the chefs, who work extremely well together, to be more innovative. When Jenn and I observed them working, they worked in close proximity of one another, but never impeded each other. It seemed to be an extremely pleasant and constructive work environment.

Which chef do you consider your inspiration?
Chef Lepine: Without pause, he answered, "Chef Grant Achatz"

Chef Allen: Chef Alice Waters, whose real love of food (stand-alone flavours and colours) and simplicity inspires her.

Chef Holland: While he did mention Chef Wylie Dufresne from WD-50 as a chef he admires, he does not feel that he is inspired by another pastry chef. His inspiration comes from random things.

What is your favourite ingredient to use and why?
Apparently, this is a difficult question to answer for innovative chefs, whose dishes employ many ingredients and different techniques than other restaurants. After some discussion, Chef Lepine acknowledged the ingredients he grows himself, both in his home's and Atelier's gardens.

Chef Allen "bacon...the whole pig..."

Chef Allen likes to work with just about anything pork, including jowl. She is also fond of vanilla. Chef Holland particularly enjoys using condiments in his desserts.

Where do you get your inspiration for your dishes?
Ever since Atelier opened with its distinctive dishes and singular restaurant format, this question has been asked of Atelier's chefs many times. So it was with practiced precision that Chef Lepine answered, random happenings, conversation, and brainstorming. Chef Allen, novel ideas and concepts. Once she finds an ingredient, she tries to pair it with flavours and develops a dish. Chef Holland, names of desserts and seasonal ingredients.

What dishes have you yet to attempt, but want to serve at Atelier?
Answering this question may give away upcoming menus, so I clarified the question by asking them for more loose concepts than dishes. Currently, the chefs are working with lots of concepts. One includes spheres of flavourful liquids such as soups that patrons break into with their cutlery. Another, floating food.

If you could choose 1 person to cook for you tomorrow evening, who would it be and why?
Chef Lepine smiled warmly and answered, "Sarah." While the restaurant serves hundreds of dishes every weekend, he actually hasn't had the pleasure of sitting for an entire meal prepared by Chef Allen. Yes, the chefs take turns preparing "staff meals", but the food served differs greatly from what is presented to patrons.

Chef Holland "Can you choose yourself?"

Both Chefs Allen and Holland chose their respective fiances. Chef Allen's is especially adept in making breakfast. She also briefly considered Chef Thomas Keller of the French Laundry as he is retiring.

What do you hope to contribute to Ottawa's restaurant scene?
Like Alinea, Atelier's chefs hope to offer Ottawans and visitors to the city an exciting dining experience. They want to permit patrons to see, taste, smell, and touch sights, flavours, scents, and textures that represent what can be done with food. Their dishes are meant to be experiences for all the senses.

Doing so, there is an underlying philosophy that taste is paramount. While technology can permit them to accomplish many things like replicating life-like oyster shells, if it does not contribute to the dish taste-wise, the particular technique is abandoned. This is one of the reasons that the edible oyster shell concept resulted in a dish that lacks some visual cues from mother nature. It does not compromise taste or texture.

At the end of the interview, Jenn and I took with us that, eating at Atelier, may actually restore the "experience" component that seems lacking in dining out these days. I have actually been lectured by a chef (not one of the ones from Atelier) that dining at home tends to involve "one-note" dishes. Dining at a restaurant should involve a "symphony" of textures and flavours. By this token, Atelier's dishes are pieces and its 12 course tasting menu, an evening with one of the finest orchestras.

Credit: Please note that the idea for this interview comes from two tweeps I follow on Twitter, Jessica (@nooschi) and Emily Chen (@mchenwears). Both have come up with great lists of short interview questions to "get to know" people. @nooschi also interviewed Atelier's chefs when she went there with Ron Eade's Omnivore Ottawa's supper club a month ago.

