My better half and I find that we eat out quite the bit during the weeks leading up to and including Christmas. There are always good friends in town or visiting, with whom we like to get together at one of our favourite eateries one last time before the new year. With the large dinners Jenn and I usually prepare between Christmas Eve and Boxing day, it is nice to sit down to a great meal at a great restaurant.

Brunch: Benny's Bistro
This year, we discovered a great brunch place, which we have determined somewhat inappropriate for our growing brunch club. It has limited seating. It is quickly busy and it does not take reservations (first come, first serve). Located surreptitiously in the back of the celebrated French Baker bakery (119 Murray Street) on the epicurean end (near Dalhousie Street) of Murray Street, Benny's Bistro is a local's favourite for lunch during the work week and an amazing brunch during the weekend.

As the Urban Foodie (@whisk_food_blog) wrote in the Ottawa Metro (a commuter newspaper), Benny's is a "Simple Touch of Paris in the Market." I could not agree more.

Local Art in Recessed Alcoves, Checkered Floor, Warm Colours

Bistro-Style Tables
Though, the service at Benny's is many many times better than what Parisian Bistros are reputedly known for.

The Saturday morning we visited, the special was an omelet ($14), which is what I feel, a fresh take on New York Nova and Eggs; an omelet with roasted salmon belly.

Special
It was spectacular, fatty salmon belly cooked delicately in an ever so slightly runny and made-to-order omelet. The kale was just wilted too, offering both an earthy flavour and not quite cooked texture, fresh and green.

Roasted Salmon Belly Omelet with Wilted Kale

Omelet Disassembled
The accompanying salad consisted of arugula and string shaved beets.

Me, I ordered the organic forest and leek confit "taco" ($15).

Breakfast Taco
It too was spectacular. Accompanying the freshly cooked mushrooms and confit leek were braised Belgian endive, arugula leaves, shaved butter nut squash (likely shocked to fix the curls), and a lemon and horse radish creme fraiche to tie everything together. Its base, a round of puff pastry. Garnishing, a slice of in-house pickled beet.

The Perfect Bite
The mixture of fresh, peppery, sweet, earthy, fatty, bright, and buttery flavours and crunchy, crisp, and soft textures resulted in an adventure for the palate, akin to a crisp hike in a forest.

Regarding the service at Benny's, our dishes were served within 10 minutes of ordering, even with a nearly full dining room. Because my better half is sensitive to cheese, they happily subbed out components of their brunch special and furnished us with a side of roasted fingerling potatoes. The potato side was just as carefully cooked as our mains. We originally thought the potatoes were cooked in brown butter.

When seated, our hostess greeted us with a bowl of freshly cut bread from the French Baker bakery, nothing stale here. Drinks followed very quickly thereafter. Coffee for me and tea for Jenn.

Bread

Tea

Total: $42.38 (with coffee, tea, and side of roasted fingerling potatoes and before taxes)

For small parties of 4 or less, eating at Benny's is one of life's luxuries you should avail yourself of. If you are a local foodie, it is a must visit.

Please note that Benny's does not open for evening service, its dining room reserved for special events only.

Lunch: Le Cafe
When we found out the Toronto foodie who baked one of the Christmas cookie care packages we received was coming to Ottawa for the Christmas holidays and wanted to have lunch with us in the ByWard Market, I made reservations at Chef Michael Blackie's newly re-opened Le Cafe (53 Elgin Street) in the National Arts Center (NAC). Our guest, Bonita (@boneats) of the Bon Eats blog.

A little background, Jenn and I hadn't visited Le Cafe since we started dating years ago. It was at Le Cafe, then under the late Chef Kurt Waldele, that I tried my first seared duck breast and duck confit. She, her first steak frites, the steak perfectly seared fillet. On a pair of students' budgets, eating at Le Cafe was somewhat extravagant, so we visited sparingly, only celebrating special occasions there. Later on, I would find out one of my then supervisors, someone who would prove to be a mentor in my career, had proposed to his wife at Le Cafe, also during Chef Waldele's tenure.

Chef Blackie made a name for himself locally at Perspectives (525 Legget Drive) in Kanata's Brookstreet hotel, earning 4 Diamonds from the CAA/AAA. Many of the chefs I follow on Twitter congratulated him on his taking up the reigns at the NAC and later tweeted positive comments for his new menu.

Menu
Chef Blackie is also a regular competitor during Gold Medal Plates.

