Towards the end of February, I attended a Thursday session of Case Study Jam at a German restaurant, the Lindenhof, on Preston Street (268) in Ottawa's Little Italy. It would be the second time creator Joe Boughner convened the event. Dubbed "Case Study Jam 2: Jamming Harder", Case Study Jam gathers together "do-ers", people who work in public relations, communications, or information technology, essentially "anyone who gets their hands dirty." According to the event's primer, while there is no featured speaker, several quick oral presentations start the event, leading to break off discussions on "Wins" (success case studies), "Fails" (less-than-successful case studies), and "Works in Progress" (ongoing case studies). The goal is to encourage people to share ideas and allow attendees to leverage lessons learned, all in an informal environment.

That evening's presenters follow:

• Ian Capstick (@iancapstick) of MediaStyle: His presentation on a "fail", involving a bloggers' resource for blog ideas
• Kelly Rusk (@krusk) of MediaMiser: Her presentation on a "fail", involving organizing a Social Media book club
• Bob LeDrew (@bobledrew) of Translucid: His presentation on a significant "win", involving rallying Ottawa via social media to help the Cornerstone women's shelter

Because the event was held at the Lindenhof, Boughner encouraged attendees to come early to enjoy "a schnitzel or a bratwurst" before the presenters spoke.

Having read several past tweets from local tweeps about their enjoying great dinners at the restaurant, both when it was previously on Carling and at its new location on Preston, I arrived early to sample some German fare. I however polled some trustworthy sources beforehand. One of the project managers I work with is of German decent. He told me the Lindenhof can be a little unpredictable, he having been served both great and forgettable plates. Never regrettable, he warned me to expect large servings. A friend told me there are better German restaurants in Ottawa.

The event was held in the second floor dining room of the restaurant. The Lindenhof, itself, looked like a converted two story house. With hardwood floors, yellow painted walls, and dark wood accents, the atmosphere matched the generous home-style dishes we were served.

Second Floor Bar
Even the bar looked warm and welcoming.

Off the menu, I ordered the sauerbraten in lieu of either schnitzel or bratwurst. A former colleague of mine once asked me if I had come across the vinegar marinated beef dish in my local restaurant adventures.

Lindenhof Menu

Entrees
Described as "cured and marinated roast beef, served with a tender potato dumpling and sauteed vegetables", I wasn't about to pass up the opportunity. I did take note of the schnitzel though...

Schnitzel
Boughner recommends the combined bratwurst and schnitzel plate. His German beer recommend: Warsteiner Dunkel.

Warsteiner Dunkel

Every entree is accompanied with either salad or soup.

That evening's Salad

That evening's Soup
Ian ordered the salad and graciously let me take a picture of it. I ordered the soup. Thin brothed, peppery, and slightly over seasoned, the vegetable soup tasted of tomato and was forgettable.

My sauerbraten plate was indeed generous.

Sauerbraten
The sliced beef bordered on tough, but was very manageable with the savory jus-based gravy. The potato dumpling is the largest I have ever come across. When it arrived, I thought it was a scoop of mashed potato. Expecting something yielding, my fork cut into a tender dumpling that paired well with the sliced beef. The vegetables tasted steamed and finished in butter. They were fork tender. The entire plate was rustic and satisfying.

Arriving at the restaurant ravenous, my dinner quickly filled the gap, allowing me to enjoy the following presentations.

Total: $25.43 (including a Coke ($2.50), a coffee, and taxes).

I would later speak with Bob LeDrew about encouraging members of Ottawa's foodie and food blog community (over 50 blogs strong) to come together and help him hold another dinner for the Cornerstone women's shelter. His idea: a chili or stew dinner. My thoughts: Ottawa has a vibrant foodie community with food enthusiasts who defy author Michael Ruhlman's thoughts that foodies don't cook. Jenn later suggested to include a canned food drive for the Food Bank as well. More on this later.

Many thanks to the Lindenhof for hosting Case Study Jam. Many thanks to Joe Boughner, the presenters, and the attendees for some insightful discussion. I am excited to attend the next one.

More after the jump...

A sure sign you're Canadian is the uplifting feeling you get when the snowbanks melt away to reveal bare sidewalks again. You then throw off your heavy winter-wear. You don thick hoodies and vests and exclaim spring has arrived. The temperature, only 4C.

