Dear Ikea,

To celebrate the great relationship between Sweden and Canada, may we suggest a new dish be served in Ikea restaurants to mark Canada Day (July 1, 2010)? It is a fusion of Swedish foods already on the menu and cheese curds from Quebec, producing a tasty interpretation of a Canadian dish.

Take the classic köttbullar (swedish meatballs with cream cauce) with a side of fries.

Swedish meatballs with cream sauce and fries
Add cheese curds from La Fromagerie Les Folies Bergeres, purchased at Herb and Spice (1310 Wellington Street W.). And, you will have the Ikea poutine:

Swedish Meatball Poutine

This concept was originally described to us by Ottawa's David Hicks (@ALL_CAPS) who makes the poutine with freshly cut Belgian-style fries (Ikea's are slightly battered, resembling fries served at KFC and Costco). The one above, we made directly in the Pinecrest Ikea's restaurant (2685 Iris Street) in Ottawa.

We think it would be a big hit!

Sincerely,
Jenn & Don

Update: For those of you who don't know, Jenn and I are participating in organizing a C'est Bon Cooking Poutine Crawl, a walking tour tasting of poutine, in downtown Ottawa. The event will be a fundraiser for Isabelle Rivard (@spoonsie), who aims to cycle from Vancouver, BC to Austin, Tx (4300 km) and raise $10,000 for the Canadian Cancer Society. We already have 2 restaurants on board. Stay tuned for details and a contest for a pair of tickets.

Update 2: The mild-tasting cream gravy went well with the fresh cheese curds and fries. Unfortunately, it was not warm enough to melt the curds. The meat balls and fries took on the milky, slightly sharp, and fatty flavours well. As per Marcus' comment, we neglected to ask for any lingonberry sauce, something sweet and tart that would have cut the richness. Next time!

Particulars:
Pinecrest Shopping Center
2685 Iris Street
1 (866) 875-4532

Apparently, there is but one Ikea in a one ore two city radius of Ottawa, so it is often packed to the gills with customers, eager for bargain home furnishings. Me, I'm not a fan of Ikea furniture, save for some of the tables. However, I am a fan of some of the inexpensive kitchen wear.

I am also a fan of its little cafeteria and I am not alone. I've read tweets, blog entries, and even submissions to Yelp and the like about the virtues of the "complete Ikea experience": a meandering trip on the directed path through each of the store's departments and hunkering down to a plate of Swedish meatballs with fries, lingonberry jam, and a fountain drink.

The Ikea Experience

Ikea Cafeteria

Swedish Meatball
The price can't be beat:

Meatball Dinner
10 meatballs with gravy, lingonberry sauce, potatoes or fries, and a soft drink.
$6.49

Source: Restaurant section for Ikea Ottawa

Is this gourmet food? No, but I'll bet a lot of fine foodies would be tempted. Even with its salty and floury sauce, fried from frozen fries (though fried up crisp and not greasy), and more than likely deep fried from frozen meat balls, the plate pairs a balance of flavors. It demonstrates that savory goes very well with deeply tart and sweet flavours. Ketchup has been all but replaced in my house. One of its replacements: lingonberry jam!

Of late, my better half and I have been making it a pseudo-tradition that we split a plate of Ikea meatballs slightly before lunch on days when dinner will be a multi-course banquet. It is all we eat. This tradition started the day we first went to Ottawa's Atelier and continued recently with another 15 courser. Here are pics from my then dying (now dead) digital camera:

Pre-Multi-Course Brunch
The white/yellow mass was supposed to be mac 'n cheese. My advice: stick with the meatballs. :)

No, I haven't forgotten the 50 cent hot dogs, but, if you are going to visit a multi-national purveyor of affordable furniture that originated in Sweden, why not try the store's take on its indigenous food? Heck the Ikea website even has a page or two dedicated to its cafeteria food.

Particulars:
Pinecrest Shopping Center
2685 Iris Street
1 (866) 875-4532

According to this weeks Real Canadian Superstore flier (March 27-April 2), 9 pieces of fried chicken at the "Meals to Go" counter is on sale, almost 10% off ($9.99 instead of $10.99).

9 Piece Fried Chicken
It is my opinion that the "Meals to Go" counter makes some of the worst fried chicken that I have ever eaten. I do not recommend it.

Don't get me wrong. There are foods there at the "Meals to Go" counter I enjoy, such as the vegetarian pizza. The fried chicken, not so much.

Here is an account of meals that my better half and I purchased at the Superstore at Richmond and Kirkwood after our trip to Vancouver, a little under two years ago. Essentially, we were on an expedition to restock our fridge. Jet lag kept us from cooking up anything substantial so we decided to eat out for lunch.

Hers: A Chicken Strip Meal

Chicken Strips and Fries
Looking at that picture, one has to wonder about the 3:1 potato:meat ratio. That said, the strips are moist, slightly salty for my taste, and crispy. That is, so long as you get a batch fresh from the fryer. If not...

