This week's "relatively" Wordless Wednesday Patio Post visits Hintonburger to demonstrate that great patios don't have to include bistro tables or cobblestones.

If you're a small, locally-owned, and operated burger shack, a picnic table and some shade are more than sufficient for patrons to enjoy something tasty like an 6 oz cheeseburger.

Hintonburger Patio

Simple Umbrella-ed Picnic Table

Update: One of the first things Jenn and I did when we moved back into the Hintonburg neighbourhood after our kitchen renovations was eat at Hintonburger. We made an event of it, inviting friends Treena (@tgrevatt, founder of Betidings.com) and Kelly (@kellskitchen, event coordinator for Essence Catering). Kelly brought her two young sons and daughter. Everyone had a great time.

Kelly even told me Hintonburger's fresh cut fries resemble the fries she remembers from Montreal's Lafleur's. The only difference, Lafleur's flavours their oil with a little vanilla, something I really want to try one day.

That said, here's Hintonburger's well..6 oz Hintonburger after a month's being open and operating.

Hintonburger

Cross Section
The patties are thinner than what we were served on opening day, more than likely so they cook through faster. They are however still grilled to develop a flavourful crust and juicy. Notice the non-processed cheese slice. The fresh cut fries are still fried a little under-crisp. The "fat cat" corn dogs still pleases.

Inside, the menu tacked to the wall is a little worn. There is a hand-written drink menu taped to the counter. There is now an order clip and the Hintonburger's staff are developing their own short hand for the orders.

Without hesitation, we will be returning to the Hintonburger and bringing friends.

Particulars:
Hintonburger (Facebook or Twitter)
991 Wellington Street W.
Open 11am-9pm 7 Days a Week

More after the jump...

Regular foodiePrints reader Judy, correctly identified the picture of the "mystery" poutine from the first "Ottawa, do you know your poutine" opportunity as having come from newly opened Hintonburger (991 Wellington Street W.). She will be entered into the draw for a pair of tickets for the Give to Live Poutine Crawl.

I also agree with her that Hintonburger has garnered quite the number of tweets since its opening June 26, 2010. It even caught the attention of fellow Ottawa food blogger, JB (@lordofthewings) who writes the Lord of the Wings food blog.

In our case, Hintonburger caught our attention months ago when an "opening soon" sign graced its windows.

Hintonburger, Opening Soon
Then, it was a curious soon-to-open restaurant mentioned by Carol Paschal, coordinator of the Hintonburg Supper Club.

When it opened, Jenn, her parents, and I were among the first customers through the Hintonburger's door.

Hintonburger, Now Open

Inside, you will find its owners converted what was once the Khatoom Persian Restaurant into a diner-esque eatery, complete with picnic table tablecloth bars and black and white ceramic tiles.

Lunch Bar

Condiment Bar

Booth

On its menu, you will find burgers, hot dogs, freshly cut fries, onion rings, and poutine.

Menu

Front of Street-facing Sign

Back of Street-facing Sign

More after the jump...

It seems that everyone loves poutine, poutine being the ultimate in sinful savoury fare. What started as either a diner invention at Le Roy Jucep in Drummondville, Quebec (1964) or a bagged "mess" at Lutin Qui Rit in Warwick, Quebec (1957) is no longer just "fat lumberjack food." There are now variations from Italian (with marinara sauce) to Barbecue (with pulled pork), Mexican Mole, and Bourguignonne (with ground beef and fried onions). Chefs have been known to create gourmet takes, substituting fries for hand-cut German spaetzle, topping with steak, or adding foie gras to the gravy.

We've written about poutine before and asked Ottawa for its favourites. Responses included poutine from fry trucks to higher end restaurants. The dish, consisting of fries, cheese curds, and a velouté-style gravy, even has its own bot on Twitter. It retweets any 140 char message with the word "poutine" in it.

