This spring, excited for the upcoming annual Chicken and Ribfest on Sparks, I tweeted my anticipation for the event, hoping to find time in my schedule to take part. In response, Ron Eade, food editor for the Ottawa Citizen, decided to "bust my bubble", expressing his rather negative sentiments on the event. They follow:

RonEade Jun 17, 07:51 AM
@foodiePrints Hate to burst bubble, but the rib fest is just a traveling show to sell ribs. Chicken done in ovens, only finished on grill.

RonEade Jun 17, 07:52 AM
Make that, a travelling show to sell overpriced ribs.

DivaQBBQ Jun 17, 08:00 AM
@RonEade re: about rib fests that the www.beachribfest.com is being done BY REAL BBQ'ers B @BusterRhinosBBQ will be one of them my FAVORITES

RonEade Jun 17, 08:14 AM
@DivaQBBQ I'm sure the beachfest is real; the BBQ carpetbaggers who visit Ott. each year are hucksters selling to folks who do not know.

RonEade Jun 17, 08:16 AM
@DivaQBBQ Heck, the carpetbaggers don't even rip membranes off ribs (and consumers don't realize the difference). Then, off to next town ...

DivaQBBQ Jun 17, 09:16 AM
@RonEade you are right! Never heard them referred to as carpetbaggers before.

Then, he promptly unfollowed me.

Despite Eade's warning I decided to head down to Sparks' Chicken and Ribfest nevertheless, inviting another Ottawa tweep, @spoonsie, to join me for lunch.

Since it was St. Jean Babtiste (June 24, 2009), I had the day off and went down before meeting up with my invitee. There, I took pics of the the vendors just before opening, paying particular attention to field ovens, grills, and smokers.

Boss Hog's:

Signage

Eat Sleep and Grill

Grill Pit w/Wood

Texas Rangers:

Signage

Pre-Cooked Chicken

Smoker?

Grill Pit w/Wood

Ribs Royale BBQ Team:

Signage

Metro Trophy w/Lump Charcoal

Chicken in a Smoker

Pre-Cooked Chicken

Uncle Sam's Barbecue:

Signage

Grill Pit

Camp 31:

Signage

Grill Pit

Texas Style:

Signage

Grill Pit

Billy Bones:

Signage

Grill

Chicken in a Smoker?

Gator BBQ:

Singage and Grill Pit

Bibb's BBQ

Singage

Grill Pit

Trophies and Hickory

In the end, I came across many vendors with pre-cooked chicken as described by Eade and his forthcoming blog on the subject.

And, my serving of chicken, ribs, and pulled pork, included pre-cooked chicken that was indeed sauced and finished on the grill. My ribs also had its silver skin attached.

Uncle Sam's Vegetarian Nightmare

Rib with Silver-skin-Attached
For $8.50, while the pulled pork and ribs were tender, flavorful and smokey, I found the chicken extremely harsh and dry.

My take: Despite the authenticity issue, this event establishes a sense of community among downtown workers. Office, construction, and shop workers alike came out by the hundreds to take part. In turn, many nearby businesses geared up to promote the event and encouraged increased traffic along Sparks Street. Some restaurants opened their patios to event-goers to sit down and eat their chicken and ribs in return for buying a "Chicken and Ribfest" drink special. Another Sparks Street eatery, Toss It Up, encouraged everyone to pick up salad to go with their barbecue. Good Life fitness even canvassed the busy area, handing out pamphlets for discounted memberships to those of us indulging ourselves.

As for why the Chicken and Ribfest serves pre-cooked chicken, it may have something to do with properly smoked or grilled chicken developing a smoke ring. The smoke ring is pink and patrons may think the meat undercooked.

Me, I know better and, despite my making allowances for it, I found the chicken so dissatisfying that I ended up walking to So Go Asian restaurant on Bank Street for deep fried chicken wings afterward. While the wings are equally not authentic when it comes to the "fried chicken" tradition (butter milk marinated, paprika flavoured rub, or slivered onions frying in the oil for flavour), they were satisfying. And, at $5 for 8 pieces, they were a welcome fill-in for the chicken I could not finish after a bite.

Breaded Wing from SO-GO

Particulars:
So Go Asian Restaurant
258 Bank Street
(613)321.3933

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. 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.

More after the jump...

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...

Update: The Taste of Wellington seems definitely a go and more eateries are involved this year!

Maps to Taste of Wellington
Join us for a foodie crawl!

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

More after the jump...

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 after the jump...

Eight months ago, I finished foodiePrints' piece on poutine and sent it into the blogosphere. Is it definitive? Far from it, but it combines just about everything I could gather together on the subject as of Fall 2008. Odds are it will be a living document. Already, some Quebec foodies have pointed out to me that some regions of the province feel that authentic poutine is served with a sauce brun. Elsewhere, it's a white sauce. I'll be looking into clarifying this in the near future.

That said, Ottawa sure has a lot of tweeps twittering away. Just take a look at Ottawa.meme.ca's growing list. Also, take a peek at Ottawa Start. Our fair city of a little over 874 thousand people (1.15 million if you count the entire metropolitan area) has dozens of "notable tweeps" and many more online.

