For those of you who don't know, Jenn and I organized a pre-Canada Day dinner at Atelier, inviting everyone to join us, be they foodies, gastronomes, gourmets, or simply adventurous eaters. In total, 9 people attended, including several local twitter personalities (@spoonsie and @epicuriadotca). Our intention was to support a local restaurant on a traditionally slow day of the week.

Our 12 course meal included an appetizer/amuse bouche, 8 savory courses, and 3 dessert courses. It culminated with what has become a signature dish for Atelier's pastry chef, Chef Michael Holland: the Elvis Truffle.

However, before we begin, let us start with the restaurant itself.

Unassuming Building
Located at 540 Rochester Street, Atelier is situated in an unassuming building with purposely aged iron grates and no signage. This is for two reasons. Firstly, the word "atelier" is French for "workshop" so the building resembles one outwardly. Like other avant garde restaurants, such as Chicago's Alinea, Atelier's food speaks for itself. Secondly, when the restaurant opened, signage simply wasn't a priority. When time permits, Chef/Owner Marc Lepine has said he will look into something subdued.

Here is Atelier's utilitarian kitchen with its compliment of ubiquitous equipment to make highly imaginative dishes, which are best described as "avant garde."

Left to right: Chefs Allen, Holland, and Lepine
It is amazing to think that approximately 552 dishes (12 course x 23 seats x 2 days) are produced in this small space during Friday and Saturday service alone. It is a very efficient space.

Atelier's dining room is elegant with its simplicity. Its walls and ceiling sport shades of white. Its tables, a dark stain. Its chairs, white leather upholstery.

Dining Room

Local Art
The chairs were specifically chosen to allow patrons to sit comfortably through Atelier's 12 course tasting menu. A meal can easily last 3 hours.

I feel the intention is to take nothing away from the meal, whose individual courses are meant to be experiences for the senses. As such, the wall decorations, furniture, and colours chosen are meant to be neutral. They mimic a canvas. They also encourage patrons to dispense with any formalities, speak to each other, and enjoy themselves. Regarding the wall decorations, all of the paintings come from a local Canadian artist, Chef Lepine's (then 3 year old) daughter.

For a little history, Atelier's Chef de Cuisine, Sarah Allen, directed me to a thread on the E-Gullet forum that includes pictures of what the restaurant looked like before. With permission, here are before pics.

Formerly Chaba Thai

Kitchen before renovations
The transformation is striking: repaired masonry, painted brick, gutted and entirely re-built kitchen.

Now, on with the food!
As we were seated, we were presented with Sour Cream and Onion Bread with Flaked Butter and the Wine List.

Sour Cream and Onion Bread with Flaked Butter

Wine List
The sour cream and onion bread is a dish that Chef Holland discussed on twitter (@pastryoverlord) several months ago, even asking his followers what "flavour" he should try next. Before, he baked up loaves of barbecue bread, which Chef Allen (@sarah_j_allen) assured me was delicious, even attracting local wildlife to the restaurant's garbage bin. To make the barbecue bread, Chef Holland replaces all of the liquid from a regular bread recipe with barbecue sauce. I have absolutely no idea how he makes his sour cream and onion bread.

Nevertheless, with its baguette-style texture, oven freshness, and "from my childhood" flavour, I was grateful just to eat it.

Sour Cream and Onion Bread Texture
The bread was served warm and perfectly sliced. The warmth actually just softened the butter flakes enough to allow them to be spread smoothly onto the slices. My dear friend Yannick, who writes the Endorphin Buzz blog and who joined me for dinner, told me the butter was actually sprayed onto the serving tray. This attention to detail (spreadable non-softened butter) and creative take on a traditional restaurant element (table bread), demonstrated the innovative whimsy of the dishes to come.

Regarding the wine list, I should point out that Atelier has two sommeliers on staff. The first is Steve Robinson, who presided over our meal. The second is Chef Lepine (@marclepine). Besides being a celebrated chef, he carries sommelier credentials and trained at Ottawa's Algonquin College.

For an additional $55, Atelier includes a wine pairing to go with its 12 course meal. The wines chosen represent a veritable multi-continent tour, with a partial preference towards Canadian wineries. While members of the other table opted for the pairing, I chose not to. I was however assured by those who did that the pairings were well chosen.

First Course: Pretzel Pop

Pretzel Pop
When our host explained what went into this first course, I immediately thought "creamsicle." The "pop" portion was attached to an authentic rolled-paper lollipop stick. It consisted of a Dijon mustard cream that was frozen on an "anti-griddle", dipped in honey, and then covered with crushed salted pretzels.

Cross Section
An anti-griddle is the opposite of a regular griddle, rapidly cooling foods instead of heating. It gave the cream an ice-cream texture.

