foodiePrints

Speaking of the French Baker: Two Year's Croissants

Wed, 28 Jul 2010 17:01:00 -0400

During our 2008 "staycation", Jenn and I wandered the ByWard Market and stopped for freshly baked croissants from the French Baker on Murray Street (119). Here is a croissant from Owner J�r�me Mantel's legendary bakery that summer:

French Baker Croissant (circa 2008)

Cross-Section

Here is the "a-style" sandwich sign, belonging to the French Baker's adjoining restaurant from our visit

Benny's Bistro Sandwich Sign
and the bakery's business card.

Business Card

After we finished our ByWard Market culinary tour, lead by C'est Bon Cooking's Paola St-George (@cestboncooking), Jenn and I again stopped into the French Baker on Murray Street. Here is a croissant from the bakery this summer:

French Baker Croissant (circa 2010)

Cross-Section

Unrolled

Here is a shot of the bakery from our visit

French Baker's Murray Street Storefront

Why do I post photos that demonstrate markedly different textured croissants from the same bakery? We participated in a Croissant Battle this past April. The croissants we compared were ones we purchased that day.

The French Baker has been around since 1995. Its website boasts the bakery has grown its operation to "20 employees, including nine professional bakers, food and pastry chefs." While Mantel has no doubt established exacting standards, both its Murray Street and Bank Street locations cannot produce the same croissants everyday. There are simply too many variables in play, including staff turnover. This is why food bloggers are encouraged to visit eateries more than once before rendering any determinations on them.

The fact is the French Baker makes good croissants according to the following criteria:

...a good butter croissant is freshly baked. It unravels easily and can be teased apart. Inside, you should be able to see layers, spiraling outwards. It is brushed with egg wash half way through baking, so it takes on a golden colour as it crisps up. When handled, the crust should shatter into pieces. It should taste buttery, but should not leave your fingers an oily mess.

Source: "Ottawa Croissant Battle: A Round Up", foodiePrints.com

Whether you are a visitor to Ottawa or a long time resident, the French Baker is a source for good croissants. We have never bought croissants there we didn't like.

Particulars:
Le Boulanger Francais The French Baker
119 Murray Street
(613) 789-7941
Hours: Mon-Fri 7am � 6:30pm Sat, Sun 7am � 5:30pm

Snippets from C'est Bon Cooking's ByWard Market Tour

Wed, 28 Jul 2010 17:00:00 -0400

The last two weeks of July and first two of August are prime vacation times. During these four weeks, the school year has already ended. Summer school is winding down. Summer camp has had its run. Home renovations and landscaping projects are nearly complete.

Where I work, it is actually referred to as the "summer lull", a slowdown that results from significant numbers of personnel, taking vacation. Many project teams are reduced to skeleton staff. Remaining staff are often rotated into critical roles to ensure service levels to high priority projects are maintained.

These days, I hear many of my friends and colleagues, opting for partial vacations (staycations) or extended weekend summers. The former is a compromise. Employees take vacation, but must remain within a city's radius of work. They are required to check their electronic correspondence regularly and return to work should a crisis arise. The latter involves employees, distributing their vacation time to create shortened work weeks. Neither permits much travel.

But, remaining city or mostly city bound does not mean locals cannot be tourists. Make plans just as you would if you were traveling abroad. If you are an Ottawan, I recommend participating in a culinary tour. One of the reasons journalist Michael Kaminer of the Washington Post deemed Ottawa "Canada's cool capital" is its evolving food scene. What better way is there to learn about it than by taking a tour, lead by passionate food enthusiasts?

Paola St-George (@cestboncooking) and Andree Riffou (a Cordon Bleu trained chef) offer one such culinary tour of the ByWard Market through C'est Bon Cooking. It is a 2.5 hour walking tour, costing $45. Wear comfortable shoes and bring a little notebook to take notes. If you happen to be a food blogger, bring a camera with a freshly charged battery (a spare helps) and lots of memory.

Here are snippets from one Jenn and I participated in:

Not included in this slide show are photos from our visiting the Courtyard Restaurant (21 George Street), Murray Street Kitchen Charcuterie and Wine (110 Murray Street), and La Bottega Nicastro (64 George Street), all of which were incorporated in other blog posts.

Now, if you plan to wander the ByWard Market unguided, as Jenn and I often do, here are some additions I would like to recommend:
The Farm House (55 ByWard Market Square)

Signage
For a quick lunch in between shopping at the boutiques, fashion houses, and farmer's market, the Farm House in the ByWard Market Square serves pork and chicken schnitzel. Schnitzel is a flattened piece of meat that is typically breaded, deep fried, and baked crisp.

