Ottawa’s culinary scene is really heating up
Food scene heats up with new wave of chef-owners
“Fifteen years ago, if you wanted a good meal you went to Montreal,” jokes Ottawa Citizen food editor Ron Eade. “Ottawa was very much a steak and potatoes town.”
Fine dining options were limited to traditional French cuisine across the Ottawa River in Hull, Quebec, at Café Henry Burger. The Ottawa food scene has not traditionally been led — or funded — by politicians’ adventurous palates. “When expense accounts dried up with the Harper administration, Café Henry Burger had to close their doors,” says Eade.
But thanks to a new generation of chef-owners, gourmands can now enjoy fine dining in our nation’s capital. “You have these young guys and women who own their own places. Diners are just burning up the chairs,” says Eade.
The food editor cites chef-owners like Steve Mitton at Murray Street Kitchen, vegan chef Caroline Ishii at ZenKitchen, veteran chef John Taylor at Domus Café, Charlotte Langley at Whalesbone Oyster House and Marc Lepine’s molecular gastronomy at Atelier leading the charge.
For local chefs, The ByWard Market is the choice destination, says Paola St. George of C’est Bon Cooking School (cestboncooking.ca). “You can see their telltale chef’s whites poking out of their jackets while they shop here for their fresh ingredients.”
St. George offers in-depth walking tours of the market. Wear comfy shoes for this foodie march that includes Rochon Gardens vegetable market, The House of Cheese, La Bottega Italian grocery and Murray Street, which locals call “Gastro Alley.”
“In one short block you can find seductive Spanish-fusion cuisine at Navarra, snout-to-tail, whole-hog dining at Murray Street Kitchen and local food at John Taylor at Domus Café,” says St. George.
The diners are burning up the chairs at ZenKitchen’s 36-seat bistro at 634 Somerset St. W. when I dine there on a weeknight. Chef Caroline Ishii concocts upscale vegan cuisine while her sommelier husband, David Loan, manages the busy front-of-house.
A graduate of the Natural Gourmet Institute for Culinary Arts in New York, Ishii’s philosophy is “vegan food has got to taste good.”
The menu is GMO-free, gluten-free, contains no preservatives and is made from scratch. Highlights include ravioli filled with pesto/soy cheese in tomato sauce and roasted vegetables, butternut squash risotto and sesameencrusted shiitake mushrooms with savoury tamarind and sweet chili dipping sauces. Save room for lemon pie with nut crust and cream.
The next morning, it’s time to unfold the map. There are 1,267 farm operations within city limits. I have three key destinations in mind: a cranberry farm, a goat cheese farm and an organic farm that serves Sunday country brunch.
Lyle Slater’s Upper Canada Cranberries operation is within Ottawa city limits (2283 Stage Coach Rd.) in the Greely district, just 15 minutes south of Ottawa International Airport. “I farm 21 acres of this 100-acre plot,” says Slater as he climbs into the back seat of our rental car for a private tour. In 1996, Slater cleared bush, excavated the peat bog and planted the first five acres of cranberry plants.
His fresh and dehydrated cranberries, chutneys, jams and fresh juices are sold at the farm and at ByWard Market, Carp Farmers’ Market and the Ottawa Farmers’ Market.
After the morning cranberry tour, it’s lunch at the Black Dog Bistro in Manotick Village. Try the lamb burger or the Mediterranean chicken pita washed down with an Ontariobrewed craft beer, Steam Whistle.
After lunch, it’s more food sleuthing. Clarmell Farm (3401 River Rd.), a 25-minute scenic drive west of Manotick, follows a winding river. Owner Paul Mussell and his son Ryan escort me to the barn to meet the goats.
“These are Saanen variety,” explains Ryan. The family also grows the feed, including alfalfa. The goat’s milk is made into artisan cheese offsite by a cheesemaker in Lancaster. “Our feta just won third place at the Royal Winter Fair,” beams Paul.
As I take my leave, Paul hands me a fresh chèvre sample. One taste of fresh chèvre and the taste buds awaken to the possibility of a visit to a locavore restaurant based on a commercial farm. Mariposa Farm (6368 County Rd., Plantagenet) is the go-to place for Ottawa chefs and foodies.
On Saturday afternoon, Lindsay Abram, a young cook at Murray Street Kitchen, is here feeding the pigs for organic farmer Ian Walker. There are new piglets on display and meals to prep at this humble farm operation an hour east of Ottawa. The shelves in the entrance to the restaurant are lined with golden pickled beets and the fridge is stocked with homemade bacon, foie gras and duck confit.
Chef Mark Currier looks out toward decorative haystacks while he preps for Sunday brunch. He’s tearing up greens, assembling squash-eucalyptus-peppercorn crème brûlée and reducing a bison sauce. “I’m really getting into marrow lately. It adds a lot of savoury depth to my sauces,” says the freelance chef. Ian Walker established Mariposa Farm in 1980 when he was only 18. Walker always wanted to be a farmer. He started off raising Arbarie ducks, but found a more a lucrative market for organic pigs.
Walker has 60 piglets dedicated for Murray Street Kitchen’s snout-totail patrons. I tell Walker that Murray Street is so hot right now that I’m unable to secure a reservation.
Just like food editor Ron Eade said, it’s one degree of separation between this small farm and the pork on the menu at Murray Street. I leave Mariposa Farm with one burning question: How do I get a table at Murray Street Kitchen? The best part is, I don’t have to drive to Montreal.