Mine: A Fried Chicken Meal

Two Piece Fried Chicken and Fries
The potato:meat ratio is slightly better, but the meal is by no means healthy in any way shape or form. The chicken is also horrendous.


Dry, harsh, and Salty Chicken
The meat is dry, harsh and stringy, and over seasoned. White meat portions, anything involving the breast, should be avoided at all costs. Dark meat portions are slightly better, probably owing to their being fattier. Somehow, they survive the process of frying, freezing, transporting, and frying from frozen better. I didn't think it possible to overcook a breaded dish this badly.

Suffice it to say, after spending two weeks sampling food in what Chef Anthony Bourdain called a Canadian city with a highly developed foodie culture, that lunch brought me back to reality.

Founded in August of 2001, by Charlie Todd, Improv Everywhere is a troupe of geographically dispersed volunteer actors, singers, and dancers who cause spontaneous "scenes of chaos and joy" in public places. By spontaneous scenes, Improv Everywhere does not play pranks. Imrpov Everywhere aims to impress and entertain. The organization is based in New York City.

Their latest mission involved creating a "spontaneous musical" (sitcom style) out of nowhere.

It involved 16 "agents", professional dance choreography, and, most impressively, original music. According to Impov Everywhere's blog entry, the musical score, was composed and arranged by the writers of the off-broadway show, GutenBerg! The Musical!.

Unlike other productions, Improv Everywhere actually sought permission from the location to better integrate agents and improve the experience for food court patrons. The mall involved, the Baldwin Hills Mall (Los Angeles, CA), worked with vendors to supply uniforms and provided access to much of the physical premises. They even allowed the troupe to rehearse the night before.

Here's a video of the production:


Here's a partial credit list from Improv Everywhere's website:
Agents: Campbell, Cowan, Brister, Caldwell, Sutton, Ahn, Park, Nwaeze, Jervier, Thorn, Fair, Costelo, Grimm, Perube, LaBarr, Appel, Todd
Digital Video: Agent Carbone
Choreography: Agent Tallaksen

Kudos to Improv Everywhere. This was a stunning production!

Click here for Improv Everywhere's YouTube channel.

University students are renowned for being frugal. Due to various factors, including the cost of living, tuition, student fees, and book prices, this is more necessity than lifestyle choice. As such, the eateries around a university's campus need meet certain requirements. This is because cash-strapped students hit them between classes for a quick bite or to fuel up after classes before heading back to the dorms, labs, or libraries. These eateries need to be reasonable price-wise and have fast service. To meet these needs, they tend to serve diner-like or pub-like fare. It's fast to prepare. It requires simple ingredients and it produces large portions at low cost. In the morning, a lot of these eateries will offer a cheap breakfast. We're talking the one or two egg combos for a couple bucks.

I ate a lot of these combos when I was a student. At the local campus joint, my "regular" consisted of two over easy eggs, two rashers of bacon, two breakfast sausages, home fries, four triangles of lightly buttered toast, and a coffee. As frosh (freshman if you're American), the combo cost $3. When I graduated, it cost $5.

It's been a couple years. The grease doesn't get along with me as well as it used to, but I still treat myself to a cheap breakfast combo every once in a while. The one at Le Deli in the food court at Place Du Centre demonstrates that breakfast combos can have regional variations, but are based on the same premise: fast to prepare, simple ingredients, large portions, and low cost. In this case, the regional variation is based on French Canadian culture.

At Le Deli the breakfast combo consists of two eggs, two breakfast sausages, potatoes, four triangles of buttered toast, baked beans (fève au lard) and coffee, all for $5.25. The eggs are made to order and in any style. Mine usually end up over easy. Here's a tip: How well the person at the grill makes over easy eggs is an indication of his/her skills and experience. Le Deli's grill man has mad skills. My yolks always end up runny, but they aren't broken when they get to my plate. They are not greasy either. The breakfast sausages are fresh, thin skinned, and juicy. They are a far cry from the dry breakfast sausages from other breakfast joints that taste of nothing but filler and whose skins are 3 mm thick from sitting too long under the heat lamps.

What is distinctive about the combo at Le Deli are the baked beans and the potatoes. While you can order traditional home fries, I strongly recommend you try the vegetable potatoes. They look almost scalloped. They are cooked with tomatoes, onions, and green peppers and seasoned with what looks like dried parsley and paprika. Its spiciness is brightened by the vegetables. It work beautifully with the starchiness of the potatoes. The baked beans have a sweetness that reminds me of molasses. You will be hard pressed to find baked beans on the Ottawa side with a typical breakfast combo.

Every so often, you crave a cheap breakfast combo. For me, I usually satiate my cravings on Friday mornings and end up in line with a tray at Le Deli. BTW, the line up at Le Deli gets long. Go early.