A-Style Sign

Chicken Schnitzel Platter

Cross Section

Pork Schnitzel Sandwich

Cross Section
While the platter came with unremarkable salad (poor attempt at tabbouleh) and instant rice, the schnitzel was made to order, fresh and crunchy. The sandwich was a little heavy on the bread, but it was quite well seasoned and tasty.Continental Delicatessen (57 York Street)

Signage
Freshly made bagels are somewhat hard to come by in Ottawa's downtown core. Other wood-fired Montreal-style bagels can be had in the city, but the Ottawa Bagel Shop (1321 Wellington Street W.) is just outside the downtown area in the Wellington West neighbourhood and the nearest Kettleman's Bagel Shop (912 Bank Street) is across the street from Lansdowne Park. Neither is in walking distance of the ByWard Market.

Menu

E-verything Bagels

Classic Smoked Salmon, Cream Cheese, and Capers on an E-verything Bagel
One of the stories behind Continental involves its owner once working at a Kettleman's location and deciding to strike out on his own. While the story would be difficult to verify, Continental's bagels resemble Kettleman's. They are not honey-brined like Ottawa Bagel Shop's Bagels. Still, the freshly made bagels make a great breakfast or quick lunch.

This bagelry/delicatessen also serves up empenadas.

Empenada

Cross Section
While the filling of ground meat, onions, and hard boiled egg resembles the empenada filling at a local Chilean restaurant Vina Del Mar (107 Wellington Street W.), its crust left much to be desired. Thin, almost rubbery (as if the egg wash had somehow hardened the biscuit-style crust), I recommend sticking with bagel sandwiches.

That said, if you are Ottawa-bound for your vacation, there are a number of vibrant neighbourhoods to visit. Spend some time downtown. Otherwise, spend some time in the New Edinburgh neighbourhood (aka: Beechwood). Walk up Wellington Street West to Richmond Road (through Hintonburg, Wellington West, and Westboro). Have fun! Most importantly, relax!

Particulars:
C'est Bon Cooking
560 Churchill Avenue N.
(613)291-9155

Wordless Wednesday: D'Arcy Mcgee's

Wed, 28 Jul 2010 12:00:00 -0400

For this week's "relatively" Wordless Wednesday', we visit general Manager Jeff O'Reilly's D'Arcy McGee's (44 Sparks Street) at the corner of Elgin and Sparks. There, you will find what the political staff at Parliament Hill have long realized, a great place to unwind with a pint of Irish ale after a long day of work.

It features a pair of normally bustling patios, which were overflowing with people during Canada Day.

Front Patio

Side Patio
Pull up a chair on Friday's and order two pints of Guinness, Smithwick's, Kilkenny, or Harp for $9.99 (+tax). Stay for #OysterFriday

Particulars:
D'Arcy McGee's
44 Sparks Street
(613)230-4433

Food Shop Walk-through: 42 Fine Foods

Sun, 25 Jul 2010 17:00:00 -0400

Located deep in the New Edinburgh neighbourhood (also known as Beechwood), at a corner of residential Union Street, Forty-Two Crichton Street Fine Foods (42 Fine Foods) is a self-dubbed "take-with" shop with "unofficial seating." Having opened in September, it will celebrate it's 10th month anniversary this July.

During the past 10 months, Chef/Owner Susan Jessup and her staff seem to have firmly established a take-home food shop with a local-food philosophy. This, in the former cozy location of New Edinburgh's original Scone Witch.

Shop Window

Front Door

42 Fine Foods boasts a constantly changing menu of take-home products, including complete meal solutions, that employ ingredients sourced almost exclusively from local producers. A quick skim of its FaceBook Fan page includes mention of Aged Lankaaster cheese from Glengarry, fiddleheads and mushrooms from Le Coprin, heritage meat from Upper Canada Heritage Farms, and greens from Jambican Studio Gardens. These are many of the same Savour Ottawa accredited producers, you will find at the Ottawa Farmer's Market at Lansdowne Park on Sundays. Most recently, 42 Fine Foods announced a line of frozen "designer" burgers that "thaw quickly and can be grilled or pan seared." As of last week, beef with pesto and venison burgers were available for purchase.

