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

This week's "relatively" Wordless Wednesday comes a day early since Jenn and I took proper Wordless Wednesday photos over the week-end. That said, we are not forgoing this week's photos of another of Ottawa's restaurant's patios.

Please find below the patio at Credible Edibles (78 Hinton Avenue North), Chef/Owner Judi Varga-Toth's answer to a conversation she and her sister had about how to provide their children with nutritious, environmentally-conscious lunch at school.

Credible Edibles

Four-Seater Tables

These pictures were taken during Saturday's Taste of Wellington West event. Credible Edibles' contributions, a roasted red pepper hummus (served both gluten and gluten free), "fresh and fiery" salsa, and carrot cake.

Roasted Red Pepper Hummus

Fresh and Fiery Salsa

Carrot Cake
The rustic textured roasted red pepper hummus with its slight lemon tang and lusciously moist carrot cake with cream cheese frosting were favourites amongst event attendees. This includes the fellow Ottawa food bloggers Jenn and I were with, Jodi (@simplyfresh) of the Simply Fresh and Kaitlin (@kaitli) of the Heartful Mouthful blogs.

Inside Credible Edibles, Chef Varga-Toth had containers of hummus and salsa on sale.

Hummus and Salsa for Sale

And here were that day's specials.

Specials

With the Taste of Wellington West featuring eateries along Wellington Street W., Ottawa's "Epicurean Row", Hinton Avenue was a side street less traveled by. To quote, Robert Frost, walking down Hinton "made all the difference."

Only, the Thursday before, I was remarking how envied people who could eat at Credible Edibles during their lunch breaks. To anyone lucky enough to be in walking distance, I advise you follow the eatery's twitter account (@creded). It tweets daily specials from time to time along with announcements like the following:

@creded (Jun 21, 05:10 PM)
NEWS: we are now members of Savour Ottawa! This certifies that we buy local & support local farmers. Another reason to try us soon!

Congrats to Chef Varga-Toth!

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

More after the jump...

After hearing some rather outlandish rumours about how Dish Catering will be using their new space at 1024 Wellington Street W., I decided to contact the catering company directly. Firstly, Dish Catering is presently located at 119 Ross Avenue in the West Wellington Village. Its Chef/Owner Erin Clatney opened the small catering company in 2002. Since then, Dish has established what she feels is a strong brand in Ottawa for quality food, made from ingredients sourced from a local community of small independent producers. Her menus are very seasonal. She and her cooks know their farmers (meat and produce), their butcher, and their cheese maker.

Dish's philosophy is to create beautifully presented great food with a personal touch. It is a primarily "offsite" caterer for large and small events. One of their more recognizable clients is the newly opened Canadian Museum of Nature. Chef Clatney and her team offer food-focused full-service catering. But, because of its size, Dish's owner is often on-site at events. Size-wise, Dish's website profiles 8 people, including its passionate chef/owner.

According to my chat, Chef Clatney is a veteran of the restaurant industry. Discovering that it is not conducive to a balanced life, especially with four children, she opened Dish. Since then, demand has grown. So, she looked to 1024 Wellington Street to create an intimate dining space. It will not be a wine bar. It will not be a 56-seat eatery. It will not be a gastropub. In fact, the lease she signed has a non-compete clause with an existing restaurant tenant I presume to be Cozy's Restaurant (1008 Wellington Street W.). As a result, despite Dish and Cozy's preparing completely different cuisines, she cannot serve food for retail. Food service cannot be the focus of her business. Instead, the space will be exclusive for event rehearsals and private dinner parties. It will house a much larger catering kitchen, which Dish will move into. It may offer a retail component, called "Dish It Out", which will allow people to order from a preset menu of "catering-in-a-box" solutions. Essentially, for small events, Dish will prepare dishes and package them for pick up from the location, something Chef Clatney referred to as do-it-yourself take-away catering.