The dish's flavour pairing is classic (Bavarian pretzels with hot mustard), just completely revisioned: slightly sweetened, with contrasting textures, and cold. It was great. Even my better half, who dislikes dijon, enjoyed this appetizer/amuse bouche.

Second Course: Halibut Cheek

Halibut Cheek
This fish course served a portion of fish that is extremely prized in Asian cultures. Cooked sous-vide for several minutes with star anise, it sat atop Jerusalem artichoke puree and was accompanied with asparagus heads, pieces of crumbled bacon, and drops of olive paste (finely ground tapenade).

Overall the dish was good. Its flavours worked well with one another and everything was expertly plated. For unfamiliar patrons, this would have been an excellent fish course. However, since my better half and I grew up eating this portion of fish, we found it slightly overdone. While it was by NO means harsh, we are just used to this portion being softer and much more succulent. Interestingly, before dinner started, my table even discussed a Chinese meal of fish heads.

Aside: It was after the second course that we started seeing subtle differences in the service between Atelier and other restaurants.

• Our hosts were extremely knowledgeable about the dishes, demonstrating an understanding about them, not just reciting facts. With the sheer number of different dishes and constantly changing menus (sometimes weekly), we assumed they must be food enthusiasts. Else, Atelier employs two of the best front of house staff in the city.
• The cutlery changed with each course, ensuring no leftover flavours or textures.
• While each course came promptly after the previous, the ladies of our party were served theirs first, a courtesy that other restaurants seem to have lost.

Suffice it to say, despite the number of courses, we were tended to very well.

Third Course: Lobster

Atlantic Lobster
The third course was a wonderful multitude of textures and flavours. Butter poached Atlantic lobster came served atop truffle oil pancakes. It was topped with a very thin slice of black truffle and a chardonnay foam. It was accompanied with cinnamon mushrooms, a dehydrated leek ring, a piece of chive, and two sauces: watercress mayonnaise and egg yolk.

This course made up for the previous one. The lobster was perfectly cooked and the earthy truffle and mushroom flavours, a wonderful compliment. The onion, raw chive, and watercress provided a nice green and onion contrast, all carried well by the rich egg yolk and mayonnaise. My perfect bite: lobster, with several bubbles of foam, a sliver of truffle and pancake, a bit of chive, a scant touch of mayonnaise, and some egg yolk. Yum!

Fourth and fifth courses follow after the jump...

More after the jump...

My better decided to add stir fried lobster to her Mother's Day menu. As such, we picked up a pair of live lobsters from the local mega-mart. When we purchased them from the fish counter, the teenage fishmonger eagerly offered to cook them for us. It seems that many customers are squeamish about handling raw foods, especially the variety that moves around. Given that the "cooking process" takes no more than several minutes, I wondered how humane it was for lobsters to be either quick boiled or quick steamed. When requested, the once brown lobsters are taken from their tank into a back room where the "magic" occurs. They are then handed back to happy customers red and immobile, their shells in immaculate condition.

On a side note, several customers, who crowded the fish counter when that day's stock was unloaded, turned away when they were told that the lobsters were farmed and not wild. Honestly, at approx. $7/lb for 1-1.25 lb lobster, do you really expect the weekend "special" to be lobster trapped off the maritime coast?

That said, we decided to accept responsibility for lobster welfare and sought to find a more humane way to put them down. There are numerous on the web:

• Place them in fresh water to put them to sleep, then cook
• Place them in tepid water to acclimatize them and the slowly raise the heat.
• Numb them by refrigeration (either in the fridge or freezer) prior to cooking
• Numb them by dousing them in iced salt water prior to cooking
• Plunge a knife behind the eyes and cut down through the head, then cook

Source: Majority of these options are aggregated in a piece called "Shell Shock" from the NYTimes

After some discussion on twitter and finding a step by step guide, I ended up choosing the traditional method of bisecting the head area with a chef's knife. However, I first chilled the lobsters in the fridge for well over an hour.

As per instructions:

Take one groggy live lobster
Grasp it between where the body connects to the tail.

While holding it against the cutting board...

place the tip of a chef's knife 1" or 1.5" from the head, with the blade facing away.

Plunge downwards and then...

bring the knife between the eyes to finish the cut.


Place the lobster a steaming apparatus and steam for 15 minutes over simmering water
For a lobster ranging from 1-1.25 lb, this is appropriate to not overcook the meat.


Plunge the lobster into ice water to stop the cooking


After straining, you will have gently cooked lobster, ready for a stir fry

Using an already posted recipe for aromatic stir-fried lobster, such is what happened to the two steamed lobsters.

Served
Also served were smoked salmon, sweet chili chicken, sautéed egg tofu on Chinese greens, oven roasted pork side ribs, and stir fried bok choy. Not pictured were fish soup and beef stew. Quite the feast, no?