Besides frozen foods, 42 Fine Foods sells bakery, preserves, artisan cheeses, local honey, fair-trade coffee, soups, salads and sandwiches. When Jenn and I visited in March, the store operated an e-mail subscription service that would send you out menu updates of what Chef Jessup and her staff prepared for take-out dinner. We received 3 months of mouth watering e-mails.

According to its constantly updated website, 42finefoods.ca, Chef Jessup is Cordon Bleu trained, having apprenticed in kitchens in both France and Canada. She worked at Chez Eric in Wakefield, was an independent food consultant, and continues to be of the core chef instructors at the Urban Element.

The following photos were taken in March, several months after 42 Fine Foods' web developer approached us to visit.

Sandwich Sign with Advice

That Saturday's Specials

Coffee Corner

Refrigerated Display Case with Cheeses and Prepared Salads

Buttercream Caramel and Walnut Scones
Beside the scones, a vegetable quiche.
Bakery Display

Art-is-in Hot Cross Buns

Art-is-in Cinnamon Buns

Art-is-in Berliners

Art-is-in Flourless Chocolate Macaroons

Freezer Section

Signature Rum Ball and Vanilla Bean Pascale's Ice Cream flavour

Open Kitchen

Oven

Restored Tin Ceiling

Here is the passionate Chef Jessup on the A-Channels' A Morning show

You will also find a recipe from 42 Fine Foods for "Rhubarb Goat-Cheese Cheesecakes" on the CBC Ottawa website. Because the D is for Dinner web-page does not store recipes from the show in perpetuity, I have taken the liberty of "quoting" the recipe.

Rhubarb Goat-Cheese Cheesecakes
by Susan Jessup, 42 Chrichton St Fine Foods

Makes eight three-inch individual cheesecakes.

4 eggs, separated
Pinch of salt
Pinch of cream of tartar
3/4 cup maple sugar
16 ounces soft goat cheese
2 ounces (1/4 cup) goat creme fraiche, or substitute ready-made creme fraiche or full-fat plain goat's yogurt
1/3 cup maple sugar (second amount)
Pinch of salt
1 tsp crushed green peppercorns (optional)
For conserve:
6 stalks rhubarb, cut into one-inch pieces, on an angle
1-3/4 cup maple syrup
1 tbsp butter
Pinch of salt
Toppings (see step 8)

1. Beat eggs whites with salt and cream of tartar, gradually adding 3/4 cup maple sugar, until stiff peaks form. Refrigerate mixture.
2. Butter individual ramekin dishes and line with parchment paper or plastic wrap (because the oven temperature is low and they will be cooked in a pan of water, plastic wrap can be used).
3. Preheat oven to 275 degrees.
4. Beat the goat cheese, creme fraiche and 1/3 cup maple sugar (second amount) until smooth. Add a pinch of salt, to taste, and crushed green peppercorns, if desired for a more complex flavour.
5. Fold the goat cheese mixture into the egg-white mixture.
6. Pour into the prepared ramekin dishes and set dishes into a baking pan with warm water that goes two-thirds of the way up the sides of the dishes. Bake for 22 to 30 minutes. The mixture should be set, not wet and gooey, but not dry. Turn the oven off and leave the cheesecakes in the pan of water in the cooling oven for another 12 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool to room temperature, still in the pan of water.
7. To make the conserve, bring the sliced rhubarb and maple syrup to a boil in saucepan, then reduce heat to low and cook, stirring, until thick. Stir in butter and a pinch of salt. Spread cooled rhubarb mixture on top of the cooled cheesecakes.
8. Refrigerate until you unmold and serve. You can top the cheesecakes with an Italian meringue, made by whipping egg whites with hot, melted maple sugar. You can also make a traditional meringue, made with dry sugar, then bake the topped cheesecakes in a hot oven for a few minutes until the meringues begin to brown. Or you could top the cheesecakes with whipped cream sprinkled with maple sugar.

Source: CBC Ottawa website

Particulars:
Forty-Two Crichton Street Fine Foods
42 Crichton Street
(613) 741-0099
Open Tue-Fri 10am-7pm; Sat 10am-5pm

Food Shop Walk-through: La Bottega Nicastro

Sat, 24 Jul 2010 12:00:00 -0400

The gourmet deli and food shop La Bottega Nicastro is a staple source of Italian fine food from olive oil to cheeses, balsamic vinegars, in-house made pickles, and the odd in-house made artisan cured meats. An Italian grocery for over 30 years, it has been owned an operated by Pat Nicastro for the past 15. Pat is the son of Joe Nicastro, the proprietor of Nicastro's Food Emporium on Merivale Road (1558). According to Paola St-George (@cestboncooking) of C'est Bon Cooking, the owners of the Bank Street (792) and Wellington Street W. (1355) Il Negozio Nicastro's are also related, though more distantly.