Regarding the rumours of Dish opening a patio at 1024 Wellington Street W., Chef Clatney is somewhat apprehensive of applying for a variance given the difficulty soon-to-open wood fire pizza purveyor, Tennesy Willems (1082 Wellington Street W.), had with theirs. Having clarified the issue with members of the Hintonburg Community Association (HCA), the reason Tennesy Willems' variance was opposed is because, had the patio been built, it would have had 6" clearance with a nearby house. Dish's new location does not have any houses directly behind it.

For the time being, the dining space will be licensed for 25 people. It is something, Dish's current Ross Avenue location lacks. To differentiate Dish from Urban Element on Parkdale, it will have no open kitchen. The kitchen will be a catering one. The space is not designed to be a teaching environment. Chef Clatney envisions holding wine/food tasting for clients.

Chef Clatney hired 2H Design to create her exclusive dining space. As of our conversation, it will include an 8' floating wall and an elegant long table. The floors are yet to be determined, but during demolition of the former hair salon, workers discovered a tin ceiling. She hopes to restore it.

Regarding why she chose Hintonburg to expand her business into, Chef Clatney told me neighbourhood is key when you set up shop. She has lived in the Hintonburg neighborhood since 1999. Her children go to school there. She wants to be able to ride her bike from home to her place of work. The Parkdale market is nearby. She does not want Dish to be in a commercial park.

While the West Wellington Village was a great place to start out, the Hintonburg neighbourhood has a different charm. Besides rental costs (sometimes $50/square foot) that are causing neighbouring businesses in her West Wellington location to turnover around her, she prefers how the natural sunlight fills up her new space. The light at the Caroline Bridgehead and Cube Gallery can be at times intense. Accordingly, Chef Clatney has been looking around Ottawa for a larger space for years.

Here are key considerations Chef Clatney recommends when looking for a space to set up or relocate your catering business:

• building and readiness to install a professional kitchen
• location (especially lighting)
• diversity of residents
• available parking
• rental cost

This past weekend, Jenn, fellow Ottawa blogger Katilin (@kaitli) of the Heartful Mouthful blog, and I visited Dish at their new location. For the Taste of Wellington West event, Dish erected a tent and grilled mini-lamb burgers on brioche buns. They were served in pink take-away containers on a bed of lime popcorn.

Grill

Pink Take-Away Containers

Lime Popcorn

One Tasty mini-Lamb Burger

Particulars:
Dish Catering
119 Ross Avenue
(613)761-1302

The Taste of Wellington has come and gone for the fall of 2009, the inaugural year that it has been held during the Autumnal harvest. The past two, were held during the summer. Those of us who attended saw sites beyond the amazing dishes that demonstrate what Ottawa's "Epicurean Row" has to offer.

Long Lines:

Significant Lineups, some longer, few shorter
This particular one led up to my favourite restaurant in Ottawa, Allium.

Costumed Street Performers:

Seemingly Still Stone Statues

Drinks Anyone?
All three, seemingly frozen, shifted positions when a coin was placed at their feet.

This year, Jenn and I assembled a group of participants, including twitterati @spoonsie and @paolasepicure, for a foodie crawl. We assembled at Canvas (65 Holland Avenue).

Inside, we were warmly greeted by Canvas' owner Charles Beauregard. He presented us with the following:

Top: Shrimp and Mango Salsa Rice Paper Roll, Bottom: Local Tomato Bruschetta
In fact, the bruschetta topping was so fresh and sweet that Jenn could smell the ripe tomatoes from the door of the restaurant. The rice paper rolls were also delectable, pairing shrimp with fruit.

Lobster Mac and Cheese
These panko crumb coated morsels were sinfully good and garnered quite a bit of attention. Charles couldn't re-stock the trays fast enough.

Afterward, we headed to Foolish Chicken (79 Holland Avenue). There, we found our first line up, albeit a short one. It led to owner Natalie Aucoin, serving up bowls of corn and chicken chowder with a corn bread muffin.

Corn and Chicken Chowder with a Corn Bread Muffin
The chowder was watery and uninspired. The corn bread muffin, on the other hand was light and flavorful.

On our way to our next destination, several of us stopped in to Istanbouli Shawarma (81 Holland Avenue). There, they tasted samples of Istanbouli's regular platters and sandwiches.