Greeted by sunlight this morning, Jenn and I wandered downtown to enjoy the newly warm weather; me, thick hoodied and she, vested. There, we decided try our luck at breakfast at the original SconeWitch (388 Albert Street). It is one of those eateries, we hear volumes about, but never found the time to try. Friends recently told us, the original was such a success another opened in the Beechwood area.

Unfortunately, it was not to be. When we arrived, we found the restaurant's 25 or so seats were already taken. The scent of butter pastry filled the air. And, it was uncomfortably humid inside. In fact, condensation clouded the front window, giving patrons a little privacy and a complementary moisture treatment. We ended up picking up an Eggwitch ($5.50), a B.L.T. (bacon, lettuce, and tomato) with pesto SconeWitch ($5.50), and an Orange Cranberry sweet scone ($1.90) to go.

Jenn's Eggwitch consisted of a savoury herb and onion scone that was hollowed out to hold eggs scrambled with cooked ham. Recommended by the line cooks at the back of the restaurant, my SconeWitch sandwiched baby mesculin with crisped and microwave re-heated bacon between the halves of feta scone. One half was brushed with a store-bought basil pesto. The other, spread with mayonnaise.

The Scone Witch is a canteen style restaurant. The dining room, decorated in a bistro style greets you when you walk in from the street. Against the wall is a graduation-style painting of chefs. In the middle is a witch with a tray of scones.

There is an open kitchen at the back. The separation is marked with a counter, where your order your food. We discovered lines formed at both the counter and at the door. The latter, for tables.

There are no servers. While the restaurant is professionally equipped, there is no traditional line. The three cooks who take orders and assemble scone dishes are also bakers and servers. When you eat in, they will bring your plates to you. After you eat, you head over to the cash and till to pay. When you eat out, they bag everything and point you to the cashier. Dishes are made to order. The cashier doubles as a dish washer, there being two dish washing stations in the restaurant. Given the turnover, I can imagine the restaurant going through a lot of dishes.

As we waited for our order, Jenn and I gave opening tables away and took our scones to a park bench on Kent Street, across from the Crown Plaza Hotel. There, we devoured our late breakfast. I found my sandwich quite the realization. Rich and decadent, well-made scones work in sandwiches. Mine was freshly baked, light and airy. Buttery, it tasted passingly of feta. With the peppery greens, nutty pesto, and salty bacon, I exclaimed with delight biscuit sandwiches did not even compare.

Jenn likewise enjoyed her breakfast, giving me her blackberry. The crumb of scone I stole from her when she wasn't looking was likewise light and buttery with just the right amount of dill.

Total cost: $15.57 (after taxes)

Next time, we're coming in when the place opens at 8:00 am on weekends for brunch. At $10.50, you get scrambled eggs, fresh fruit, a scone, and greens. The scone is accompanied with Moss Berry Farm jam or lemon curd. Everything is topped either with mustard-baked ham, a dollop of mushroom ragu, or Mediterranean vegetables and goat cheese.

Update: I looked into the comment from Pearl of the Eaten Up food blog that there was originally another Scone Witch in New Edinburgh neighbourhood. Indeed, the Scone Witch at 35 Beechwood Avenue was originally located on 42 Crichton Street. According to an older "The Materialist" blog by Kirstin Endemann of the Ottawa Citizen, the 42 Crichton Street location was takeout only. In September 2009, the former location was re-opened by Chef Susan Jessup as 42 Crichton Street Fine Foods.

Particulars:
The Scone Witch
388 Albert Street
(613)232-2173

More after the jump...

Avid foodiePrints readers will have noticed that Don and I love bubble tea and are constantly on the lookout for the best local bubble tea shop. Thus far, we have visited Bubblicity (both Chinatown and Dalhousie locations), Nihao Tea House on Holland Ave. (now closed), Maple Valley, and finally, Ottawa's newest competitor, the Toronto-chain Teashop 168. On my last bubble tea entry, I had updated foodiePrints' list of top bubble tea shops in Ottawa, but did not reveal number one. I shall now fill in that blank spot.