So, yesterday evening (June 10, 2009), I put up a query with a hashtag (#bestpoutineinottawa) to local tweeps:

foodiePrints Jun 10, 11:37 PM
Ottawa tweeps, @pfqrst has put in her 2 cents for best poutine in town: corner of bank & maclaren. What say you? #bestpoutineinottawa

Fast Food Grocery
Pam's (@pfqrst) is the Fast Food Grocery at the corner of Bank and Maclaren. Its OttawaPlus.ca profile has an added comment referring to poutine. It received honorary mentions in Ottawa Xpress' 2006 and 2007 "Best of Ottawa" lists for poutine. It's often referred to as "the poutine place across from Barrymore's."

Speaking of the Ottawa Xpress' "Best of Ottawa" lists, under the poutine category, the Elgin Streeet Diner (374 Elgin) has taken the top prize for the past 4 years (2005, 2006, 2007, and 2008). Other honorable mentions include Sasha's (next to Dominion Tavern, 33 York), The Works (all locations), and The Chip Wagon (corner of Bank and Sunnyside).

Elgin Street Diner
An endorsement for Elgin Street Diner comes from @PaulLomax

PaulLomax Jun 11, 05:07 PM
@foodiePrints Elgin St Diner, even...

A second, from @jessrawk

jessrawk Jun 11, 05:37 PM
@foodiePrints I'll definitely second the Elgin Street Diner!

Glen's
Here's my 2 cents. I feel poutine is amazing street food and some of the best comes from snack trucks. When asked, I am known to refer to the "truckiness" quality of the poutine experience. My fav is Glen's on Richmond.

foodiePrints Jun 10, 11:55 PM
One my fav places for poutine in Ottawa is Glen's on Richmond Road:http://bit.ly/hHsAr #bestpoutineinottawa

Archie's Bunker Restaurant
Jessica's (@wangmo) fav is Archie's in Gloucester (1162 Cyrville):

wangmo Jun 11, 06:03 AM
@foodiePrints @pfqrst It has to be Archie's off of Cyrville? #bestpoutineinottawa

Unnamed at the corner of Cooper and Bank
@ChromeSushi's fav "truck poutine" is a truck at the corner of Cooper and Bank

ChromeSushi Jun 11, 08:51 AM
@foodiePrints If we're playing that game my favourite 'truck poutine' is the yellow truck at Cooper & Bank #bestpoutineinottawa

Jp's/Eric's (aka: Crispy Fries)
One of @momomoto's fav's is Jp's/Eric's

momomoto Jun 11, 09:33 PM
My vote for #bestpoutineinottawa depends on how far out we can go. If Alfred counts as in Ottawa, Kennebec. If it doesn't, then JP's/Eric's.

According to OttawaFoodies and Eric Monmart (presumably THE Eric), there are now two locations run by "JP's crew", one at the corner of Merivale and Hunt Club (Canadian Tire) and another at Clyde and Baseline (Value Village).

Unfortunately, I don't think the township of Alfred, Ontario counts as part of Ottawa. I could be wrong. However, I'll be sure to check out Kennebec Restaurant on 472 St-Philippe Street the next time I swing by that locale.

I will keep adding to this list any and all tweets for however long the hashtag survives.

For inspiration, click on the Hockey Forum Boards, hfboards.com. There, the Ottawa Senators' sub forum has an older thread on the subject of "Best Poutine in Ottawa/Gatineau."

It's always good to know of a decent place for poutine when you're in the neighbourhood. Besides, I want to know of a place I can hit up for poutine when all the trucks have gone home.

After catching a Sunday afternoon matinee movie one weekend, none other than Star Trek, Jenn and I decided to hoof it down to Bank Street to catch a bus home. We needed to work off the popcorn and I promised several tweeps that I would visit Grace Ottawa that day. Having completed our chores we literally meandered our way through downtown Ottawa.

Site of the new Ottawa Congress Center
Because I don't spend as much time downtown as I used to, I was caught off guard when I saw the carnage that once was the Ottawa Congress Center. According to its website, a new and improved Ottawa Congress Center will open April 2011. First, the old one must be razed to the ground...



Progress as of May 31, 2009

Sparks Street Mall
At Sparks Street (repeat: meandering), we came across a reputedly healthy food purveyor, newly serving the downtown core, Toss it Up.

Wall Signage

Window Signage

Takeout or Delivery
According to its website, Toss it Up is the "Capital of fresh in the Capital", serving salads, soups, tortilla wraps, frozen yogurt, fresh coffee, and other "nutritious foods on the run."

Perhaps the best testament to this being a good eatery is its positive review on the Lord of the Wings blog. His lordship (JB) is Ottawa's foremost expert on wings and he hosts the best wing classification system I have ever come across. Regarding Toss it Up, he writes:

Over all, this was a great little lunch joint. They also do breakfast, but not supper...If you work down town, this is a great alternative for lunch to the deep fried and less healthy alternatives from the carts...It may not be chicken wings, but you'll live longer off of this grub

If Toss it Up can earn kudos from a wing expert and amateur barbecuer, I'm sold. I promise to visit soon.

Conversely, I'm not sure what to think of all-fruit maki sushi from the Sushi Shop. Having seen these things advertised on the sides of STO busses on the Quebec side, I had thought they were a regional specialty of Gatineau. Clearly, they're not.

All fruit maki sushi
It will take much convincing for me to try anything from a sushi shop that stuffs orange segments into a maki roll.

Grace Ottawa
Finally, Jenn and I made it to Grace Ottawa. There, we found a very neat ethnic grocery that sells a large variety of ethnic food products, including some fresh produce, a multitude of dried spices, bottled drinks, shelves of prepared sauces, a variety of oils, and frozen foods.