Inside, the restaurant had largely not changed since Jenn and I were there last: dark stained chairs against white linened tables on a dark carpet. The textured white ceiling add a dimension of openness. The floor to ceiling windows overlooking the Rideau Canal offer a picturesque view, no matter what season.

Le Cafe's Dining Room

Table with Place Settings
Please take note of the one piece coarse salt and pepper grinder/dispenser on the table. It will come in handy later.

With Christmas not a week away, I ordered the soup ($6.50) to start and one of the specials that Monday, Le Cafe's interpretation of a turkey dinner ($11.50). I wanted inspiration for the turkey dinner Jenn and I were to prepare later on that week.

Sweet Potato Corn Chowder
Drizzled with truffle oil and ethereally light in texture, the cream soup was rich and flavourful, perfectly seasoned.

Turkey Dinner
Beautifully presented, Le Cafe replaced traditional stuffing/dressing with a savoury bread pudding. On top, sliced turkey breast. Then, yu choy (a Chinese green), bread pudding, cranberry sauce, roasted baby carrots, and turkey jus.

Dry Turkey
Alas, my slices of turkey breast were on the dry side. I had to drag bites through the savoury jus and tart cranberry sauce to make them palatable. Given the shape of the slices and the fact we were the first table in the dining room to be seated, my slices were likely first carved off the roasted turkeys. As someone who has been on a quest to prepare a moist roasted turkey, I find the first carvings from the top of the breast drier, as it is most exposed to the dry heat of the oven.

Bonita and Jenn ordered the other special that Monday, line-caught rainbow trout ($11.50).

Pan Seared Rainbow Trout
Both Bonita and Jenn, whenever possible, prefer their fresh fish medium-well, ever so slightly rare in the center. The trout was a little over cooked for their liking. Each fillet's corn meal crust though was crisp and carried a nice crunch. The sauce was a good accompaniment and the mashed potatoes, wonderfully smooth.

Bonita, Jenn and I remarked at all our dishes coming adorned with yu choy. Bonita aptly dubbed it Chef Blackie's "it" vegetable for Christmas 2009. We giggled quietly when other tables were served their dishes and patrons found their accompanying greens exotic. Yu choy is a staple vegetable in Asian diets, the three of us eating it in our respective homes the night before.

For drinks, with Bonita and Jenn having plans that afternoon and my having to return to the office, we decided to order purified water.

MB In-house Purified Water
According to a media-release, Chef Blackie had installed a Vivreau Water Purification System that purifies tap water, producing both a carbonated Perrier analogue and a non-carbonated option. At $3/re-usable glass bottle, a portion of sales goes to the NAC's National Youth and Education Trust.

As someone who very rarely drinks wine, I am weary of the disapproving looks I get from wait staff who think I am at a restaurant for a cheap meal. Usually, I order cranberry juice or a cocktail to finish the meal. But, with the in-house purified tap water on the menu, I have another option. At Le Cafe, our waiter's look changed from disapproving to amused, when I asked if bottles from "Chef Blackie's Vivreau Water Purification System" were available.

Total: $67.80 (after taxes, but before tip)

More after the jump...

Our dinner at Absinthe on the weekend wasn't our first encounter with the restaurant. My better half and I have been following the exploits of its chef/owner Patrick Garland since we moved into the Wellington Village five years ago. Then, Absinthe was located on Holland Avenue (65A), adjacent to what looks like a family-owned garage. Today, a restaurant named Canvas is in Absinthe's former location, and Absinthe is now situated on Wellington Street (1208). There, it seats three times as many patrons in its much larger dining room.

During the summer of 2007, we followed the construction of the new Absinthe with anticipation.

Absinthe to Open

Logo and Artwork

One side of the Dining Room Under Construction

Other side of the Dining Room Under Construction
It opened anew August 2007.

The former Absinthe was a small location with few tables and a cozy French bistro-like atmosphere. In its original incarnation, lightly stained wood tables, leather padded chairs, and warm colours were predominant. On Wellington, the restaurant has a cavernous feel, dark and mysterious. While the floors are still hard wood, the restaurant seems to have taken on the culture surrounding the green tinged liqueur for which it is named. The back of the restaurant sports a murky green wall with the name of the restaurant written on it in gold. The furniture is all well worn, almost black, and the lighting is dim. It feels as it should were one to go to an establishment that serves an illicit liqueur.