The lobster dish went over very well, disappearing quickest.

During our visit to Le Petit Bill's Bistro last week, an item on the tasting menu had us discussing the virtues of choosing artisanal bread for dishes. The tasting menu was meant to celebrate the bistro's first birthday. The menu item that had us discussing bread was a two ways serving of lobster: bisque and creamed. The creamed lobster was served on a rather stale piece of pan fried rye bread. It was an unfortunate dish. Were the bistro to have employed fresh artisanal white bread such as a baguette, the base of the creamed lobster dish would have been lighter. It would have fried up crisper, and it would have been slightly more resilient to handling. Instead, we found ourselves thinking about requesting a knife and board to cut through the soggen slice of toughness. I spent so much effort chewing that the lobster flavor was completely lost to me.

I strongly recommend the chef re-think bread-based servings and consider the texture, flavor, and aroma that comes from artisanal bread.

When it comes to artisanal bread, my thoughts immediately goto one bakery and the oft-sought after skills of its master baker, Kevin Mathieson. During the past 2 years, it has become difficult pickup a foodie magazine in Ottawa without seeing some mention of Mathieson, his wife Stéphanie, or his Art-is-in bakery. I first read about this bread virtuoso in the November 2006 edition of the Ottawa magazine. He had just closed up shop in the Thyme & Again catering kitchens on Wellington and started a venture with Chef Robert Bourassa, former executive chef of Café Henry Burger, in Hull.

Today, Art-is-in baked goods are prized commodities and grace the shelves in many stores. According to its website, Mathieson's hand crafted wares can be found year round at Thyme and Again, the Ottawa Bagel Shop, Il Negozio Nicastro (Wellington West location), Epicuria, Jacobsons, and Pastina (Gatineau). From May to October, Art-is-in bread is sold at the Ottawa Farmer's Market at Landsdowne Park. Of course, you will also be served Art-is-in bread when you visit Beckta, Social, Juniper, and Le Café (National Art Center).

According to dictionary.com, the following is a definition of an artisan

a person skilled in an applied art; a craftsperson

What does an artisan's bread look like? It looks like this:

Art-is-in Display at the Ottawa Bagel Shop

Potato Onion Bread

Sliced

Amazing Texture

The experience Mathieson developped from working in New York, Monaco, and Paris shows and you can taste it. A slice of Art-is-in bread betrays the expert care taken to work and raise the dough. Just try holding a slice of factory-made bread to the light. Art-is-in bread's taste reflects the organic flour used and the fact that Mathieson takes two days to bake it: 1 day to develop a mature pre-ferment and the next, to work, score, and bake it.

As the Art-is-in entry on ottawfoodies.com site states, "every time you pick up a loaf of bread from Art-is-in, you are not disappointed." They're absolutely right. The bread carries a well developed flavour and exceptional texture. Most importantly, it is fresh, usually baked the morning of.

Can you live on bread and water alone? No, but artisanal bread once in a while enriches the soul.

One of the proudest entries I have ever posted on foodiePrints is the write up of a sneak preview dinner at Le Petit Bill's Bistro (1293 Wellington St.). It was one of my first restaurant-related entries. One of the most interesting aspects were its circumstances. One Friday afternoon, my better half and I happened by the location of the soon to be opened Le Petit Bill's. An owner, Terry, saw us peeking through the window and welcomed us in. Seeing an virgin reservation book, we asked to eat there that night.

A year later, Jenn and I were again on our way to the grocery store when we happened by a flier advertising Le Petit Bill's anniversary dinner in the restaurant's window. Terry again saw us through the window. He invited us in. He gave us a copy of the flier to take with us, and, we made reservations to attend. Besides, how many foodies can turn down a 5-course tasting menu?

Here's the signage that appeared in front of the restaurant the evening of the dinner:

Signage

Here's the menu:

Menu

Here are my determinations:

First Course
Our menu described the first course as being garnished with a mustard sprout and herb aioli. We found the sprout. If the aioli were present, it was just as discernible to the palette as it was to the eye. Conversely, the Waldorf Timbale was apparent. True to its namesake, its apples were sweet, but tart. Its half piece of walnut provided a nutty crunch. Its intention was likely to cut the savoriness of the ostrich. Unfortunately, whatever texture or flavour contrast was intended were lost to an unyielding piece of ostrich.

Ostrich meat is red, so serving it as sashimi is a novel idea. However, it would have been better served sliced thinly across the grain. This way, each slice mimicks more traditional tuna sashimi, which falls apart in the mouth. There is a reason that the classic steak tartare is thoroughly chopped. You cannot expect your diner to bite through a quarter inch thick piece of ostrich meat. I had to swallow mine almost whole. My better didn't fair so well.