Following a tip from another tweep, I wandered upstairs to the "Hair Center." Tucked away in a corner, next to wigs, is a small collection of ethnic cookware and a pair of large stone mortars and pestles. Expecting a large assortment of lava rock tools, I was somewhat disappointed. Later, I was told that, at one time, the entire floor was dedicated to ethnic cookware. No more...

We also found no spruce tip beer, which is also reputedly sold at Grace Ottawa. Happily, as the sandwich board outside the store reads, the store still sells Jamaican patties, warm at $2.50/each.

Jamaican Pattie

Filling
Encased in a thick corn pastry, the filling was piping hot. It consisted of very finely ground meat, a spicey sauce, and a smattering of finely chopped greens.

The aforementioned sandwich board also brags that Grace Ottawa sells the "Best" Jamaican patties. With no kitchen that I could discern on site, I was skeptical. Then, when my better half purchased a Jamaican pattie for me, I noticed an empty cardboard box on the warmer. It matched that of frozen Jamaican patties in Grace Ottawa's frozen section. The patties are actually made in a factory in Markham, Ontario. Frozen, they sell for $7.99/12.

Even so, I would like to argue that there is still something to be said about being able to walk out of a store with a steaming hot Jamaican pattie on a serviette.

Also to be had in the frozen food section were goat meat, stew beef, and, as mentioned by people on Ottawa Foodies, black pomfret.

I love ethnic markets and am happy to know one exists in the downtown core. It will no doubt come in handy someday.

Particulars:
Toss It Up
208 Sparks Street
(613)216-2845

Grace Ottawa
219 Bank Street
(613)567-7730

It was a dark and stormy night...Alright, it was just an overcast Sunday morning in Ottawa when Jenn and I walked into the Courtyard Restaurant (21 George Street) in the Byward Market. There, we chose to dine on the patio, hoping the sky would clear. After helping a waitress connect two tables and re-arrange chairs, the rest of our newly formed brunch club arrived. Six in all, we were eager to sit down to brunch at a restaurant whose chef (Michael Hay) often bragged served the best in Ottawa.

Having followed Chef Hay (@michaelthehay) on Twitter for the past several weeks and seeing him plate up some delicious twitpic'ed dishes, I promised my friends a good meal.

Unfortunately, Chef Hay was not in the main kitchen that morning and what we were served did not meet expectations. Only 2 of us enjoyed our meals. Four now refuse to return. One is willing to risk dinner at the restaurant. I am disappointed and have requested other club members choose our next Sunday brunch destination for the next little while.

I should note, before we dive into our dishes, we saw only one other party walk into the restaurant during our stay. We were the only patrons on the patio. However, things were far from quiet. The restaurant was in the midst of preparing for an event. We watched what may have been two florists walk in. We saw a portable dance floor unpacked by a loading area and wheeled inside. A quick peek at the monitor in the lobby explained why. The Courtyard was hosting a wedding reception, a large one by the looks of it.

Even so, service at the Courtyard was not lacking. Both friendly and attentive, our two waitresses were organized, knowledgeable, and quick to provide assistance. Save for not producing enough appetizer pastries (freshly baked croissants, muffins, and chocolate pastries) for a table of 6, for which I'm not sure they were responsible, service was exemplary.

To begin, brunch at the Courtyard Restaurant is a multi-course affair, one that the menu suspiciously suggests start with an alcoholic beverage, bloody caesar, bloody mary, or a glass of wine, all extra! The brunch itself includes juice: cranberry, apple, orange, grapefruit, pineapple, tomato or a combination thereof. I ordered coffee. Later, I joined my friends at the other end of the table with a glass of half cranberry/half orange.

glass of half cranberry/half orange juice
Freshly squeezed and chilled, my glass of juice was refreshing.

Along with drinks came appetizer pastries and a shot glass of house-made berry preserves. At first, one basket of pastries, containing a pair of croissants, a chocolate pastry, and one really small bran muffin, was placed on our table. Thinking we were being rationed pastries, we split most of them, each enjoying half of something.

Half a Chocolate Pastry
When only crumbs remained, another basket was placed on the table. Clearly, two were intended for a group our size.

The pastries themselves were crowd pleasers, freshly baked, crisp, and delicious. Though, in search of a washroom when I arrived, I walked by dual ovens in the lobby, spotting a half sheet pan of freshly formed and egg-washed croissants being baked. Why we weren't served at least enough croissants for the table was puzzling. In hindsight, this was a portent of what was to come...

Next, main courses. Two of us, myself included, ordered Eggs Benedict. Jenn, the blueberry pancakes. My friend's fiance, the crepes. He, the tuna melt. And, my other friend ordered an interpretation of the classic steak and eggs.

Eggs Benedict ($22)
The plates of Eggs Benedict our table was served were identical. Here is mine:

Eggs Benedict
As described in the menu, the dish consisted of poached eggs, hollandaise, and ham. Accompanying it, a potato apple hash and a side salad.

Overcooked Poached Egg
Unfortunately, the left poached egg was overcooked. The other, properly done, soft and runny. Contrary to the menu, the slice of ham did not look grilled. Moreover, the muffin halves had burnt edges as if they were tossed onto a griddle a little longer than they needed to toast.

Since both plates were identical (both left eggs overdone), I surmise that the eggs were poached in pairs. Finding two overcooked, the cooks seem to have knowingly plated one on each plate. On the bright side, the salad was very fresh and the apple and potato hash, novel (sort of a dry Asian potato salad). My better half actually ate most of mine.