Top: Chicken shawarma pita wedge, Bottom: Falafel

Next, we headed to Allium (87 Holland Avenue), where we found the long line up pictured above. When we reached the samples, we found fish tacos.

Fish Tacos

My Taco
With an in-house made tortilla, Allium's fish tacos demonstrate that fish tacos need not be made with battered or breaded fish. Instead, these tacos contained flaked pan-seared haddock and a mango, avocado, and chipotle salsa. A wonderful blend of textures and flavours, the tacos easily won the restaurant new converts.

With the restaurants on Holland visited, we turned our attention to Absinthe Cafe Resto-Bar (1208 Wellington Street W.), the restaurant I told everyone was the "go to" for Ottawa's best steak frites. There, we waited for a half hour in another line. Why? Absinthe served near full-size quarter pound burgers, made from the trimmings from its popular steak frites. Absinthe uses "hanger" steak for its steak frites, a notoriously difficult to prepare cut that is singularly flavourful if cooked up perfectly medium rare. These burgers, which according to the waiters are served somewhat larger on the regular lunch menu, are shaped from those trimmings and any steaks too small to be made into steak frites. And yes, they were worth the wait.

Burgers, fixings, and cups of lemongrass and vanilla lemonade

Hanger Steak Burger on an in-house made bun
The fixings were no less spectacular: smoked chili relish, bannonnaise, cheddar sauce, chipotles, pickles, sauteed onions, sauteed mushrooms, and dijon and grainy mustard. The lemongrass and vanilla lemonade, a refreshing take on the classic drink.

Here is what I ended up with:

Burger topped half with lettuce and chili and half with lettuce and bacconnaise
Oh it was a burger to make a foodie cry: savory, juicy, distinctively flavorful, and grilled up perfectly. The next time I'm around the Wellington area for lunch, I will make it a point to head to Absinthe and order a hanger steak burger.

Absinthe is where my group of attendees disbanded. Some headed off to see what was left of the samples along Wellington. Others were stuffed and went about their weekend chores. Jenn and I headed to the Wellington Gastro-Pub (1325 Wellington Street W.) to drop off pictures for Chef/Owner Chris Deraiche of him, his brother, and his father at the Feast of Fields.

Now, let me reassure you, the dishes served were "samples" and they were indeed free. They demonstrate what Wellington Business Improvement Association (WBIA) volunteer and founder Dennis Van Staalduinen calls "Lethal Generosity." Leveraging the strengths of the Epicurian Row, its extremely high density of locally-owned shops and eateries, the Taste of Wellington accomplished two things. Firstly, it allowed residents and non-residents to meet the warm and inviting people who run the shops and eateries in the Wellington West and Hintonburg neighbourhoods. The fact is that each donated their time and products to make this event successful. Money from donation boxes at every table benefited a local food bank. Secondly, it highlighted the quality of food and service that can be had.

For many more images of the event, Van Staalduien (who goes by @denvan on twitter) hosted the 300 pictures he took of the event for the WBIA on Google's Picasa Web. Go take a gander!

Many thanks to Chris Lawson for his publishing a review I wrote on the Wellington Oracle (@wellingtnoracle on Twitter). It reviews Allium's first Tapas Monday after re-opening from its renovations this past summer .

Lost in Enjoyment

Allium is our favourite restaurant in Ottawa here at foodiePrints and we were glad to see it open to a warm welcome. Even weeks later, the restaurant is always brimming at lunchtime, on Tapas Mondays, and during Friday and Saturday evening service. While there are seats from Tuesday to Thursday, the restaurant still gathers a healthy crowd who appear "lost in enjoyment."

Allium also impressed the hundreds of people who gathered in the Hintonburg and Wellington West neighbourhoods for the Taste of Wellington event yesterday, drawing very long lines. Here is what Allium served:

Fish Taco with flaked haddock and a mango, avocado, and chipotle salsa
With an in-house made tortilla, this fish taco demonstrates that fish tacos need not be made with battered or breaded fish. A wonderful blend of textures and flavours, it was definitely a crowd favourite.

More images and a blog on the Taste of Wellington are upcoming...

More after the jump...