Speaking of C'est Bon Cooking, Jenn and I took the following photos at La Bottega Nicastro during one of their ByWard Market tours.

Signage

Sandwich Sign

Nicastro Brand Olive Oil

Italian Soda and Olive Oil

15 Year Old Balsamic

Fine Italian Food Stuffs, including Lots of Dry Pasta

Fresh Bread
Deli and Cheese Section

Deli Counter

Voted Best Deli

Cheese: Provolone

Cheese: Parmigiano-Reggiano

More Parmigiano-Reggiano

Info on Parmigiano-Reggiano

Cheese: Grana Padano

More Grana Padano
According to John, one of the Nicastro's "cheese guys", the rounds, called "forms", of parmigiao-reggiano and grana padano weigh 33-40 kg each. The shop has gone through 115 kg/day.

Small Restaurant with a Legendary Sandwich Bar

Menu

Catering

Catering Platters

Particulars:
La Bottega Nicastro Fine Food Shop
64 George Street
(613) 789-7575
Open Mon-Wed,Sat 9am-6pm; Thu-Fri 9am-8pm; Sun 11am-5pm

Candwiches? Seriously?!

Thu, 22 Jul 2010 12:00:00 -0400

During the summer afternoons, I like to catch up on my reading. Sometimes, I find myself reading silly, yet addictive books from the Twilight series to Archie comics. Sometimes, I curl up with non-fiction, usually involving modern history. I'm also quite the news addict, grazing on pieces from Canadian and international media sources. However, just when I think I've seen it all (and believe me, as a teacher, I often see and hear plenty of very strange things), along comes something incredibly shocking.

I was left speechless.

Now, I understand very busy people make up the modern world. Some of us have families. Others, don't. We all have to juggle our obligations and struggle to find a work-life balance. Often times, life leaves us scrambling to put together our meals. We find ourselves purchasing ready-made meals to go. We heat up frozen dinners or open canned soups. We visit drive-through windows at fast food restaurants, ordering take-out. We have food delivered. I have no problem admitting Don and I have done all of the above. Though, some more seldom than others. But, what is the pursuit of convenience driving us to?

Presenting the latest innovation in food

Candwich - Sandwiches in cans!

According to NBC's TODAY show, Candwiches are all the rage. In fact, they have even been featured on a recent "The Colbert Report" episode.

Mark Kirkland (hopefully no relation to the CostCo brand) is the inventor. He has dedicated more than a decade of his life to perfecting this concept: a sandwich in a can.

Personally, I've never eaten a sandwich that came from a can. Would I ever eat one? I'm not sure, maybe if Don dared me too, but then he would have to eat one too and we are talking catastrophic disaster situations here...

Still, one has to wonder about the canned peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Is it really worth the time savings to open a can than make your own?

Wordless Wednesday: Hintonburger

Wed, 21 Jul 2010 12:00:00 -0400

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

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

Recount of this Past Weekend's Give to Live Poutine Crawl - updated

Tue, 20 Jul 2010 12:00:00 -0400

How do you turn poutine into $1266 to fight cancer?

You find a great cause. In this case, Isabelle Rivard's (@spoonsie) Give to Live challenge (isaonabike.com) to cycle from Vancouver, BC to Austin, TX (a 4300 km trek) and raise $10,000 for cancer causes.

Izzy Rivard
Proceeds from this event went to The Lance Armstrong Foundation, Craig's Cause for Pancreatic Cancer, and The Canadian Cancer Society.

You find seven generous restaurants who make specialized takes on the dish that normally tops crispy fries with squeaky cheddar cheese curds and a veloute-style gravy.

You contact culinary tour guide Paola St. George (@cestboncooking) who is also the marketing manager behind C'est Bon Cooking.

Chef Andr�e Riffou and Paola St. George of C'est Bon Cooking

You sign up 35 poutine enthusiasts to join you in a tour of Ottawa's ByWard Market, including Mark Warburton (founder of Ottawa Foodies), Kaitlin (Ottawa food blogger behind Heartful Mouthful), and Jodi (Ottawa food blogger behind Simply Fresh).