Last summer while looking for something spontaneous to do with my younger sisters as we waited for an order of pizza, we decided to walk from Hintonburg to Chinatown's newest bubble teashop, My Sweet Tea for something cold, sweet, and refreshing. Granted, My Sweet Tea has been in business since July 2008, but it was my first trip there. My youngest sister, who could probably live on a diet of bubble tea, claimed its drinks tasted just like those in Vancouver and Toronto and that I would not be disappointed. Sufficient to say, she was correct.


Signage My Sweet Tea

Located in the heart of Chinatown, My Sweet Tea provides great competition to another bubble tea shop on Somerset Street, Bubblicity, a popular Ottawa chain. Upon entering the shop, I was struck by the sheer delightful fruity smells in the air. There is nothing more comforting when entering a tea shop when you can smell recently made bubble teas of various flavours and tapioca pearls. The fruitiness is enough to put a happy grin on your face and the knowledge that you are in store for a great treat. The chic decor and furniture gives the shop a casual, yet sophisticated feel, and adds to the relaxing atmosphere inside.


Bubble tea barista making a customer’s order

Checking out the menu.....
My Sweet Tea serves a variety of bubble tea drinks in many flavours including ice tea, ice slush, milk tea, ice cream smoothies, yogurt drinks, blooming tea (hot drink). In addition, snacks of fish balls, chicken wings, toast, and chicken popcorn along with cake are also available.

I ordered my usual staple, a lychee bubble slush ($3.99 + $0.50 for jelly) . It was sweet, cold, and delicious. The lychee flavour was strong, but not overpowering. It also had just the right amount of lychee jelly pieces and there were no hard bits or shards of ice. More importantly as the slush slowly melted, the lychee flavour continued until the very last drop. I was in bubble tea heaven.


Lychee bubble slush served in a tall narrow glass cup

Don chose one of his favourites, a black tea based milk taro bubble tea. According to him, it was cold, sweet, milky and smooth, the right consistency of a taro flavoured drink. Feeling adventurous, Don decided to add red beans to his drink, rather than the usual tapioca pearls. The red beans were perfectly cooked and sweet. At $3.99 + $0.50 for the red beans, it was money well spent.


Milk Tea Taro-flavour (black tea base)


A close up of red beans

Looking for a Snack…
Despite finding a drink quenching my thirst, I was also in search of some food. Choosing from a curious selection of flavoured toast on the menu, I decided to try the honey toast. Not knowing what to expect, I was surprised to be presented with a thick slice of toasted white Asian-style bread drizzled with honey on a glass plate. Each bite had a lovely crunch, but found it somewhat greasy with honey tasting of the typical store-bought kind. I am not sure if I will order this dish again in the near future.


A snack of honey toast

Take Out Bubble Tea
Don’t have time to relax and hang out in the tea shop? No problem! My Sweet Tea also has a take-out option, serving the drinks in plastic cups and sealing them in a thick, but clear plastic sheet with teddy bears and a riddle written in Chinese.


Refreshing bubble teas to go! Delicious!

In the top left hand corner is a mango flavour bubble tea with mango jelly pieces, a favourite of my younger sister. Beside it, a black tea based taro-flavour milk tea with tapioca pearls. Below in the bottom right hand corner is a green tea based lychee-flavour ice tea with lychee jelly pieces. Finally in the bottom left hand corner is my drink, a lychee-flavour bubble slush with lychee jelly pieces.

Since the summer of 2009, Don and I have re-visited My Sweet Tea on numerous occasions and feeling satisfied each time. As a result, My Sweet Tea is foodiePrints’ pick for Ottawa’s best tea house!

4. Teashop 168
3. Bubblicity
2. Maple Valley
1. My Sweet Tea

Particulars:
My Sweet Tea
824 Somerset Street W.
(613) 321-3481

Earlier this afternoon Rosemary Vaughan (@ottambassador) of Ottawa Tourism tweeted a link to her blog (OTTambassador's Blog) where she embedded the following video.

OTTAWA - Summer in 30,000 Frames from NiWoTa on Vimeo.

The video was produced by NiWoTa, a "Creative Collective" that is based in Toronto. It is a great time-lapse collage of summer in Ottawa, compressed into 2 minutes 15 seconds.