Pancakes ($20)
Why? Well, to allow me to save face because I promised a good meal, she quietly choked down her pancakes with 6 cups of water. As she would tell me later, the only part of the brunch she enjoyed was the hash she picked at off my plate.

Blueberry Library Paste Pancakes
As per the menu, the stack of pancakes were served with fresh fruit, including one rather bruised strawberry. And, it was garnished with a pat of maple butter. Unfortunately, only the bottom pancake, the sole thin one, was truly edible. The others were a gooey mess.

The batter must have been so overloaded with previously frozen and thawed blueberries that the starch structures could not form when it was cooked. While the surface developed a skin and browned, the berries inside bled, causing the texture of the thicker pancakes to resemble library paste. My friend who ordered the steak found the pancakes disgusting.

Steak and Egg ($25)
He faired much better.

Steak and Egg
His dish consisted of a 4 oz grilled angus sirloin steak, a "sunny egg", and Bearnase sauce. It was accompanied by a grilled tomato, crispy fried potato, and an apple hash. Accordingly, the steak was quite good. The rest, less than stellar.

While he flatly refuses to return to the Courtyard for brunch, he is willing to try its dinner menu and only steak dishes at that.

Tuna Melt ($19)
The tuna melt illicited no complaints.

Tuna Melt
According to the menu, it is made with a sweet gherkin mayonnaise and topped with aged cheddar. From my view, the dish seemed constructed on a hunk of Art Is In bread with the top sliced off and a mound of tuna salad layered on top. It reminded me of a Russian kubliaka, which is a puff pastry dish that substitutes salmon and pastry for the tuna and bread, but shares much of the other flavours.

Crepes ($21)
Unfortunately, I have no picture of the crepes, but I am told they were good.

To end, with six of us and 3 desserts to choose from, we ordered two of each.

Of the two who ordered the the chocolate pate, one was somewhat put off by its salted caramel garnish, but he enjoyed his dessert. The other, a chocoholic, cleaned his plate.

Chocolate Pate with Peanut Butter Ice Cream

Of the two who ordered the lemon tart with the pine nut crust, one was happy with it.

Lemon Tart
Me, I was critical the sheer number of cracks in the tart. What filled the pine nut crust was a lemon custard. Given its cool mouth feel and darkened skin on top, it was a chilled custard. To crack as it did, either someone was less than careful with the pie spatula (unlikely because the crust was intact) or we were served a day-old tart. As for taste, I judiciously rationed my strawberry sauce, eating a little with each bite. Else, it would have been simply too lemony, even for me. Ordinarily, I love lemon desserts.

Of the two who ordered the seasonal fruit with frozen yogurt, one had had enough. He gave his away. Jenn pushed her plate in front of me, half eaten, and asked me to try the frozen yogurt.

Fresh Fruit with Frozen Yogurt
It was very icy and tasted very little of yogurt. It also melted quickly.

Total cost of one pancakes and one Eggs Benedict brunch: $47.46 (after taxes, before tip)

Were it not for the company of friends and my better half, this brunch would have been a rightful disaster. Three days later, I am still riddled with guilt over subjecting people to this pricey meal.

Determination: Domestic North American - Sunday Brunch: $$$$, ---*1/2 (because the service was good)

Update: For a look at what non-library paste blueberry pancakes should resemble, head over to another Ottawa food blogger's site, RachelleEatsFood. Yesterday, Rachelle posted up both pics and a recipe for some great looking blueberry pancakes she had for dinner to top off a birthday weekend. Happy Birthday Rachelle!

Regarding poached eggs, I recently asked Chef Jonas Luster (@wildhunt) how to make them consistently. He graciously posted tips on his blog for not only how to poach eggs, but also to how fry them up over easy. The blog post is the first in a series of planned "Ask the Sous (Chef)" posts to raise funds for the Riley Center for Battered Women in San Francisco. For every culinary-related request he entertains, a donation will be made to the center. Some generous tweeps are even offering to match donations in their requests.

Particulars:
The Courtyard Restaurant
21 George Street
(613)241-1516

An avid Ottawa foodie, I am always on the look-out for special hidden-away establishments only locals know about. I am also a fan of "hole-in-the-wall"-type restaurants where chefs or cooks are "just in it" for the food. I am a believer that a good eatery should have substance. Flashy signage, expensive furniture, crystal stemware, floor to wall displays of vintage wines, and leather-bound menus do not always make a good restaurant in my books. I wanted to believe I found such an establishment in Chez Lucien, which is located at 137 Murray Street on the "other side" of the Dalhousie Street in the Byward Market.

You see, Dalhousie marks the demarcation along Murry between a string of high-end restaurants (Murray Street, Navarra, and the Sweetgrass Aboriginal Bistro), a high-end bakery (French Bakery), and the beginning of a somewhat residential area. Nestled amongst the town houses and bungalows is an unsuspecting wood-encased alcove with a small sign, quietly marking the bar and grill that is reputedly one of Ottawa's best places to kick back with a micro-brew.

Chez Lucien's Front Door

I originally found Chez Lucien while navigating the Flickr stream belonging to one of the members (handle: LexnGer) of Cheap Eats Ottawa, the organization that publishes a book, listing frugal eats in our fair city. When I saw the following burger and fries, I called up friends to meet there that night.