Particulars:
Atelier Restaurant
540 Rochester Street
(613)321-3537

This year, from June 1 to June 15, Amnesty International organized the "Taste for Justice" fundraiser to support its work to stop violence against women. Many participants hosted Taste for Justice events or "dined in", by registering online, planing an event, ordering a "Host Kit", inviting guests, distributing donation forms, and directing all proceeds to Amnesty International. Others "dined out" at number of participating restaurants in several Canadian cities.

In Ottawa, 20 restaurants participated as "Taste for Justice Friends." One, Infusion Bistro (825 Bank Street), a "Partner for Freedom." Taste for Justice Friends donate a portion of proceeds from June 1-15. Partners for Freedom restaurants donate a minimum of $750 and actively promote Amnesty campaigns year-round. Chef Matthew Carmichael's e18hteen (18 York Street) donated a percentage of sales from its seasonal strawberry shortcake.

In the Wellington West neighbourhood, we had three participating restaurants: Agave Grill (1331 Wellington Street), Caffé Mio (1379 Wellington Street), and Thyme & Again Catering (1255 Wellington Street).

While I'm told that Agave Grill makes a stunning mojito and is owned by the former owner of Feleena's Mexican Restaurant (Comida Mexicana) in the Glebe (corner of Bank (742) and Third), Jenn and I decided to support Amnesty International by finally giving Thyme & Again a try. After all, we've passed by the caterer/eatery hundreds of times during our 5 years, living in Wellington West.

Thyme & Again
According to its website, Thyme & Again caters events of various sizes, from dinner parties to weddings, and operates a popular brick and mortar retail space, called its "food shop." They also supply the dishes served at the nearby Great Canadian Theater Company's (GCTC) in-house restaurant, mostly food that the establishment can heat up or serve cold.

Regarding their food shop, it is stocked with frozen dinner ideas from game-meat stuffed pasta, vegetable stir fries, soups, desserts, breakfast scones, and even tourtiere. Their "eat-in" options include various pastries (both miniature and full-size tarts), cookies, chocolates (mostly in-house made truffles), soups, pot pies, and sandwiches. They also serve entrees that change from month to month. Everything is listed on their website.

Me, I love sandwiches, so we went to Thyme & Again for a light dinner after work. Unfortunately, we were served sandwiches that were wrapped in plastic and chilled for several hours. We surmise this is because the majority of the store's "sandwich" business comes from its lunch service. Because workers from surrounding office buildings, including from the large government campus called Tunney's Pasture, pile into the establishment during lunch time, sandwiches may be made en-mass in the morning. Such leaves whatever remainder after the lunch rush for the afternoon and evening.

Originally, I wanted a calabrese sandwich: capicolla ham, soprasetta, orovolone cheese, red onion, and spicy eggplant finished with a lemon herb mayonnaise. They were all out. Instead, I had the "Green Thai Curry Roast Beef with Lemon Grass Aioli and Smoked Gouda." Jenn, the dilled Egg Salad: egg salad with fresh dill and chives.

Green Curry Roast Beef ($5.25)
My roast beef sandwich was less than impressive. The roast beef tasted bland and had a refrigerated texture. The seeded kaiser had succumbed to the cold, hardening and tasting somewhat stale. The smoked gouda added some sharpness. The featured "green curry and lemon grass" flavours came from the aioli, which was unevenly spread throughout the sandwich. As such, some bites carried faint flavours. Others, much more.


Dilled Egg Salad ($5.25)
Jenn was equally unimpressed with hers. Her egg salad had only fleeting dill flavours, which is normally a powerful herb. She tasted no chives. Her kaiser was equally hard and stale. In fact, she had difficulty eating her sandwich as the egg salad kept spurting out the opposite end. She also found it somewhat too salty for her linking.

At $11.87 after taxes, but before tip, I was glad a portion was going to charity. Else, this would have been a rather expensive "cafeteria"-style sandwich.