During the 19th and 20th centuries, absinthe was favored by artists and writers because the anise flavoured liqueur was distilled from worm wood, making it hallucinogenic and addictive. Recently, the century-old ban on the liqueur that reputedly drove "good men mad" has been relaxed in several countries. The metal implement decorating the Absinthe's restaurant signage is an ornate absinthe spoon. Because the herb infused liqueur is bitter, it is traditionally served diluted with water and trickled over a sugar cube suspended over a glass with a slotted spoon. The process turns Absinthe milky white. It is seldom consumed green.

The September (20) following Absinthe's grand re-opening, Jenn made reservations to celebrate my 30th birthday. We both ordered the signature steak frites. However, I found the setting to be somewhat disconcerting given that Chef Garland's menu had not changed, serving up the same bistro fare. Bistro food in a dark venue felt somewhat "cold." Besides, we were directed to a table next to the large glass double doors. While we ate, a cool evening breeze, characteristic of Autumn in Ottawa, wafted into the restaurant, forcing us to reach for our coats. To our waitress' surprise, we finished our meals with our jackets on. An early November restaurant review by Ottawa Citizen's Anne Desbrisay likewise mentioned the same shortcoming. Still, we enjoyed our meals. Our cheque came with a business card and an advertisement for a lounge night.

A year later, I'm not sure lounge night events are still being held. The newly re-opened Absinthe, however, has participated in many community events.

This past summer (June 7, 2008), Absinthe was one of the restaurants along what I like to call the "Wellington Street Epicurean Row" that doled out free edibles during the "Taste of Wellington West" event. Absinthe's contribution: mini-burgers.

Taste of Wellington West

Mini-Burgers

De-constructed
Absinthe's mini-burgers were made with ground bison. Unfortunately, the eggy bun did not go well with the gamey pattie. When Jenn and I took the burger apart, we realized that the bun was actually a halved cream puff that came from a classic French pâte àchoux.

Absinthe also participated in this past fall's "Celebrity Hors d'Oeuvres" event (October 28, 2008), winning a second "Silver Spoon Award." The first came from the notorious 2005 competition, where the restaurant Kinki served sushi off of scantily clad women. This year, the competition was again fierce. Still, Chef Garland's appetizers earned more tickets than his contemporaries: Allium, A'roma Meze, Canvas, Dish Catering, Epicuria, Juniper, Le Café (NAC), Murray Street, Pelican Fishery & Grill, Sala San Marco, Savanna Café, Thyme & Again, Urban Element, Whalesbone, or Kinki and Mambo. True to form, Kinki and Mambo presented their appetizers with a woman in a bikini draped across the table. Proceeds from the competition benefited the Great Canadian Theater Company (GCTC).

Congratulations to Chef Garland.

This just in:
Apparently, Chef Garland likes to shop in Ottawa's little Chinatown, frequenting the likes of Kowloon Market (712 Somerset), Little Latin America (764 Somerset), Manphat Grocery Store (800 Somerset), Manphong Supermarket (775 Somerset) and 168 Market (1050 Somerset). This, from yesterday's Ottawa Citizen where he also extolled the frugality of shopping at ethnic markets, particularly Asian ones.

I'm shopping in Chinatown all the time. It's a really great open-air experience...At Kowloon Market, for example, the seafood is right in front of you in ice-covered buckets. The selection of spices and condiments is astounding

To Chef Garland, I have to ask, while the seafood maybe splayed out in front of you, have you also noticed that shoppers rest their baskets in the seafood when they order from the butcher or fish monger?

Furthermore, for pigs' feet, I recommend visiting he College Square Loblaws or Uni Mart (corner of Montreal Road and Selkirk). Like Loblaws, Uni Mart's pigs' feet may be a bit more expensive, but it packages them on trays and wraps them in cling film. I prefer my cuts of meat to be handled as little as possible before I get to them.

Particulars:
Absinthe Café
1208 Wellington St.
(613)761-1138

Saturday evening my better half and I headed down to the Absinthe Cafe for dinner. I was sporting another freshly cut Rob Meyers (master hair stylist) "original" from Celebrity Hair Design and I wanted to show it off. She earned an evening's fine dining after having put up with a week of my coming home late, exhausted, and somewhat surly. I recently accepted a transfer to another department and have been asked to stabilize a half dozen projects before I depart. As such, I spent a very long week documenting work and formalizing my corporate knowledge. To make matters worse, upper management has started showing its unhappiness with my choosing to leave.

Dinner at Absinthe provided both relief and escape.