Cheap Eats' Chez Lucien Burger
Pictured is the signature Chez Lucien Burger, which is topped with crisped bacon, cream cheese, and sauteed mushrooms. I was a sucker for the perfectly charred patty and pile of golden shoe string fries.

Then...
That Friday night (9:00 pm-ish), over a year ago now (April 18, 2008), an old university friend named Kris, his then girlfriend (now wife), my better half, and I arrived to find a packed and bustling 3 floor pub. Asking if we needed to be seated, a very harried male waiter pointed to the lowest level, basement floor, where several booths were located adjacent to the kitchen. Wanting a peek at the heart of the eatery, I happily descended with everyone in tow.

View from our booth

Twenty minutes later, we managed to convince a waitress we were a new table. Twenty minutes after that, she returned with menus and drinks. We ordered and waited another twenty minutes for our food. From entry to exit, our stay was easily an hour and a half.

Chez Lucien is a rather handsome establishment with lots of wood wall finishings, a brass detailed bar, hardwood floors, and well-worn wood stained furniture. There is even a jukebox facing the bar, filled with CD's.

Handsome Bar
The alcove itself houses 4-6 tables and is very bright during the day, owing to its large windows. The main floor has the bar. The upper floor is a loft with rows of tables.

According to its Ottawa Xpress's 2004 review, the kitchen serves some upper end pub food. By any other definition, this makes it a gastro-pub.

Menu
Four years later, the menu seemed identical with the restaurant still specialized in "gourmet burgers."

My friends and I ordered burgers: 3 Chez Lucien Burgers and a "Frida and Diego."

Chez Lucien Burger Platter
The Frida and Diego ($9) comes with the same patty as the Chez Lucien ($9), but it is topped with pickled jalepenos, Monterey jack, and "fried" (translated: sauteed) onions

Our burgers were served with cold and soggy shoestring fries, a fresh salad, and some bottled Caesar dressing on the side.

Overdone Chez Lucien Burger Dissassembled
The Chez Lucien burgers sported patties, which were leathery white inside and charred on the outside. The Frida and Diego's was raw in the center and leathery on the outside. It had to be sent back, but returned equally leathery throughout...All were haphazardly assembled.

Condiments
To add insult to injury, our "do-it-all" waitress told us we had to share one set of condiments as they had run out of containers, and potentially condiments.

You see, in spite of its popularity, this restaurant is about as badly organized as a restaurant can be. Too few "do-it-all" waiters rush about, serving everything from drinks to food, oftentimes crashing into one another during their frequent runs to and from the kitchen. They pour drinks at the bar. They fetch what seems like a limited set of menus, moving them from table to table. They settle bills. They clear the tables they serve. They answer phones. They seat new patrons. I wasn't even sure if the restaurant is broken up into sections for waiters to preside over.

It is no wonder people tell me going to Chez Lucien feels like being treated like mud in a Parisian restaurant. Good service there means you feel ignored.

To make matters worse, the kitchen has absolutely no idea what is going on on the floor, so, when the place is packed, they just sear up burger patty after burger patty, unsure how many they need to make. I saw one batch forgotten on the griddle and binned. I saw another stacked one atop the other next to the grill so the cooks could grab burgers for the incoming order. Unfortunately, juice was visibly squeezed out in the process.

Cost of 2 Chez Lucien Burgers then: $20.34 (after taxes, before tip). Our "do-it-all" waitress was named Michelle.

More after the jump...

Sunday afternoon, my better half and I took our guests to the Piggy Market in Westboro to visit Dave Neil and Pascale Berthiaume. Apparently, we arrived two hours before closing. Pascale had just returned from the Landesdowne Farmers' Market. Both she and Dave was visibly worn, but happy to answer all of our friends' many questions. Suffice it to say, Abby and Mlle Ling were curious about just about everything in the self professed "fine food delicatessen with a focus on artisanal pork products, and locally produced foods."

Bread and Smoked Duck Breasts
In the end, we picked up a loaf of oat and cranberry Art Is In bread and a pair of smoked duck breasts. Originally, I promised Mlle Ling duck confit, but Dave was all out. He offered me some frozen ones, but I substituted smoke duck breasts instead.

Abby Carefully Slicing the Art Is In Bread

Pair of Smoked Duck Breast

Sliced, served chilled
Mlle Ling's boyfriend Thomas picked up a tub of Pascale's Hazelnut and Chocolate ice cream for dessert.

Dave also graciously invited me back to see a batch of in-house hot smoked pork belly bacon. Were I not just in the market for appetizers for that evening's dinner, I think I would have walked away with an entire side. It looked and smelled incredible.

Total cost of duck breast and bread: $32.25 (and worth every penny!)

When I tweeted what I planned to serve as an appetizer (thinly sliced smoked duck breast on artisanal bread), Epicuria's Chef Tracey Black mentioned that smoked duck breast goes very well with fruit chutney. Yes, Chef! I then walked up to my fridge and demanded ingredients. My fridge coughed up a pair of mangoes, so I made mango chutney.