Still, with Ottawa aware that authentic Quebec poutine can be had nearby, we seem to have "re-discovered" poutine a little over 2 weeks ago. On June 28th, Toronto's "poutinerie" chain, Smoke's, opened the doors to its Dalhousie franchise in the ByWard Market (407 Dalhousie Street). Poutine stepped into the forefront. The opening drew crowds of enthusiasts, food bloggers, foodies, and just about anyone craving cheesy excess. Now, weeks after its opening, the lunch rush still packs the little restaurant on weekdays.

With poutine on everyone's minds, Jenn and I floated an idea for helping our friend Izzy (@spoonsie) in her challenge to raise $10,000 to fight cancer and cycle 4300 km from Vancouver, BC to Austin, TX (IsaOnABike.com). Our idea: Organize a poutine crawl to remind locals there are eateries in Ottawa that make specialized poutine. Everyone, a tasty take.

It will be held July 17, 2010 and will include tasting samples from 7 eateries in the ByWard Market.

You can reserve tickets for the poutine crawl at Event Brite to participate. Participants will pay $25 "at the door" when they arrive. We meet in front of Cafe 55 (by the picnic tables) in the ByWard Market (55 ByWard Market Square). The poutine crawl begins at 1:20 PM.

The event is organized by our friends at C'est Bon Cooking who hold culinary tours of Ottawa. Paola St-George (@cestboncooking) will lead the poutine crawl. If 30 people reserve, participants will be split in two groups. Paola will lead one. Jenn and I will lead the other. We aim to complete the tour at an Irish pub where participants can enjoy a cold beer and discuss the tastings. A very unscientific vote will be taken of the favourite three poutines tasted.

Now, Izzy has generously given us two tickets to raffle off.

Here's how the raffle will work:

• Everyday, we will post a picture of poutine from an Ottawa restaurant, not necessarily one that will be included in the poutine crawl.
• We will leave hints. We may even be careless enough to leave links to websites or Facebook pages.
• The first person to comment on the post, correctly identifying the eatery where the poutine comes from, will be entered into a draw for the pair of tickets.
• Each day, a different first correct commenter will be chosen.
• If someone submits multiple guesses, the first one submitted will be considered.
• The winner of the tickets will be chosen using random.org Friday afternoon.

There will be five chances to be included in the draw. Here is the first opportunity:

Mystery Poutine

Fresh Cut Fries

This poutine comes from a burger eatery that opened in the Hintonburger neighbourhood June 26, 2010. The picture was actually taken the day after the eatery's opening.

The eatery is on Facebook and Twitter. The poutine it serves ($4.00 for a small) features freshly cut fries and St. Albert cheese curds.

Pictured beside the poutine is a made-to-order corn dog.

Made-to-order Corn Dog
On that note, this eatery doesn't fry up from-frozen corn dogs. Wieners are battered on premises.

The eatery's burgers are hand-made and the beef comes from Savour Ottawa accredited O'Brien Farms.

Here are the good people who work the grill and fryers.

Owners
They are friends who decided a good burger and fries shouldn't cost you more than $10.00

Good luck!

Alternatively, if you would prefer to guarantee yourself a spot on the poutine crawl, visit Event Brite and reserve one.

Update: Apartment 613 a great Ottawa blog, for whom we did a Pho round up months back, posted a write-up on Hintonburger this past Monday. Go take a peak. It's a good read.

Update 2: It seems Thomas Williams, co-owner of Hintonburger, released a recipe for their "Fat Cat" corn dogs to CBC Radio's All in a Day on July 14th.

2 pkgs Lesters hot dogs
5.5 cups corn meal
3.5 cups plain flour
2.5 tsp baking soda
1,5 tbsp sugar
3 cups of buttermilk
2.5 cups water
2 Eggs

Mix dry ingredients in a large bowl, add buttermilk and water. Beat in eggs and mix well. If too stiff, add water. The batter should be smooth, not stiff or runny. Fill skillet with enough oil for corn dogs to float in, heat oil to 375degrees F. Skewer lesters wieners with popsicle stick or wooden kabob stick and roll in batter. Allow batter to drip off so that the wiener is coated, not dripping. Gently place battered corndog in the oil. Slowly turn corn dog as you place it in the oil, once the end puffs slightly gently let go. Use tongs to turn as needed. Remove corn dog from the oil once batter is evenly coloured golden brown.