Mark Warburton and Paola St. George

You split the group in two and take everyone on a 2 km walking tour of downtown Ottawa.

The result,

@foodiePrints (Jul 17, 09:40 PM)
@EqualOppKitchen ...7 very generous restaurants. 37 happy p0utine enthusiasts. 2 km of walking tour. $1266 raised to fight cancer!

Poutine crawls are not unheard of. Earlier this year, Toronto food bloggers organized one. Theirs was not a fundraiser, just poutine enthusiasts, trying the various takes on poutine their city has to offer. The dish that has been long derided, often referred as "fat lumber jack food", has slowly colonized the city.

With the help of friends, the bloggers behind the Endless Simmer blog organized a "Tour de Poutine" in New York City. In total, they visited 7 eateries and sampled 7 takes on poutine. As Rebecca Marx of the Village Voice blog wrote about the poutine crawl, it revealed Brooklyn to be an unlikely poutine paradise. The most interesting to me was the one that came from a lunch counter in the Essex Street Market, Shopsin's. Dubbed the "Last Supper Poutine", it was topped not with cheese curds, but three poached eggs.

Well, Ottawa neighbours Quebec, the province that gave poutine birth. This is a city that knows good poutine. Here's what our ByWard Market produces.

The Courtyard Restaurant (21 George Street)

Chef Michael Hay's take on Poutine

Hand Cut Shoe String Fries, topped with Duck Confit, St-Albert Curds, and smashed Foie Gras Torchon
Jenn and I unfortunately did not get the opportunity to try Chef Hay's poutine. Sous Chef Arleigh Martin assembled the poutine to order. According to one of Chef Hay's earlier tweets, the sauce involved "French fry consomme." The torchon looked like it was frozen with liquid nitrogen and "smashed."

Zak's (16 ByWard Market Square)

Breakfast Poutine
Home fries, cheese curds, hollandaise, and paprika.Murray Street Kitchen, Wine, and Charcuterie (110 Murray Street)

Chef Steve Mitton's take on Poutine
Hand-cut German her spaetzle, shredded duck confit, roast duck gravy, and Glengarry "Fen Squeaks" cheese curds

Garlic Corner (321 Dalhousie Street)

Classic Poutine
Fries, cheese curds, gravy

Dunn's (355 Dalhousie Street)

Smoked Meat Poutine

Fries, cheese curds, chopped smoked meat, gravy

Island Flava (409 Dalhousie Street)

Jerk Chicken Poutine
Fries, cheese curds, Jerk chicken, Jerk gravy

D'Arcy McGee's (44 Sparks Street)

Guinness Poutine
Fries, cheese curds, Guinness gravy

Between tastings, attendees took a stroll through a sunny ByWard Market. The guides, Paola, Chef Riffou, Jenn, and I imparted some information on the various eateries. And, our group got an impromptu art interpretation and history lesson thanks to Kaitlin.

When we reached D'Arcy's, we discussed the tastings. Both groups weighed in. The favourite and most original was Chef Hay's from The Courtyard Restaurant. Close seconds, Chef Mitton's from Murray Street Kitchen and Chef Antoine's from Island Flava.

Lessons learned:

It take two people to give a tasting tour, one who leads the group and another who warns the next eatery the group is coming.
You need a runner to co-ordinate a pair of tasting tours (touring simultaneously) to keep them in sync.
Live tweeting a tasting tour generates a lot of retweets.

A heartfelt thank-you goes out to the chefs, owners, and restaurant managers who donated their dishes; Paola and Chef Riffou from C'est Bon Cooking who worked out the logistics of the Poutine Crawl and lead the larger of the two tour groups; and everyone who attended, bought tickets, and donated to the cause.

Here are blog posts drafted by Kaitlin, Jodi, and Kiel on the poutine crawl:

Heartful Mouthful (teaser): this weekend
Simply Fresh: Give to Live Poutine Crawl in 7 Pictures
Heartful Mouthful: poutine crawl
The Adventures of Ecogeek: Poutine: Classing Up Your Palette

Do click, they are fun reads.

This entry has been cross posted on Ottawa Tonite.

Update: Here is a flickr slideshow with pictures from the Give to Live Poutine Crawl

Mystery P0utine Identified: Island Flava and Contest Results

Fri, 16 Jul 2010 17:30:00 -0400

Fellow Ottawa Food Blogger Jodi (@simplyfresh) correctly identified the picture of the "mystery" poutine from the fifth "Ottawa, do you know your poutine" opportunity as having come from Island Flava (409 Dalhousie Street). She writes the "Simpy Fresh" food blog. She is a former restaurant line cook. And, she offers in-home cooking lessons. Jodi was entered into the draw for a pair of tickets for the Give to Live Poutine Crawl.