Mango Chutney
With limited ingredients and time, I settled on FoodTV's Anna Olson's recipe with slight omissions. The modified recipe follows:

Recipe

Ingredients

Diced Onions

Baking Chutney

Done
Things you'll need:

• 2 cups diced mango - I know, mass would be better. Still, 2 regular large mangoes produce 2 cups of diced flesh
• 1/2 cup diced onion
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar
• 3 tbsp rice wine vinegar
• 1 tbsp finely grated fresh ginger
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• zest of 1 orange
• white granulated sugar to sprinkle

Prep:

1. Disassemble the mango, onion, and ginger
2. Pre-heat an oven to 375°F

Method:

1. Combine all ingredients in a non-stick pan and simmer on medium to medium-low heat until the onions are tender and the liquid reduces to a syrup
2. Spoon the mixture into heat proof ceramic containers. I used oval gratin dishes
3. Sprinkle with sugar
4. Bake for 20 minutes

The latter oven baking is meant to create a sugar syrup on top of the chutney. Had I a butane torch, I would have brullé'd the top.

Since there was no time to cool the chutney or allow it to mature its flavours, I chose to add some caramel sweetness and serve it warm. My intention was to pair savory and smokey with spicy and bright. The pairing worked.

Served

Playful Plating
Think duck breast. dry cured with spices. hot smoked. sliced thin, served chilled. Accompanying it, on slices of expertly worked bread, was something sweet, bright, and spicy.

Stew
Here is the additional entree I was asked to make: slow cooked beef stew (4 hours), using beef rib meat.

Beef Stew
Regarding the sauce, it came from blening the onions I stewed the beef with, forced them through a strainer, and using the resultant puree to thicken leftover braising liquid. Major flavourings: light soy sauce, fish sauce, and black pepper.

Bacon Waffles
For breakfast the next Monday, I snuck out of the condo early in the morning to barbecue a typical supermarket-sized package of bacon.

Barbecued Bacon

Bacon Mountain
When I came back, I whipped up a batch of cookingnook.com's waffle batter: 1 1/2 cups milk, 2 egg yolks, 1/4 cup sugar, 2 cups plain flour, and 1/2 tsp baking powder via the muffin method; thinned with 2 oz melted butter and 2 tbsp cold water; and lightened with firm peaked egg whites. While the mixture was hydrating, I ran the crisped and cooled bacon through a food processor and added the fine crumbs to the batter.

Batter

Then, my better half ran the batter through our waffle maker. Result: bacon waffles, which tasted really good with pancake syrup.

Waffle maker

Waffles

Texture
Think light waffles, crisp, and loaded with savory bacon bits.

Lunch in the Byward Market follows after the jump...

More after the jump...

Victoria Day this year was definitely a foodies' weekend. foodiePrints' friends Mademoiselle Ling and Abby, came to visit. Both hailing from Toronto, they traveled to Ottawa to experience this year's Tulip festival, play a couple games of Wii, and visit some of the shops Jenn and I rave about in the Wellington West and Westboro areas. Also, our neighbour Viv's mom came to visit. She insisted we have large communal dinners every evening, all of us crowding around a dinner table like a large family. It was great.

On the Saturday, Mlle Ling and her boy, Thomas, arrived with Viv's mom. They joined us on our weekly excursion for groceries. On our way back, we stopped by Parma Ravioli, Wellington West's pre-eminent artisanal pasta shop.

There, we purchased a freshly made blueberry pie and tiramisu. Jenn also picked up a serving of pasta to go.

Tiramisu:

Tiramisu

Slice
Having never tried tiramisu, my piece was a new experience for me. According to the recipes I've come across, tiramisu is a pie-type dessert whose walls and floor consist of whole or broken lady finger (aka: boudoir) cookies that have been soaked in cold expresso. The filling is an uncooked custard, consisting of marscapone cheese, egg, and sugar. It is traditionally topped with either shaved chocolate or cocoa powder and chilled. I found Parma Ravioli's a cooling dessert. The custard filling held together and tasted very slightly of another flavour, which I presume was amaretto. It was also light and rich. The lady fingers were crunchy with fleeting coffee flavour. I enjoyed Parma Ravioli's preparation, but will have to try others to develop my appreciation for the Italian dessert. I've heard that La Bottegga Nicastro downtown serves killer tiramisu.

Blueberry Pie

Blueberry Pie

Slicing

Slice
The blueberry pie was as good a fruit pie as we have ever purchased from Parma Ravioli. The crust was flaky and buttery. The filling seemed to consist of wild blueberries, more than likely from frozen, that were cooked with sugar and a little lemon juice. The result: very satisfying slices of pie that were not cloyingly sweet, yet featured blueberry.

Sponge Cake
Saturday evening, after our family-style meal at Viv's, everyone piled into our condo to play Wii, chat, and poke fun at each others' virtual dart throwing and bowling skills. To fuel the virtual sports, we attempted a sponge cake recipe that Jenn and I appropriated from her mom during the Mother's Day weekend. The cake her mom's weekend guest produced was incredibly light and airy.

Insanely Light Sponge Cake

Appropriated Recipe

I decided to put the recipe to test. Alas, I have a feeling the oven time wasn't long enough.

Baked

De-Panned

Slice
When we let it cooled, the cake actually pulled away from the tube pan and sunk. It was still fluffy, but not nearly as airy as the cake I had been served at Jenn's parents' place the weekend before. This recipe was a partial failure. I will amend and try again.

Brunch
Sunday morning, Jenn and I went to The Buzz restaurant on Bank Street (374) with some of my former colleagues, now dear friends. I'm told the restaurant becomes quite the pub in the evenings, which explained the very well stocked bar. Its decor is quite modern, taking cues from other urban loft-style eateries elsewhere: stone-tile floors, exposed brick, high ceilings, dark mahogany tables and chairs, and lots of local art work.