52 seconds into the video, significant footage filmed at the Manor Park location (363 St-Laurent Boulevard) of Ottawa's Works Burger appears. It shows employees of our city's home grown "gourmet" burger chain, assembling and serving burgers and sides. Featured are the "Tower-o-Rings" ($9.41) and a "Hold the Phone Burger" ($11.31), which is topped with Peanut Butter, Cream Cheese, and Monterey Jack. Click here for our experience at that location. We recommend the Glebe location (580 Bank Street).

Thing is, Ottawa has many eateries besides the Works. Several are in the video. Here is a non-exhaustive list I have compiled.

• At 12 seconds, we see the giant vertical rotisseries of Shawarma Palace (464 Rideau), our recommend for the best chicken shawarma plate in the city.
• At 16 seconds, we see the ByWard Market farmers' market.
• At 46 seconds, we see Auld Dubliner (62 William Street) and Pour House (also 62 William Street), both pubs.
• At 49 seconds, we see Dunn's (220 Elgin Street), home of smoked meat poutine.
• At 50 seconds, we see Highlander's Pub (115 Rideau St), known to hold scotch tastings.
• At 51 seconds, there is footage of a patio from a restaurant in the ByWard Market I can't seem to pin point. If you know what the eatery is across the street or which eatery the patio belongs to, please leave me a comment.
• At 1 minute 12 seconds, we see the iconic Beaver Tails (69 George Street).
• At 1 minute 21 seconds, we see the 2009 Sparks Street Chicken & Rib Cook-Off.

I should note that Claudie Petrilli (@claudiapetrilli) of Swing Dynamite (a Swing Dancing School) tells me that the Pour House serves some great butter chicken.

Hats off to the NiWoTa Creative Collective. Great vid!

Update: The tweep behind the Works Burger's twitter account (@worksburger) identified the location where the footage was shot.

On Monday, February 1, 2010, a new set of Ontario Restaurant Hotel & Motel Association (ORHMA) awards were handed out. Deserving winners in my mind included ZenKitchen (634 Somerset Street West) for Ottawa's New Restaurant of the Year, Social Restaurant and Lounge (537 Sussex Drive) for Best Restaurant Design, Play Food and Wine (1 York Street) for Favorite Fine Dining Restaurant (our reccomendation for small plates in Ottawa), and the Works for Favorite Casual Dining Restaurant.

What surprised me was Chef Neil Mather's win. He, the Chef of Graffiti's Italian Eatery at Holiday Inn & Suites Kanata, beat out the likes of fellow finalists Chefs Marc Lepine (Atelier), Steve Mitton (Murray Street), Michael Moffat (Play Food and Wine and Beckta Dining and Wine) and John Taylor (Domus Café) . Everyone, save for Chef Mather are recognizable to anyone familiar to the food scene in Ottawa as either Chefs or Chef/Owners of higher end fine dining restaurants. Chefs Lepine, Moffat, and Taylor have even been fierce competitors or winners in past years' Gold Medal Plates, a national culinary competition that raises funds for Canadian high performing athletes, future Olympians.

Confused, I checked with the ORHMA website to determine how nominees were selected, how finalists were chosen, and how finalists won. Accordingly

Ottawa chefs are judged by an independent panel including previous winners, culinary media and educators. The panel uses both objective and subjective criteria made up of: education and training, industry participation, awards received, work practices, artistry, creativity and ingenuity. Three finalists from ORHMA member establishments [were] announced

Finalists are then voted for via ballot to determine a winner.

When Jenn and I started dating, we visited Grafitti's twice. Twice we deemed the restaurant about as authentic Italian as chicken balls and egg rolls are authentic Chinese. Essentially, the restaurant met, but did not surpass, my expectations for an in-house Holiday Inn & Suites restaurant. We found the food, on par with sit-down fast-food restaurants like Denny's, Kelsey's, or the former Olive Garden.

Curious that Chef Mather had had a positive effect on the restaurant during his tenure, we made reservations with Paola (@cestboncooking) and a pair of fellow local food bloggers, Shari (@whisk_food_blog) of Whisk and Rachelle of Rachelle Eats Food. I had high hopes Chef Mather had reworked the entire menu, offering more authentic Italian fare. What was I looking for? Food that is conservative on technique, but employs extremely fresh ingredients, including seafood.

