During our 2008 "staycation", Jenn and I wandered the ByWard Market and stopped for freshly baked croissants from the French Baker on Murray Street (119). Here is a croissant from Owner Jérôme Mantel's legendary bakery that summer:

French Baker Croissant (circa 2008)

Cross-Section

Here is the "a-style" sandwich sign, belonging to the French Baker's adjoining restaurant from our visit

Benny's Bistro Sandwich Sign
and the bakery's business card.

Business Card

After we finished our ByWard Market culinary tour, lead by C'est Bon Cooking's Paola St-George (@cestboncooking), Jenn and I again stopped into the French Baker on Murray Street. Here is a croissant from the bakery this summer:

French Baker Croissant (circa 2010)

Cross-Section

Unrolled

Here is a shot of the bakery from our visit

French Baker's Murray Street Storefront

Why do I post photos that demonstrate markedly different textured croissants from the same bakery? We participated in a Croissant Battle this past April. The croissants we compared were ones we purchased that day.

The French Baker has been around since 1995. Its website boasts the bakery has grown its operation to "20 employees, including nine professional bakers, food and pastry chefs." While Mantel has no doubt established exacting standards, both its Murray Street and Bank Street locations cannot produce the same croissants everyday. There are simply too many variables in play, including staff turnover. This is why food bloggers are encouraged to visit eateries more than once before rendering any determinations on them.

The fact is the French Baker makes good croissants according to the following criteria:

...a good butter croissant is freshly baked. It unravels easily and can be teased apart. Inside, you should be able to see layers, spiraling outwards. It is brushed with egg wash half way through baking, so it takes on a golden colour as it crisps up. When handled, the crust should shatter into pieces. It should taste buttery, but should not leave your fingers an oily mess.

Source: "Ottawa Croissant Battle: A Round Up", foodiePrints.com

Whether you are a visitor to Ottawa or a long time resident, the French Baker is a source for good croissants. We have never bought croissants there we didn't like.

Particulars:
Le Boulanger Francais The French Baker
119 Murray Street
(613) 789-7941
Hours: Mon-Fri 7am – 6:30pm Sat, Sun 7am – 5:30pm

The last two weeks of July and first two of August are prime vacation times. During these four weeks, the school year has already ended. Summer school is winding down. Summer camp has had its run. Home renovations and landscaping projects are nearly complete.

Where I work, it is actually referred to as the "summer lull", a slowdown that results from significant numbers of personnel, taking vacation. Many project teams are reduced to skeleton staff. Remaining staff are often rotated into critical roles to ensure service levels to high priority projects are maintained.

These days, I hear many of my friends and colleagues, opting for partial vacations (staycations) or extended weekend summers. The former is a compromise. Employees take vacation, but must remain within a city's radius of work. They are required to check their electronic correspondence regularly and return to work should a crisis arise. The latter involves employees, distributing their vacation time to create shortened work weeks. Neither permits much travel.

But, remaining city or mostly city bound does not mean locals cannot be tourists. Make plans just as you would if you were traveling abroad. If you are an Ottawan, I recommend participating in a culinary tour. One of the reasons journalist Michael Kaminer of the Washington Post deemed Ottawa "Canada's cool capital" is its evolving food scene. What better way is there to learn about it than by taking a tour, lead by passionate food enthusiasts?

Paola St-George (@cestboncooking) and Andree Riffou (a Cordon Bleu trained chef) offer one such culinary tour of the ByWard Market through C'est Bon Cooking. It is a 2.5 hour walking tour, costing $45. Wear comfortable shoes and bring a little notebook to take notes. If you happen to be a food blogger, bring a camera with a freshly charged battery (a spare helps) and lots of memory.

Here are snippets from one Jenn and I participated in:

Not included in this slide show are photos from our visiting the Courtyard Restaurant (21 George Street), Murray Street Kitchen Charcuterie and Wine (110 Murray Street), and La Bottega Nicastro (64 George Street), all of which were incorporated in other blog posts.

Now, if you plan to wander the ByWard Market unguided, as Jenn and I often do, here are some additions I would like to recommend:
The Farm House (55 ByWard Market Square)

Signage
For a quick lunch in between shopping at the boutiques, fashion houses, and farmer's market, the Farm House in the ByWard Market Square serves pork and chicken schnitzel. Schnitzel is a flattened piece of meat that is typically breaded, deep fried, and baked crisp.

