How do you turn poutine into $1266 to fight cancer?

You find a great cause. In this case, Isabelle Rivard's (@spoonsie) Give to Live challenge (isaonabike.com) to cycle from Vancouver, BC to Austin, TX (a 4300 km trek) and raise $10,000 for cancer causes.

Izzy Rivard
Proceeds from this event went to The Lance Armstrong Foundation, Craig's Cause for Pancreatic Cancer, and The Canadian Cancer Society.

You find seven generous restaurants who make specialized takes on the dish that normally tops crispy fries with squeaky cheddar cheese curds and a veloute-style gravy.

You contact culinary tour guide Paola St. George (@cestboncooking) who is also the marketing manager behind C'est Bon Cooking.

Chef Andrée Riffou and Paola St. George of C'est Bon Cooking

You sign up 35 poutine enthusiasts to join you in a tour of Ottawa's ByWard Market, including Mark Warburton (founder of Ottawa Foodies), Kaitlin (Ottawa food blogger behind Heartful Mouthful), and Jodi (Ottawa food blogger behind Simply Fresh).

Mark Warburton and Paola St. George

You split the group in two and take everyone on a 2 km walking tour of downtown Ottawa.

The result,

@foodiePrints (Jul 17, 09:40 PM)
@EqualOppKitchen ...7 very generous restaurants. 37 happy p0utine enthusiasts. 2 km of walking tour. $1266 raised to fight cancer!

Poutine crawls are not unheard of. Earlier this year, Toronto food bloggers organized one. Theirs was not a fundraiser, just poutine enthusiasts, trying the various takes on poutine their city has to offer. The dish that has been long derided, often referred as "fat lumber jack food", has slowly colonized the city.

With the help of friends, the bloggers behind the Endless Simmer blog organized a "Tour de Poutine" in New York City. In total, they visited 7 eateries and sampled 7 takes on poutine. As Rebecca Marx of the Village Voice blog wrote about the poutine crawl, it revealed Brooklyn to be an unlikely poutine paradise. The most interesting to me was the one that came from a lunch counter in the Essex Street Market, Shopsin's. Dubbed the "Last Supper Poutine", it was topped not with cheese curds, but three poached eggs.

Well, Ottawa neighbours Quebec, the province that gave poutine birth. This is a city that knows good poutine. Here's what our ByWard Market produces.

The Courtyard Restaurant (21 George Street)

Chef Michael Hay's take on Poutine

Hand Cut Shoe String Fries, topped with Duck Confit, St-Albert Curds, and smashed Foie Gras Torchon
Jenn and I unfortunately did not get the opportunity to try Chef Hay's poutine. Sous Chef Arleigh Martin assembled the poutine to order. According to one of Chef Hay's earlier tweets, the sauce involved "French fry consomme." The torchon looked like it was frozen with liquid nitrogen and "smashed."

Zak's (16 ByWard Market Square)

Breakfast Poutine
Home fries, cheese curds, hollandaise, and paprika.

More after the jump...

For our coverage of this year's Taste of Wellington West event, visit the Ottawa Tonite website.

Taste of Wellington West 1010: Rain and Sandwiches
It is our second year attending the event and, as last year, we had a lot of fun.

The two finds this year, amazing red pepper hummus from Credible Edibles (78 Hinton Avenue North) and lime meltaway cookies from the soon-to-open Alpha Soul Cafe (1015 Wellington Street W.).

Alpha Soul Cafe

Business Card

Lime Meltaway Cookies

Another find last Saturday actually has very little to do with the Taste of Wellington West. Holland avenue residents have a new family-run convenience store (83), called Sun Grocery Store, formerly Holland Avenue Flowers and Gifts. What sets this convenience store apart are the freshly made queso blanco it sells and their assembled-to-order "barbecue" sandwiches.

Sun Grocery Store

Barbecued Sandwiches
Each sandwich is made with a flour tortilla. It is filled with freshly cut tomato, lettuce, and skewer grilled chicken breast. You have a choice of supermarket mayonnaise or freshly made chimichurri. Chimichurri is a Latin American green sauce, made with chopped parsley (and/or cilantro), minced garlic, olive oil, and white vinegar.

"barbecue" sandwich

Fresh veg and grilled chicken
Think home-style food, juicy white meat chicken, and fresh and tangy chimichurri. The sandwich was an unexpected delight.