Before we get to the results of the draw, let's return to Island Flava for a second. First off, I would like to extend thanks to Chef Antoine for generously choosing to participate in the Give to Live Poutine Crawl. Island Flava will be the second last stop on the tour for both groups.

Island Flava

Street-Facing Sandwich Board

Secondly, I need to point out two recommendations. Firstly, a former colleague of Jamaican descent gave me a list of must-visits for Caribbean food. Island Flava, then on Merivale Road, was at the top of his list. Secondly, alumni, including a former manager of mine, have been raving about a "new place" near University of Ottawa campus that sells great jerk chicken. Island Flava is that "place."

And, yes, Chef Antoine's jerk chicken poutine compares very well to anything Smoke's serves. In fact, I find some of Smoke's more elaborate poutine combinations include too many strong flavours. The jerk chicken poutine at Island Flava is a balanced take that carries only the mildest warmth.

Compare Between Jerk Chicken Poutine and Smoke's

Now, regarding the draw for the pair of tickets, here are the people who entered the draw.

The winner was picked by querying random.org to come up with a number between 1 and 5 inclusively.

The number drawn was 4 (four):

Screen capture from random.org.
Source: random.org

Congratulations to Oskar. An e-mail will be dispatched shortly to alert you.

To everyone who did not win and those of you on the waiting list, you are welcome to join us at D'Arcy McGee's (90 Sparks Street), starting at 3:30 pm on July 17, 2010 for the Poutine Crawl "After Show." Come! Buy a Guinness poutine. And wash it down with a cold brew. Learn which poutine purveyors in the Byward Market make the top 3 favourites!

Particulars:
Island Flava
409 Dalhousie Street
(613) 321-4198
Open Weekdays 11:30am-9pm; Sat 11:30am-4am; Sun 12pm-6pmDear Urban Spoon: Why don't you have Island Flava registered? I'll have to fix that...

Ottawa, Do You Know your P0utine? Chance 5 to Win a Pair of Tickets

Fri, 16 Jul 2010 12:00:00 -0400

A total of 4 opportunities to enter the draw for the pair of tickets to the Give to Live Poutine Crawl (July 17, 2010) have been spoken for. One remains.

Again, here is how the raffle works:

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.

Here is the 5th and last opportunity.

Mystery Poutine

This poutine comes in one size: generous! It is a specialty poutine you will find no where else, a Caribbean jerk chicken poutine ($7.99). It is wonderfully savoury. The fries are crisp. There is boned dark meat chicken. The gravy is distinctly jerk.

According to wikipedia.net, jerk is a style of cooking in which meats, traditional pork or chicken, are dry rubbed or wet marinated in a spice mixture. Jerk originated in Jamaica, but can be found in other parts of the world like the Caribbean where it intermingled with indigenous cuisine, creating some regional specialization. The principal ingredients of jerk seasoning include scotch bonnet peppers, allspice and thyme. Other ingredients can include cloves, cinnamon, scallions, nutmeg, thyme, garlic, salt and pepper.

The Caribbean eatery that makes and serves jerk chicken poutine was originally located at 1018 Merivale Road. It relocated further down Dalhousie (401) in a smaller location. More recently, it moved to its current digs at 409 Dalhousie Street. It so happens Ottawa's location of Smoke's Poutinerie opened next door.

Hailing from Grenada, the eatery's Chef, Lennox Antoine, is well known in the city for serving authentic Caribbean fare, including great roti.

Menu
In fact, the A-Channel had him prepare and talk about his chicken, jerk chicken and goat roti on the A Morning show.

Inside the restaurant casual dining room, there are but a handful of tables.

Dining Room
On the weekends, the restaurant is known to overflow with patrons.

Beside its cash and till, you will find freshly made fruit juices and Jamaican patties.

Tropical Fruit Juices

Jamaican patties
Above the Jamaican patties, a great manifesto about what it means to be West Indian.

Name the Caribbean eatery and be entered in the draw for a pair of Poutine Crawl Tickets.

Good luck!

Particulars:
Island Flava
409 Dalhousie Street
(613) 321-4198
Open Weekdays 11:30am-9pm; Sat 11:30am-4am; Sun 12pm-6pm