A-Style Sign

Chicken Schnitzel Platter

Cross Section

Pork Schnitzel Sandwich

Cross Section
While the platter came with unremarkable salad (poor attempt at tabbouleh) and instant rice, the schnitzel was made to order, fresh and crunchy. The sandwich was a little heavy on the bread, but it was quite well seasoned and tasty.

More after the jump...

For this week's "relatively" Wordless Wednesday', we visit general Manager Jeff O'Reilly's D'Arcy McGee's (44 Sparks Street) at the corner of Elgin and Sparks. There, you will find what the political staff at Parliament Hill have long realized, a great place to unwind with a pint of Irish ale after a long day of work.

It features a pair of normally bustling patios, which were overflowing with people during Canada Day.

Front Patio

Side Patio
Pull up a chair on Friday's and order two pints of Guinness, Smithwick's, Kilkenny, or Harp for $9.99 (+tax). Stay for #OysterFriday

Particulars:
D'Arcy McGee's
44 Sparks Street
(613)230-4433

Located deep in the New Edinburgh neighbourhood (also known as Beechwood), at a corner of residential Union Street, Forty-Two Crichton Street Fine Foods (42 Fine Foods) is a self-dubbed "take-with" shop with "unofficial seating." Having opened in September, it will celebrate it's 10th month anniversary this July.

During the past 10 months, Chef/Owner Susan Jessup and her staff seem to have firmly established a take-home food shop with a local-food philosophy. This, in the former cozy location of New Edinburgh's original Scone Witch.

Shop Window

Front Door

42 Fine Foods boasts a constantly changing menu of take-home products, including complete meal solutions, that employ ingredients sourced almost exclusively from local producers. A quick skim of its FaceBook Fan page includes mention of Aged Lankaaster cheese from Glengarry, fiddleheads and mushrooms from Le Coprin, heritage meat from Upper Canada Heritage Farms, and greens from Jambican Studio Gardens. These are many of the same Savour Ottawa accredited producers, you will find at the Ottawa Farmer's Market at Lansdowne Park on Sundays. Most recently, 42 Fine Foods announced a line of frozen "designer" burgers that "thaw quickly and can be grilled or pan seared." As of last week, beef with pesto and venison burgers were available for purchase.

Besides frozen foods, 42 Fine Foods sells bakery, preserves, artisan cheeses, local honey, fair-trade coffee, soups, salads and sandwiches. When Jenn and I visited in March, the store operated an e-mail subscription service that would send you out menu updates of what Chef Jessup and her staff prepared for take-out dinner. We received 3 months of mouth watering e-mails.

According to its constantly updated website, 42finefoods.ca, Chef Jessup is Cordon Bleu trained, having apprenticed in kitchens in both France and Canada. She worked at Chez Eric in Wakefield, was an independent food consultant, and continues to be of the core chef instructors at the Urban Element.

The following photos were taken in March, several months after 42 Fine Foods' web developer approached us to visit.

Sandwich Sign with Advice

That Saturday's Specials


Coffee Corner


Refrigerated Display Case with Cheeses and Prepared Salads

Buttercream Caramel and Walnut Scones
Beside the scones, a vegetable quiche.

More after the jump...

The gourmet deli and food shop La Bottega Nicastro is a staple source of Italian fine food from olive oil to cheeses, balsamic vinegars, in-house made pickles, and the odd in-house made artisan cured meats. An Italian grocery for over 30 years, it has been owned an operated by Pat Nicastro for the past 15. Pat is the son of Joe Nicastro, the proprietor of Nicastro's Food Emporium on Merivale Road (1558). According to Paola St-George (@cestboncooking) of C'est Bon Cooking, the owners of the Bank Street (792) and Wellington Street W. (1355) Il Negozio Nicastro's are also related, though more distantly.

Speaking of C'est Bon Cooking, Jenn and I took the following photos at La Bottega Nicastro during one of their ByWard Market tours.

Signage

Sandwich Sign


Nicastro Brand Olive Oil

Italian Soda and Olive Oil

15 Year Old Balsamic


Fine Italian Food Stuffs, including Lots of Dry Pasta

Fresh Bread

More after the jump...