With our menus came an amuse bouche, chilled shrimp in a mango salsa, served on house-made sesame crackers.

amuse bouche

menu
The meal started off great. The salsa provided sweetness and brightness. The shrimp provided savoriness. Both had soft textures, compared to the crunchy sesame crackers.

Jenn opted for an à la carte steak frites. I opted the 3 course table d'hôte, choosing the charcuterie duo appetizer, the mushroom velouté, and the Mariposa Duck Breast entree. Each were paired with a different glasses of wine, but I chose to stick with my glass of cranberry juice and water.

Before any course was served, the waitress brought us some herb focaccia.

Lovely Foccacia
The bread was rustic and irregularly cut, sporting a dense interior and crusty exterior. It was warm and quickly melted applied butter. Jenn and I originally thought it was a poppy seed sourdough as the bread had the characteristic sour flavour and unidentifiable black specks. Clearly, whomever baked the focaccia took time to develop the dough, ensuring great flavour. Perhaps a sourdough starter was used.

Next came the charcuterie duo, a very large plate consisting of a duck terrine, duck parfait (liver mousse with port gelée) and onion rosemary bread crackers.

Charcuterie Duo
I was hoping for a rabbit terrine as was advertised on the door of the restaurant. Nevertheless, the appetizer was glorious. The terrine was studded with pistachios and what Jenn and I figured were quartered Turkish apricots. It had a solid texture and a mixture of flavours: savory duck force meat, earthy sweet apricots, and nutty pistachios. The duck parfait, on the other hand, had a singular dark livery flavour that was accentuated by the tanin from the jellied port. Its texture was delicate, far more refined than pâté. I smeared it liberally on the crackers. Jenn and I shared the plate. It easily served two.

Richly flavoured soup followed.

Mushroom Soup
This ain't Campbell's! The soup was smooth and carried its mushroom flavour very well with every spoonful. It seemed garnished with a mushroom oil, adding to the overall "shroominess."

Here is Jenn's steak frites.

Steak Frites
According to the menu, the fries were freshly cut and fried from Yukon Gold potatoes. The two fries I made off with were great, crisp on the outside and tender in the middle. The serving dish, on the other hand, was unconscionable. Putting freshly cooked fries into a porcelain container causes the fries to soften with condensation and pool with grease. If the fries are left to linger, they become inedible. I dubbed the green dish the "soggifier."

The steak was a work of art. I actually found it odd the the waitress never asked for a doneness. After reviewing the menu and reading up on "hanger steak" (aka: onglet), I understood why. In North American bistros, steak frites is usually made with fillet. In Europe, the cut of choice is the "hanger steak." Why? Firstly, there is only one hanger steak per cow. As it is cut from a cow's single diaphragm, it literally hangs on the carcass and is attached to the last rib and spine, proximal to the kidneys. Secondly, cooking hanger steak with fast high heat methods requires finesse. Since it is not really tender, hanger steak needs to be marinated and then cooked rare or medium-rare. Anything else, and it will resemble tougher skirt steak, which is also cut from the diagram. Thirdly, hanger steak is very flavorful. Some fans believe that it takes on an offal flavor because of its proximity to the kidneys.

My better half thoroughly enjoyed her entree, deeming it superior to steak frites from Allium, which she feels is over sauced with jus. Me, I find fillet unremarkable and was slightly puzzled by the hanger steak's slightly chewy texture.

Here is my Mariposa duck entree.

Mariposa Duck Breast
Mariposa is the name of an organic farm located in "Wendover" Ontario. There, ducks are grain-fed, watered with well water, and allowed to roam around freely. Its quality of life must have contributed to its gamey flavour and succulent texture, because I have never had duck so good. Expertly sliced pieces were served on a bed of pureed cauliflower and goat cheese, surrounded by a maple syrup/cranberry reduction. On the right, glazed carrot threads, glazed parsnip, and "garlic fried spinach." The spinach tasted as if it were sauteed and was poor accompaniment to the delicate balance of fruit and meat on the other end of the plate. The perfect bite was a piece of duck, a dab of puree, and a gentle dip in the fruity reduction. I almost ate the plate!

Cost of dinner: $72.89, including 1 cranberry juice ($2.50), 1 sprite ($2.50), 1 Table d'hôte Duck ($41), 1 A La Carte Steak Frites ($19), and taxes. With tip, we paid approximately $42 each.

We'll definitely be back.

Particulars:
Absinthe Café
1208 Wellington St.
(613)761-1138