Here is Thyme & Again's card:

Front

Back

In fact, I was so non-plussed that the next day, I moved up my visit to a Portuguese bakery and sandwich shop near my workplace, so I could remind myself what a made to order sandwich tastes like.

Estoril
Located in Gatineau (89 rue Eddy), Boulangerie Estoril is family owned and run. It supplies ethnic Portugese products along with more French-style freshly baked bread. Its signage is tattered and well worn. There are domestic chest freezers in the middle of the retail space. Its eating area only has a handful of tables. However, it serves deli-sliced made-to-order sandwiches, something I readily appreciated after my experience with Thyme and Again. It's owners, an older couple that speak mostly Portuguese and French, are also warm and friendly.

And yes, Estoril is located nearby two large government complexes Place du Portage and Terrasses de la Chaudière, furthering the comparison with Thyme & Again.

For a measly $3.95 (before tip or taxes), I was able to pickup their "Portuguese Special": deli-sliced Portuguese sausage (whose Paprika flavours have me thinking it was linguiça); Portuguese cheese; all, on a freshly baked roll with mayonnaise and yellow mustard.

Lunch

Portuguese Special

Linguiça?
It was delicious, every flavour playing well with one another: savory, spice, sharp, and bright. Best of all, the textures met my expectations for an ethnic sandwich shop: fresh bread, slicer thin meat, and a generous amount of cheese. None, cold!

For dessert ($1 more), I picked up a Portuguese egg tart, which differs greatly from the Chinese variety that is served at dim sum.

Egg Tart
Served chilled, the egg tart's custard was dense and sweet, tasting of vanilla and slight hints of caramel. Its pastry was light and flaky.

If you work in walking distance of Estoril, I urge you to drop by.

It seems the only redeeming quality of our visit to Thyme & Again is our discovering a cache of Pascale's ice cream.

Pascale's Ice Cream
Thyme & Again sells Pascale's ice cream a dollar more ($10.95) than she does at the Piggy Market. This is good information for those evenings when we have surprise guests and we need to make an ice cream run.

Nevertheless, with its reputation, I promise to try Thyme & Again again, perhaps when I find them supporting another charity campaign.

Particulars:
Thyme & Again Creative Catering and Take Home Food Shop
1255 Wellington Street
(613)722-6277

Boulangerie Estoril
89 rue Eddy
Gatineau
(819)775-5002

As a resident of Wellington West, I am very proud of our stretch of West-End Ottawa's epicurean row. And, I do my best to support the local businesses in the neighbourhood. Thus, I look forward to the Wellington West's Business Improvement Association's (BIA) "Taste of..." event every year. 2009 will be its third annual. However, spring has almost completely sprung without any sign of the event.

A quick look at the BIA's calendar of events explains why. The event has been rescheduled for the fall (September 26, 2009), making it an Autumn event instead of a Spring one. Such isn't a bad idea since the event has been a May occurrence during the past two years. Seasonal ingredients such as locally farmed fruits or vegetables must have been somewhat difficult to come by. Moving the event to the fall means that local restaurants and the Parkdale Market can exploit the glut of Autumn produce.

Cool! So long as the powers that be haven't canceled the event! I'll have to check back with the Wellington West BIA's website more often...

Sometime after yesterday's workday ended, I noticed that the twitter account belonging to the former CJOH, Ottawa's local branch of CTV, was asking for suggestions for cheap places to eat in town.

ctvottawa Jun 16, 12:57 PM
CTV Ottawa is looking for cheap places to eat. We'll share our findings tonight at 6. Share your tips now!

ctvottawa Jun 16, 02:52 PM
Now, you can recommend your top choices for cheap eats to other viewers on our website... www.ctvottawa.ca. We'll have a full report at 6.

I quickly cobbled together an e-mail and submitted a handful of mine, including establishment names, addresses, what to buy, and links to the corresponding blog post on foodiePrints.