Source: CBC Ottawa

Particulars:
Hintonburger (Facebook or Twitter)
991 Wellington Street W.
Open 11am-9pm 7 Days a Week

More after the jump...

This morning Rebecca (@bitofmomsense) of the "A Little Bit of Momsense" blog posted an entry with a rather significant blast from my past, asking about everyday vices. Hers, Pepsi (sometimes Coke), chocolate, coffee and fast food. The blast, a vintage video from Canadian band, Men without Hats. After commenting two of my past vices, I realized I forgot one from my childhood, McDonald's.

Having grown up in North America during the height of the MTV age, McDonald's was unavoidable. Eating there was an occasional treat, but I developed a taste for its golden fries. In fact, I think that McDonald's defined the single fried shoe string-style fry for a generation. So, while this foodie appreciates Belgian-style fries, he sometimes has McDonald's on his mind.

Having McDonald's on the mind may be the intention behind the rather creative "thought bubble" advertising, gracing the walls of subways. One photo of the advertising at work has been dugg heavily on digg.com.

Think Good Thoughts
Source: EpicWinFTW Website

Here is another.

Think Good Thoughts
Source: lorenzodom's Flickr stream

Unfortunately, the McDonald's dishes we have on our minds tend to be the product of marketing. Here's another installment of "As Advertised" vs. Reality:

Crispy Chicken:

Crispy Chicken as Advertised
Source: McDonald's of Jackson Michigan Menu


Crispy Chicken Box

Crispy Chicken in Reality

Big Mac:

Big Mac as Advertised
Source: McDonald's of Jackson Michigan Menu


Big Mac in Reality

Angus Burger:

Angus Burger as Advertised

Interesting Sticker

Angus Burger Box

Angus Burger in Reality

Big Mac Snack Wrap:

Big Mac Snack wrap as Advertised
Source: Health Kicker Website


Big Mac Snack Wrap Wrapped

Big Mac Snack Wrap in Reality

Big Mac Snack Wrap Opened

Promotional Buffalo Chicken Snack Wrap:

Buffalo Fried Chicken Snack Wrap as Advertised
Source: Orange County Register Website


Buffalo Fried Chicken Snack Wrap Wrapped

Buffalo Fried Chicken Snack Wrap In Reality

Buffalo Fried Chicken Snack Wrap Opened

The various photos come from foodiePrints' archives. We go to McDonald's somewhat rarely given the sheer number of locally-owned eat-in restaurants we have come across over the years. As for what we think of its various sandwiches, they are somewhat uninspired but nothing unexpected given McDonald's menu. To paraphrase an older entry, McDonald's food suffers form achieving economies scale. Its menu is a fixed one with limited options, prepared with assembly line efficiency. Having streamlined food preparation to ensure lowest cost no matter what ingredients are seasonal, this is the food McDonald's serves.

That said, I think McDonald's food stylists and photographers are very talented, transforming the reality of McDonald's menu into what we end up being marketed.

To many Hintonburg residents, their neighbourhood, that is bordered by Centretown's Chinatown and the West Wellington Village, is under siege from forces bent on its gentrification. The culprits: commercial developers and, to some extent, Ottawa's municipal government. Both are seen as overly eager to remake Hintonburg in Westboro's image. Already, there are no less than four large scale construction projects putting up buildings in the West Wellington Village, either multi-story condo buildings or "pigeon-hole"-style townhouses. There are rumours, developers are eyeing Hintonburg next, some homeowners even reporting agents questioning them about their intentions to sell their properties.