Decor

When Jenn and I arrived at 10:30 am, the restaurant was devoid of life, save for one booth. I surmise this year's annual construction project on Bank Street must be deterring patrons. It fences off much of the street, leaving thin walkways along the sidewalks on either side. When I saw the the quality of brunch on Ottawa blogger Nooschi's blog, I hoped that neighbourhood locals would stay loyal. Perhaps everyone just slept in past noon, because only one or two two-seater tables saw any business while we were there.

As per @nooschi's blog (she's on twitter too), one of my friends and I ordered the "Huevos Rancheros" ($13) from the regular menu with poached eggs. According to the menu, it is a flour tortilla stuffed with cheddar, potatoes and topped with eggs, salsa, and sour cream. We both asked ours to be served with sausage.

Regular Menu

Huevos Rancheros
Both eggs were carefully poached, soft, and runny. The salsa was quite mild, tasting like it came from a bottle. The fatty sour cream, studded with chives, added its characteristic richness and sourness. And, along with the egg yolk, it helped to carry flavours with each bite. The tortilla itself seemed like it were made in-house, unusually thin. It was crisped on a griddle. The potatoes inside the tortilla were greasy and partially overdone. The cheese was not melted and cold. The sausages were bordering on cool, but recently made. All in all, it was not a bad breakfast, but it did not meet my expectations. It however converted my friend to poached eggs.

Jenn ordered the three egg asparagus omelet ($11) without cheese. Contrary to the menu, she was served hash browns instead of roesti potatoes. Rösti are pan or griddle fried.

Omelet
Jenn found her omelet difficult to eat because the asparagus was not prepared properly. While cooked, the woody ends were not removed. This made the omelet difficult to eat as our supplied butter knives could not cut through the spears without tearing the omelet to pieces. The hash browns, while crisp, tasted like they came from frozen: pre-cooked and then deep fried, producing a tremendous crust. They were also greasy inside.

My other friend ordered the "Sweet" special of the day, Caramelized Pineapple Filled French Toast ($12), served with sausages. He also added hash browns. It was served with maple syrup to dip the eggy toast in.

Specials

Pineapple French toast
He was completely satisfied with the dish.

Regarding service, the front of house staff was quick and friendly. The back of house, however, was slow to produce dishes that could be served. Since the kitchen was in the basement of the building, one of my friends is willing to overlook the issue. Me, given the fact that we were easily this restaurants' only large table (6 patrons), I am not willing to be so forgiving. Overall, the food was good, but not spectacular.

Total cost of huevos rancheros, omelette, and one coffee: $29.95 (after taxes, before tip)

Determination: Domestic North American - Sunday Brunch: --$$, ---**

Particulars:
Parma Ravioli
1314 Wellington St W
(613)722-6003

The Buzz Restaurant
374 Bank Street
(613)565-9595

In the past, I have been known to snap a pic or two with a camera in a grocery store. Apparently, this risks the ire of store management and could result in a potential lifetime ban from the premises. Yes, even though there are no signs alerting customers to the the policy, management is quite serious about banning people for taking pictures of their products. This is why the more recent "megamartFinds"-categorized blog posts are about products that I have already purchased.

This said, the following are older images from foodiePrints' photo archives. I found them while rummaging around for material to include in another blog post.

Introducing Johnny's, a brand of sauces and seasonings that sport some amusing packaging:

Johnny's bottled salad dressings

Johnny's Jamaica Mistake

Honey You're Terrific, with Mustard

Johnny's seasonings:

Jamaican Seasonings
I'm a little troubled by the fact that the "Jamaica Me Crazy" salad seasoning contains natural ingredients. Where as, the seasoning salt and steak seasoning are "all natural."

Natural or not, when it comes to thirst quenching, squash isn't the first thing that comes to mind.

Grantham's Squash Drinks
Apparently, they are flavoured with citrus.

Baby mumbles about citrus?

Baby Mum-Mum

Speaking about babies, these were 2 steps away from the "family planning" aisle...

280 mL Beverage Container

Priceless

To end, let's take a step back a few years to the reason I stopped watching television:

Fear Factor Popsicles
When reality television went the way of Fear Factor, I canceled my cable subscription.

BTW, two potential reasons why store managements at certain supermarkets would prefer its customers not have cameras follow after the jump...

More after the jump...

According to the Environment Canada website, we are in the midst of "Environment Week." Its intention is the same as that of Earth Day: celebrate green achievement and initiatives that address climate change and reduce pollution. It is being held to coincide with World Environment Day, June 5, 2009.

To celebrate, the department proposes five easy ways to live "greener.":

1. Buy locally grown food
2. Change at least one light bulb to a compact fluorescent one, preferably qualified by Energy Star to use less electricity.
3. "Take a walk on the wild side." Go for a hike on a local nature path.
4. Turn off your computer when you're not using it.
5. Carry a cloth bag or keep one in your cart, avoiding plastic whenever possible.

On Earth Day, many Ottawans demonstrated that they live rather environmentally friendly. For instance, we at foodiePrints have already adopted many of the proposed ways to live greener. We buy local and encourage others to do the same. Most of our light bulbs are fluorescent. The few that are not are slated to be replaced shortly. We take long walks along Ottawa's scenic parkways and in its parks. Our computers are off when not in use. We also unplug adapters when not in use. And, we carry cloth bags whenever we go shopping, not only to the grocery store, but also to department stores and shopping malls.