Several hours later, I discovered the e-mail had been posted verbatim to the CTVOttawa website. Here's a screen capture for posterity:

foodiePrint on CTV
Today, I was sent a note of thanks for my suggestions.

ctvottawa Jun 17, 10:37 AM
@foodiePrints Yes! Thank you for your suggestions!

Personally, I think it's pretty cool to have links to foodiePrints on one of the city's news station's websites.

Hopefully, CTVOttawa will get more suggestions. I have another. Sushi Umi on Wellington Street has started serving a $10 lunch special that runs from 11:00 am until 3:00 pm. It isn't restricted to weekdays either as my better half and I discovered on Sunday.

The special changes from week to week. Here is the one we caught:

Lunch Special Signage
Consisting of 6 classic California roll pieces, galbi, salad with sesame dressing, 2 gyozas (fried dumplings), and a small mound of rice, the special is a great value.

Here's what it looks like served:

Lunch Special

Galbi
The galbi, also known to be spelled kalbi, is actually the name of a traditional Korean barbecue dish, consisting of one short rib whose meat is sliced into a long ribbon. When ordering it in a Japanese restaurant, the dish consists of cross cut short ribs that are glazed with a teriyaki sauce on a flat top or grill. Having had both, I can tell you they are markedly different, but both, enjoyable dishes.

What I was served was a bento box, containing freshly steamed Japanese rice (soft and sticky), a fresh salad with a great sesame citrus dressing, two freshly fried pork gyozas (more than likely made in-house), 6 beautifully made classic California rolls (sprinkled with black sesame seeds), and a pile of short ribs. Everything was delicious. I especially enjoyed the substitution of dark sesame seeds over light with my Cali rolls. They looked great and tasted just slightly of caramel.

That said, the lunch special is very filling.

Since Jenn generally dislikes maki or nigiri sushi, she ordered something off the menu: a fried udon noodle dish.

Fried Udon Dish
It came out beautifully. The chicken was wonderfully cooked, tender and sweetly sauced. The vegetables, crunchy, but not raw. The noodles, not very oily. The shrimp, tender and tasty. She thoroughly enjoyed her meal.

Along with her dish, she also ordered a tempura appetizer

Tempura
I found it greasy, but otherwise crispy and well done. It consisted of 2 shrimp, one onion ring, one piece of zucchini, and 4 slices of sweet potato.

Since Jenn insisted on buying, I have no idea how much her noodle dish or appetizer cost.

Mine: $10 before taxes or tip.

I should note that during our meal, one of the cooks from the Ottawa Bagel Shop, next door, dropped by for a "special" to go. He seemed like a regular, greeting the chef/owner warmly. Perhaps the special is a good deal to someone working in the culinary industry as well.

Update: Here's a pic of Sushi Umi's sidewalk sandwich board, advertising an earlier week's $10 lunch at Sushi Umi

Another $10 Lunch Special

Particulars
Sushi Umi
1311 Wellington Street W.
(613)724-2488

Before we begin, I must apologize upfront for the quality of some of the pictures from this year's WestFest. It was a busy weekend. Most of the pics were snapped as Jenn and I moved from station to station or during our breaks. This year, we signed up to volunteer at the festival. I took on 3 shifts (1 on Friday and 2 on Saturday), donating a total of 18 hours. She, 2 shifts (both on Saturday), donating a total of 12.

My Volunteer Gear Minus My WestFest T-Shirt
Astoundingly, we met an 80 year old couple who signed up for 5 shifts, volunteering for all three days. I for one didn't have the stamina to put in 30 hours, back-to-back. Kudos to them!

For those who don't know, WestFest is an outdoor street festival that showcases Canadian musical, visual art, dance, spoken word, and performance art talent, mostly local.

2009 was its sixth annual and, since the weather co-operated so well, perhaps its most popular ever.

Popular Street Party
It is also free and open to anyone and everyone to attend. To keep it free, organizers rely on sponsors and volunteers.