What did we encounter when we returned? In the 6 years since Jenn and I set foot in Graffiti's, the restaurant has not changed ostensibly.

Interior
The same yellowish beige stucco walls line the dining room and bar area (called a saloon on its website). The same floor to ceiling columns, encased in dark stained wood panels, stand between booths and tables. The restaurant still sports the same green patterned carpets.

The menu was a throwback to earlier days too. In it, we found a "1999 Sample Table D'hote" menu for $19.99 that included classic Caesar salad (yet it included no coddled eggs), linguine salsiccia, and tiramisu.

Menu
But, for a restaurant that boasts "modern Italian cuisine - complemented by Mediterranean influences", I found the options rather pedestrian. Soups included a vegetarian option, a minestrone ($5.99). Appetizers included tomato bruschetta ($7.99), cheese crostini ($8.99), garlic mussels ($8.99) and calamari ($9.99). Pasta entrees included a pesto pasta, a spaghetti with meatballs (suspiciously described as "Bigga" Meatballs) ($14.99), cheese stuffed pasta, and potato gnocchi. Mains included a veal scaloppini ($24.99), a tusacani portfolio ($24.99), a focaccia burger ($13.99), chicken parmesan ($21.99), and an ossobuccu milanaise ($27.99). Also, the menu includes clay-oven-fired, not wood-oven fired, 12" personal pizzas, topped with "Italian mozzarella cheese."

What did we order? To start, the salad special of the day, a "classic" casesar salad, the minestrone, and the bruschetta.

Specials Menu
While the Chef signed menu stated that the salad special included julienne capicola ham, my salad included what looked like processed lunch meat ham.

Insalata Cucina with Julienne Lunch Meat Ham
My fellow diner enjoyed her bruschetta with various toppings. My better half found the minestrone heavily flavoured with wine and another unidentified strong flavoured.

Disappointing Minestrone
Graffit's was also stingy with ingredients, the entire bowl having 9 pasta shells.

For mains, the tuscani portfolio, the ossobuco milanaise, the spaghetti (substituting "bigga" meatballs for chicken), the seafood linguine with pesto, and chicken parmesan. The tusacani portfolio did not come in a pastry crust as our waitress explained. The chicken supreme was tender. The accompanying starch, a baked potato the menu said would come with sour cream and chives, came dry. The osso bucco was braised tender. The truffle risotto that accompanied it was devoid of any truffle or truffle flavour, again contrary to what the menu described. The rice was also under cooked. The spaghetti was overcooked and tasted as if it had been washed prior to plating, having absolutely no starch coat.

Overcooked Spaghetti
The accompanying chicken was dry and bland. My seafood linguine was over-seasoned and oily, leaving a significant pool of olive oil on the plate.

Oily Pesto Linguine
The scallops were slightly overdone, just bordering on tough. The pasta, however, was toothsome.

For dessert, we split an apple pouch ($8), cooked apple in crisp filo, served with store bought vanilla ice cream (it melted very quickly). The filo was somewhat singed at the edges, but the dish was enjoyable.

What was the best part of our meal? The cheese stuffed bread that was served to us before any of the dishes.

Cheese Stuffed Bread
It came with a nutty hummus and salted eggplant.

With cliche Italian dishes, sauces and soups that taste like they came canned, dishes that do not adhere to the menu half of the time, badly made starches, and overcooked proteins, I was left to wonder how the restaurant's chef won his award. His cooks made mediocre dishes.

Did I mention our waitress hovered impatiently over us throughout the meal, hurrying us through the courses, impatiently busing our table and repeatedly reminding us new dishes were ready? No? Well I guess there are a number of reasons to find another Italian restaurant in Ottawa to visit.

Particulars:
Graffiti's Italian Eatery & Saloon
101 Kanata Avenue
Kanata, ON K2T 1E6
(613) 271-0921

ZenKitchen
634 Somerset Street West
(613) 233-6404

Social Restaurant and Lounge
537 Sussex Drive
(613) 789-7355

Play food & wine
1 York Street
(613) 667-9207

The Works
Various Locations