Cost: A mere $3.50 (before taxes or tip)

For much more complete photo coverage, visit Dennis Van Staalduinen's (@denvan) Beg to Differ blog. Dennis is the founder of the Wellington West Business Improvement Association and a great guide to the neighbourhood.

Particulars:
Credible Edibles
78 Hinton Avenue North
(613)558-7569

Alpha Soul Cafe
1015 Wellington Street W.

Sun Grocery Store
83 Holland Avenue

I am afraid this blog entry is going to be another linker to a piece I wrote for Ottawa Tonite, a great online community that aims to promote arts and culture in Ottawa. For those of you who do no know, we at foodiePrints are members of Ottawa Tonite's team of volunteer bloggers.

When I realized that the piece I was drafting about the premiere of W-Network's Caroline & Dave involved more than food, television and showcasing an innovative restaurant idea in Ottawa, I decided to post it to Ottawa Tonite.

Here is a screen capture for posterity:

Zen Kitchen foodiePrint on Ottawa Tonite

I had great fun at the sponsored premiere, organized by Ian Capstick (@iancapstick) of MediaStyle. He arranged for both traditional and new media to attend the event, local food bloggers.

Here are links to other write-ups on the Caroline and Dave premiere from other food bloggers who attended:

• "The Restaurant Adventures of Caroline and Dave" by "J" of It Ain't Meat Babe
• The Restaurant Adventures of Caroline and Dave by Jessica of Nooschi (@nooschi)
• "The Restaurant Adventures of Caroline and Dave (and the amazing ZenKitchen)" by Rachelle of Rachelle Eats Food

It was an absolute pleasure to meet each blogger. As Jessica points out in her piece, while perfect strangers, it felt like we were already familiar with each other.

In preparation for the event, I discovered that I know far too little about vegetarian cuisine, let alone vegan. With the Adventures of Caroline & Dave culminating in Ottawa's first fine food vegan restaurant called Zen Kitchen, I asked the food community on Twitter for noted tomes to add to my collection. The response was tremendous. A chef (Chef Victoria Elsberry), food bloggers (Leela of SheShimmers and Sarah of What Smells So Good?), and Ottawa residents (@themagicfridge, @refashionista, @smart_spaces and @snobiwan) chimed in.

There were 3 mentions of Mollie Katzen (@MollieKatzen) and the Moosewood Series of cook books. One particular cook book was listed, Vegetable Dishes I can't Live Without.

There were 2 mentions of Isa Chandra Moskowitz, Vegan With a Vengeance: 125 Delicious, Cheap, Animal-Free, Logo-Free Recipes That Rock and Veganomicon: The Ultimate Vegan Cookbook.

There were two mentions of Deborah Madison. One particular cook book was listed, Greens Cookbook.

Other mentioned must-have Vegetarian/Vegan cook books:

• The Complete Vegan Cookbook: Over 200 Tantalizing Recipes Plus Plenty of Kitchen Wisdom for Beginners and Experienced Cooks by Susann Geiskopf-Hadler
• The New Laurel's Kitchen by Laurel Robertson et al.
• The New Vegetarian Epicure by Anna Thomas
• The Essential Vegetarian by Diana Shaw
• Fresh at Home by Ruth Brown
• Weight Watchers Versatile Vegetarian

Other mentioned noted cook book authors:

• Martha Rose Shulman
• Madhur Jaffrey

From the tweets I received, it looks like I have some searching to do in new and used book stores.

Speaking of cook books, at the Caroline & Dave premiere, I met Michael Bhardwaj of CBC Radio 1, host of In Town and Out. He will be airing regular segments, reviewing cook books. To Bhardwaj, I look forward to the reviews. Please say hi to Amrita Singh for me. And, can you ask the publishers when they will pursue Chef Ishii (Caroline of Caroline & Dave) of Zen Kitchen for a cook book?

Two nights ago the foodiePrints team, under our day job guises, attended the United Way (Centraide) Ottawa's Schmoozefest charity fundraiser for 2009. A "schmoozefest", as is described on the United Way's website, is an "opportunity to network with leaders from local businesses, government, and community." Promoters on both Twitter and FaceBook billed it as the networking event to attend of the year.