Volunteers, mostly people from the surrounding Westboro, Wellington West, and Hintoburg neighbourhoods, spent the majority of their time posted around the WestFest main stage (Richmond and Golden Ave.). There, volunteer coordinator Rory Keenan kept us well organized. He assigned us to shifts at volunteer "central", the audience area (as floaters), the public washroom/water stations, the backstage gates, or the barricades. This year, Rory also assigned volunteers to supplement security staff at the road-side barricades that prevented cars from driving down Richmond.

Why barricades? During WestFest, many businesses setup extended patios that spill onto the street and there are several community stages erected at various intersections.

Road Barricade at Churchill

Extended Patios

Some businesses even stay open well into the night to serve WestFest-goers.

Truffle Treasures at 9:00 pm

Among my assigned tasks, I was posted to several barricades and gates. I was also sent to do various odds and ends, including unloading drums from a performance and liquor in the VIP area behind the main stage. Along with the other Friday volunteers, I also participated in a performance that involved passing around newspaper-wrapped packages with balloons attached to them, all to a classical waltz.

Ballooned Package

More Ballooned Packages
The performance was intended to distribute glow-sticks to the audience before that evening's headliner, Danny Michel, took the stage. It was somewhat successful.

Though our shifts were long and tiring, we enjoyed them. We were even lucky enough to be stationed near the main stage during several of the performances.

Danny Michel from Friday Night

Lynne Hanson from Saturday Night
My favourite had to be Ottawa-grown Danny Michel whose maritime sound was honed at the Manx on Elgin. He even opened his set, saying that he grew up in a local bar, which drew cheers from the crowd. And yes, I was at one of the backstage gates Saturday evening. Not knowing it at the time, I stopped several of Prairie Oyster's crew, asking them for identification to be in the VIP area. Apparently, I even spoke to their red-headed lead singer, Russell deCarle.

All that said, volunteers definitely weren't starved during our long shifts. We were given meal tickets worth $6 at any of the concessions around the main stage area.

Meal Ticket

During my Friday shift, I ate Jamaican Patties from the Carribean Flavors concession.

Carribean Flavors' Signage

Coke and 2 patties

Beef

Chicken
Think freshly made corn pastry surrounding finely ground meat fillings that were carefully seasoned and spiced. Both smacked of all spice and something bright, perhaps tomato...

After the Friday performances, as WestFest was shutting down, I spoke with Andrew Law, whose legendary hot dog stand is usually located at the corner of Bank and Wellington during weekday lunch hours.

Familiar Downtown Sight at Westfest, Sunnydays' Hot Dogs
Accordingly, he spent the last two years in China, running a restaurant with his wife. They have since returned to Ottawa with a 17 month old baby. According to the Apartment613 blog, Faithful locals are grateful he has taken up operating Sunnydays again. To many, he serves one of the best hot dogs in town.

On Saturday, I spent one shift's meal ticket finding out why. I also met Law's wife who was helping out at the stand. Both are wonderful people.

Andrew Law
It's true. He serves one fine hot dog.

One Fine Hot Dog
First off, his are freshly baked rolls, not the tawdry white bread hot dog buns from the local mega-mart. When I was a third grader, I actually discovered that hot dog buns from Loblaws were engineered to resist molding. Try as I could, I couldn't get it to mold for my science project.

Great All-Beef Frank
Secondly, Law's all beef franks give the "snap" as you bite into them that New Yorkers and Chicago-ans celebrate. They are also well seasoned and slightly spiced. Law cooks them up perfectly, letting them take on a smokiness. Yum!

Condiments Galore
Thirdly, I challenge Ottawa to find a hot dog stand that offers more quality or quantity condiments. While I recently found out that the best dog you can purchase from Law is topped with his signature grilled vegetables, I opted for salsa and hot peppers. It was great! I'll try the grilled vegetables next time.

BTW, Sunnydays and Law will be at the Hope Volleyball event in coming weeks.

More concession food follow after the jump...