However, as a seafood fan, I have been wondering about how to purchase sustainable shell-fish and fin-fish and what to choose at the local sushi bar. A Toronto tweep who goes by the handle @michalhay answered that question. The British Columbia Sierra Club published on its website steps that everyone can be taken to protect the oceans and marine life. One of the suggestions includes guides for seafood and sustainable sushi. Links follow:

• Canada's Seafood Guide
• Sustainable Sushi

I should note that Ottawa is fortunate enough to have a sustainable seafood supplier, the Whalesbone Sustainable Fish and Oyster Supply, located 504-A Kent Street. foodiePrints went there during the Mother's Day weekend. We highly recommend it.

Here is their business card:

Front

back

Anyhow, three cheers to green Ottawans!

Update: Full Circles Ottawa is organizing a "Hidden Treasures Event" for the end of Canadian Environment Week (June 6-7, 2009). Link: here

This said, I strongly urge you to exclude and take your unwanted electronics to Ottawa's own Computer Recyclers. There, you are guaranteed electronics will be recycled responsibly. Since April 8, 2009, Computer Recyclers has also changed their fee system. More than just computer towers and internals can be accepted from households for free. This includes CRT televisions, which I keep seeing kicked to the side of the road. I feel taking electronics to Computer Recyclers is a minor inconvenience, with major benefit.

Particulars:
The Whalesbone Sustainable Oyster and Fish Supply
504-A Kent Street
(613)231-FISH (3474)

Last month (May 2009), fine foodie Shari posted a blog on Whisk: A Food Blog, listing Canadian food bloggers who were on Twitter. The list is quiet long, demonstrating that many Canadians are food enthusiasts. Better yet, a good number of whom blog and micro-blog.

I decided to do something similar for Ottawa's food-related websites and blogs. Using the Ottawa Start website and Ottawa Foodies' Doku Wiki, I compiled the following lists, cross-referencing with the growing list of local bloggers I follow on Google Reader. The first, represents local food-related websites. The second, Ottawa food blogs.

Ottawa Food/Food-Related Websites

• Beer Hunter
• Betidings: Social Event Calendar (our calendar)
• Bon Appetit Ottawa
• Buy Local Food Guide
• Cheapeats Ottawa (@ceot)
• Canadian Organic Growers (COG) - Ottawa Chapter
• Eat In Ottawa - photos of local restaurant food
• EatSafe Ottawa - Ottawa restaurant inspection reports
• FoodMODE Magazine
• Just Food
• Ottawa Foodies
• Ottawa Good Food Box
• Ottawa Organics and Natural Foods: Organic Food Delivery Service
• Ottawa Restaurant Guide
• Ottawa Start - Food and Restaurant Guide
• Ottawa XPress - Restaurant Reviews
• OttawaPlus.ca Bars and Restaurants Listing
• OttawaWeb listings
• Restaurant 911: Ottawa Restaurants
• Savour Ottawa
• Slow Food Ottawa
• Specials Today Ottawa (formerly Cheap Tonight)
• The Food - Ottawa Food Blog Aggregator
• The National Capital Sommelier Guild

Ottawa Eateries Blogs (not on Ottawa Eateries on Twitter List)

• 42 Crichton Street Fine Foods
• The Urban Element - Unique Culinary Experiences

Ottawa Area Food Blogs

• After the Harvest
• Aplace
• Apron Strings
• Beans and Caviar
• beFOODled
• Best Tools for Schools: Lunchtime Solutions
• Boyfriendly Cooking
• Breakfast Blogger
• Capital Dining - Ann DesBrisay, Ottawa Citizen Critic
• Cheap Eats Ottawa
• Cooking with Kilby
• Daily Dinner
• Daingean's Food Blog
• Definitely Not Martha: Daily Struggles of the Domestic Un-Goddess
• DiGeSTive TraCKs
• Eat, Drink, Ottawa
• Eaten Up
• Eating In Ottawa
• Epicurean Ottawa
• Equal Opportuniy Kitchen
• Eva's Food World
• Fine Diners Club
• foodiePrints
• Gluten-Free Ghetto
• How to Start a Brewery - Beau's All Natural Brewing Co., Vankleek Hill
• It Ain't Meat Babe
• Janet Is Hungry
• Kell's Kitchen
• Kitchen Graffiti
• le jeune gourmand: i eat. i write.
• Lord of the WINGS
• Nooschi
• Nourish by Larissa
• Nutrition Nibbles
• Omnivore's Ottawa - Ron Eade, Ottawa Citizen Food Editor
• Ottawa 34
• Ottawa Bites
• Ottawa Cooking Examiner
• Ottawa Food Reviews
• Pho Ottawa
• Pizza Ottawa
• Plum Cake
• Pumpkin Pie Bungalow
• Rachelle Eats Food
• Reality Bites
• Sassy Monkey
• She Eats Bears (also Le Piège à Ours)
• Sheltered Girl Meets World
• Simply Fresh
• Slurp & Burp
• Spoonsie Quits Bacon
• The Bacon Bible
• The Gouda Life
• The Humblest Fruit
• The Lemon Kitchen
• The Mad Adventures Of FoodGrrl
• The Ottawa Breakfast Club
• The Waffle
• Urban Hippie
• Whisk: a food blog
• WildUnknown Cooks: A bit of this, a dash of that
• Wine and the City

For now, I have the unenviable task of maintaining this list statically. In the next layout-revisit of foodiePrints, the latter list will form a blog roll.