It is no wonder, that evening, organizers gathered together a large variety of VIPS (Very Important Persons) to feature. Here is a subset from the list given to attendees:

• Ion Aimers: Founder and Owner of The Works Gourmet Burger Bistro
• Michael Blackie: Executive Chef of the National Arts Centre
• Jason Burke: Directro and CFO of IBM's Analytics and Performance Management IBM
• Candace Derickx: Co-owner Best Tools for Schools
• Max Keeping: Vice President News and News at 6 Anchor of CTV Ottawa
• Robert Lane: Co-Founder of Overlay.TV
• Jame McCracken: Director of Education and Secretary Treasurer of the Ottawa Catholic School Board
• Tuan Nguyen: President of Ottawahealth.com
• Darren Nippart: Managing Director of Accenture

The event was held at Lago Bar-Grill-View at the Dow's Lake Pavilion and was hosted by the United Way's "Next Generation Cabinet."

After the event was announced, approximately a month ago, I decided to buy a ticket. I wanted to take the opportunity to meet Candace Derickx, half of the amazing business team who launched and operates Best Tools for Schools. Best Tools for Schools is an ingenious concept that creates a much needed service for parents of school-aged children to supply them with an approved set of school supplies. Inside a Best Tools for Schools "kit" is a year's worth of writing implements, art supplies (crayons, markers and glue), rulers (geometry sets for older children), notebooks, and paper that a student will need. Best Tools for Schools literally eliminates the anxiety and frustration that come from wandering in the back to school "war zones" at large retail stores.

Jenn eventually decided to join me to promote her work in an evening math school, Spirit of Math. Spirit of Math is devoted to equipping children with effective problem solving skills and reinforcing concepts taught in regular day school. I have found the program actually expands on the regular Ontario curriculum, filling a much needed gap when it comes to developing an approach to solving word problems and learning more complex math. Having attended several open-houses, I am continually amazed by the sheer enthusiasm the program cultivates in students and the abilities students as young as 6 years old develop. Had I been enrolled in such a program as a child, I think it would have given me the tools to have struggled less and learned more as I went on to high school and university.

When we arrived at Lago, Jenn and I were literally shocked by the sheer number of young professionals seemingly mingling together. Besides offering the opportunity to "mix it up" with others in our respective fields and exchange contact information, there were also silent and live auctions of donated items from local United Way supporters. Items included sessions at various spas, gift certificates to fine dining restaurants, weekend stays at hotels, author signed books, tickets to sporting events, signed sports memorabilia, rounds of golf at local courses, and bottles of wine.

Lago provided complimentary hors d'oeuvres and a $100 gift certificate for the silent auction. Hors d'oeuvres included vegetarian Vietnamese spring rolls; skewered tandoori chicken; chopped tomato caprese tarts, topped with feta; and phyllo wrapped spinach and cheese packages. There was also a cash bar where a glass of coke and red wine ran us $13, $3 and $10 respectively. Happily, the bartenders were very pleasant to deal with, even though they were often overwhelmed by the large number of "schmoozers" going to the bar.

All in all, I found the experience positive, coming home with a dozen business cards, scribbled phone numbers, e-mail addresses, and twitter handles. I did however find that attendees grouped themselves clique-ishly, spending the majority of the evening banded together. Several VIPS like James McCracken also came late and spent their time with United Way staff. To fill the gap, a number of equally recognizable non-VIPS made themselves accessible. They included Susan Murphy, one of Ottawa's social media luminaries and co-owner of Jester Creative; Sean Fitzpatrick, co-owner of Petit Bill's Bistro; and Dennis Van Staalduinen, brand expert and founder of Brandvelope Consulting.

After the event, attendees were given a "swag bag"

Schmoozefest Swag Bag
Mine included a Schmoozefest branded waiter's cork screw, an Accenture branded pen, Royal Bank branded post-it notes, United Way branded anti-bacterial hand sanitizer and a $10 gift certificate to Lago. The ringed notebook is a United Way Journal that most of us who participated in a balloon draw received.

Jenn bid on and won the Stephen Beckta gift certificates in the silent auction.

Gift Certificates Signed by Stephen Beckta
You can expect foodiePrint-style reviews of both Beckta Dining and Wine and Play Food and Wine in the near future.

Speaking of which, Jenn and I are excited to attend next year's Schmoozefest. Though, next year, we encourage United Way Ottawa to add ice-breaker activities and include Twitter-handles on name tags. The ice-breakers can encourage more intermingling. The Twitter-handles will allow more of us to put faces to some of the tweeps we follow. In fact, Jenn and I spent a portion of our time trying to match faces to Twitter avatars from memory.

Update: This entry has been cross posted on Ottawa Tonite.

Particulars:
Lago Bar & Grill View
1001 Queen Elizabeth Dr
(613)235-5246