Second Course
Yarmouth lobster is lobster that hails from a major fishing town in Nova Scotia. According to wikipedia.net, Yarmouth is sometimes called "The Gateway to Nova Scotia." My question: Why would anyone use lobster from a reputable source to make such unremarkable preparations? Overcooked lobster, served in an overpowering cream sauce, on stale fried bread was the first preparation. Soggy bread, hard (impossible to bite through) crust, and tough lobster meat make a mediocre dish, bordering on bad. The better tasting of the two preparations was the vanilla lobster bisque. This was more because it confused my palate. While it is not unknown to sauce lobster with dairy flavoured with vanilla, the high concentration of vanilla in the bisque made it a peculiar complement.

Third Course
This de-constructed cannelloni includes a slice of buffalo mozzarella, a red pepper sauce (seasoned with parmesan), and two squares of fresh pasta. It was finished with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil. Sweet, sharp, and savory, it was pleasant compared to the previous courses.

BTW, while I am not Italian, isn't the point of Cannelloni to serve rolls of thin pasta, stuffed with a savory filling? Two squares of stacked pasta, fresh or otherwise, do not make a roll. Perhaps, the dish should have been renamed: open face ravioli?

Palette cleanser
The palette cleanser was by far the best part of the tasting menu. Consisting of a lime-basil sorbet and carbonated Elderflower water, it is a brilliant take on the classic root beer float. Because it was served in a thin champagne flute, you eat/drink your sorbet as you inhale the scent of elder flowers. The scent, carried by bubble of CO2 escaping, was heady and sweet. The tartness from the limes indeed cleansed the palette for the final two courses.

My only previous culinary reference for Elderflower was a champagne that was made by Hugh Fernley Whittingstall on an installment of River Cottage. This sorbet was a particular treat for me because, when elderflowers are in bloom, my allergies ususally prevent my enjoying their scent.

Fourth Course
With Easter just past and Thanksgiving upcoming, I looked forward to this dish to provide novel inspiration. I was disappointed by what was essentially a re-worked frozen turkey dinner. Instead of shaved turkey breast, I was served a roulade-type preparation with embedded pieces of shitake mushrooms. Happily, it was tender, but slightly dry. The gravy tasted authentic, likely owing to it coming from real pan juices. Instead of scalloped potatoes, the turkey was accompanied by a potato pave (gratin by another name) whose only distinct flavour came from the scant shavings of truffle. Everything was accompanied by a roasted heirloom carrot. Passable, yes. Great, no.

Fifth Course
The chocolate mousse was light and rich as a mousse should be. It was served with a tart raspberry puree and a fresh raspberry on top. Both cut the richness of the chocolate and provided a punctuated fruity sweetness.

Jenn was served a slice of blueberry pie instead of the chocolate mousse. According to her, the filling was made from local blueberries. They were sweet and fresh. The crust was slightly dense, but flaky and buttery.

Unfortunately, better executed desserts do not redeem a meal whose best part was a palate cleanser. On the bright side, Terry actually recognized me and my order from a year ago: a bison burger. Apparently, the bison burger is no longer on the menu.

I guess I'll check back in another year...

Cost of 2 tasting menus, drinks, and taxes: $87.15

The owners' business cards follow after the jump:

More after the jump...

Celebrated French chef Jacques Pepin once had a cooking show on the public broadcasting channel with Julia Child. One of its episodes featured lobster. In it, Chef Pepin described how he used to work as the executive chef for Howard Johnson's. His menu included a lobster roll and he demonstrated how it was put together.

Ever since I saw the episode, I found myself fantasizing about trying a lobster roll.

Recently, the Subway restaurants in the Ottawa area started offering a lobster sandwich. One warm July day, I literally could not resist and bought a 6" lobster sandwich. The cost: a whopping $10.82.

Like all subway sandwiches, the lady behind the counter offered me the "typical" toppings. Sing wanted the lobster sandwich to resemble the lobster roll I watched Chef Pepin prepare, I ok'ed cheese, lettuce, and some mayonnaise.


Subway Lobster Sandwich

Lobster, Lettuce, Cheese, and Mayo

Taking a Big Bite

The Verdict:
Unlike the lobster roll that Chef Pepin prepared, the Subway lobster sandwich was served cold. Further, the Subway version's filling was also almost entirely made out of claw meat. Claw meat has a much harsher texture than tail meat. The other bits of lobster may have been leg meat.

Harsh cold lobster meat did not make a good sandwich. Also, the cheese was a bad addition. Sharp processed cheese flavors with sweet lobster was an odd combination.

This is one Subway sandwich that I don't plan on buying again.

This just in: This posting is fourth listed when searching for "Subway Lobster Roll" on Google. Yay!!!

foodiePrints scores 4th on Google Search!