Ottawa's Epicurean Row, a stretch of Wellington Street West, that is shared by both Hintonburg and the West Wellington Village, is renowned for having an extremely high density of locally-owned eateries and fine food stores. It now hosts a Booster Juice (1277 Wellington Street W.) and Tea Shop 168 (1356 Wellington Street W.), both franchises of arguably large chain businesses, here defined as non-locally owned and having many storefronts or locations in other cities.
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Recently, the Ottawa Citizen (a local newspaper) even intimated the close of Melrose Groceteria/Helen's Cuisine another casualty of gentrification, the building soon to be renovated to house an upscale pizzeria. To Robert Bostelaar, writer and journalist for the Ottawa Citizen, neither Helen nor Buddy Saikely were forced out of their business. After 40 years serving a grateful community and at least two generations of loyal patrons, they deservedly retired. Theirs was an eatery and convenience store that reflected a closely-knit community where residents know their neighbours and get together for street parties.

Hintonburg, however, has another eatery that reflects the neighbourhood, the Wellington Sandwich Shop.

Storefront

Counter
This eatery is somewhere, known mostly to locals, inconspicuous and often passed by by people driving through Hintonburg. Inside, a wonderful woman named Filomina operates a place where people get together to eat, enjoy each other's company, and catch up on the local gossip. Patrons partake of food more familiar with times gone by.

Filomina cooks entirely from what we at foodiePrints calls first principles. A chicken sandwich or wrap starts with a marinated chicken breast, entirely raw, being thrown onto a gas-fired grill. A burger starts with measuring out ground meat, seasoning it, shaping it into a patty, and throwing it onto a gas-fired grill. Sandwich toppings are prepared to order to ensure freshness. For example, tomatoes are sliced as orders are taken. Soup, salads, and bakery are made daily. The soups are also seasonal and change from day to day.

Daily Soup and Specials
During the last two weeks she made yellow split pea and cream of broccoli, both made from scratch, both disappearing quickly during lunch.

If you are at all regular, Filomina will not only learn your name, but will remember how you like your orders. This includes young children.

What does somewhere that knows your name look like?

It has handwritten chalkboard displays

Its seats are warm and inviting

Its walls are softly coloured and decorated with unique decorations

It offers artisanal products, like homemade soap

What does it serve? Really good homemade food! To date, Jenn and I have only ordered hot sandwiches from the grill.

Hot Sandwiches
On a previous outing, we ordered the BLT and veggie burger, the latter a recommendation from Melissa Dimock of Refashionista (@refashionista).

This time, we followed another recommendation of Carol Paschal, the organizer of the Hintonburg Supper Club, and had the hamburgers. She, the "Homemade Hamburger" ($4.95) with 100% lean ground beef.

Homemade Hamburger
Me, the "Wellington Burger" ($5.95) with cheese, bacon, and fried onions.

Wellington Burger

My thoughts, my hamburger patty was incredibly fresh tasting and wonderfully crusted. Its toppings, exceeded expectations: fresh and crisp veg, browned and singed fried onions, melted cheese, and flat top grilled bacon. The kaiser rolls are also grilled crisp.

Slightly Dry Pattie
Unfortunately, with the patty made from lean ground beef, grilling it well-done results a somewhat dry texture. It is the only issue with what is otherwise a great homemade burger.

To finish, we had butter tarts, highly sought after commodities at the Wellington Sandwich Shop.

Butter Tarts
Dense, buttery, and sweet with a thicker pastry, these are the best butter tarts in town.

If you are in the area, drop by for breakfast or lunch. However, be warned. Filomina opens early and closes at 3:00 pm, Mondays to Saturdays. She only recently started taking Interac and prefers cash.

The next time we head over to the Wellington Sandwich Shop, we plan on ordering the turkey sandwich and asking why turkey's aren't allowed...

No Turkeys Allowed

Particulars:
The Wellington Sandwich Shop
1123 Wellington Street W.
(613)722-5946