City Bites

BE MY VALENTINE: When you think romance, think…Diefenbunker?

Celebrate love 75 feet underground with a delicious nuclear dinner and a love story bridging the 1960s and 1990s.

The folks at the Diefenbunker, Canada’s Cold War history museum, are offering a unique way to celebrate Valentine’s Day! Grab your honey and head to Carp for dinner and a movie in the comfort of the Diefenbunker cafeteria!

Katie Balmer, Diefenbunker’s visitor services coordinator, says the atmosphere will be relatively casual, adding “We’re not immune to romance simply because we are a bunker!”

Balmer says tables will be set for 6 (so that those who are arriving as groups can sit together and to allow for a bit of socializing) and decorated to suit the Valentine’s Day theme.

“It certainly isn’t your typical candle-lit romantic evening, but something altogether unique and fun.”

The 3-course dinner will be provided by The Swan at Carp. Guest will be offered appetizers; a choice of chicken roulade, classic pot roast, or a vegetarian pasta; and then a chocolate truffle dessert.

While the cafeteria can accommodate up to 200 people, Balmer says they will be accepting reservations for up to 70 people to keep the atmosphere intimate and ensure everyone can see the movie — A Blast From the Past, starring Brendan Fraser and Alicia Silverstone. It’s a romantic comedy about a naive man who comes out into the world after being in a nuclear fallout shelter for 35 years.

Balmer says the romantic revelers can look forward to some other quirky aspects (as if dinner and a movie in a bunker isn’t quirky enough), such as a photo booth from Flashpoint Photography, and DJ service.

Sounds like a blast!

When: Thursday, Feb. 14, 6 p.m. – 10:30 p.m.

Cost: $55 per person, $100 per couple.
 (Diefenbunker members receive a 10% discount)

To reserve, call or email: 613-839-0007; k.balmer@diefenbunker.ca; www.diefenbunker.ca

 

IN THE NEWS: Ode to St. Albert’s Cheese after the fire

Great news! The cheese curds will be back.

As I placed a handful of those smooth rubbery nubs—St. Albert’s cheese curds—into my daughter’s lunch box this morning, I realized how ubiquitous that label with the elongated cartoon cow has become in my life.

I confess I have been feeling rather smug since discovering that the blocks of St. Albert’s medium cheddar, a staple in my fridge, is sold at my local drug store for at least a dollar cheaper than I’ve seen it anywhere else. Not much of a bargain-hunter normally, it always gives me a thrill.

But yesterday the gut-wrenching news came about a fire that gutted the St. Albert Cheese Factory in the village of St. Albert southeast of Ottawa. A gasp of grief could be heard across the region and beyond. Its squeaky curds have become synonymous with poutine, and a short-hand for quality for the purveyors who advertise the cheese by name.

I am not the only one who was relieved to hear the reports that the factory will indeed be rebuilt. The factory’s former general manager has even guaranteed that the annual Festival de La Curd held in August — now in its 20th year — will take place as scheduled.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m off the drug store to stock up.

Read the full report in the Ottawa Citizen

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SOUP’S ON! Black Cat Bistro test drives its new “Black Cat Luncheonette” Friday take-away lunch — starts today

A luncheonette pop-up at Black Cat Bistro on Fridays. Lunch is a bowl of hot soup and fresh foccaccia: it's what everyone's craving.

Chef Patricia Larkin says she came up with the idea of offering a fun, relaxed take-out lunch from the kitchen of Preston Street’s chic Black Cat Bistro. It starts today at noon. She’ll be selling containers of her braised chicken, vegetable, and rice soup with a hunk of freshly-baked focaccia while quantities last. A batch of chocolate chip cookies will be coming out of the oven in time for lunch as well.

Larkin, who is in charge of the Bistro’s fine dining menu, says she was itching to try something new. “It’s a way to keep me excited,” she says. But it was Richard Urquhart, Black Cat’s owner, who had his heart set on the name “luncheonette.”

Larkin says he’s been talking about it for years — he likes the association with old-fashioned diners where patrons park themselves on stools at the counter. Of course BCB isn’t exactly casual, nor is it known as a place to grab a quick bite, so the new Friday brown bag lunch aims to adopt that spirit.

“It’s a fun place to start,” says Larkin, alluding to the fact that the Black Cat Luncheonette could grow into something bigger. But for now it’s a dead simple endeavor. She’ll put up a big pot of wholesome homemade delicious soup, bake some focaccia and some chocolate chip cookies. If no one shows up, it’ll be a delicious staff meal tonight, she says with a laugh.

Cost: Soup & focaccia $6; Cookie $1; Soft Drinks $1.50.

Hours: Fridays only, noon till 1 p.m.

Black Cat Luncheonette, 428 Preston St., 613-569-9998.

CITY BITES LIVE! Join food editor Shawna Wagman for a unique “sugaring off” themed dinner with chefs from Montreal’s FoodLab

Chef Michelle Marek cutting the cake at FoodLab's first anniversary celebration. Photo credit: Mayssam Samaha, willtravelforfood.com

The Montreal food world has been buzzing since the launch, a year ago, of FoodLab —the experimental playground for food inside Montreal’s SAT (Society for Arts and Technology, a gathering place for digital geeks).

In some ways it is so much more than a restaurant and in some ways it’s not really a restaurant at all. It has been alternately described as a kind of intersection between food and performance; a network of exchange between rurality and urbanity; and a platform for the production, exploration, and sharing of ideas surrounding gastronomy.

What everyone seems to agree upon is that it is the place to go for insanely delicious food in a funky and relaxed environment.

 

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INTRODUCING: The Zydeco Smokehouse, Little Italy’s friendly new take-out sandwich shop

Greg Delair (right) came out of semi-retirement to share his love of meat from the smoker mopped with his own secret BBQ sauce.

Greg Delair likes to think of his new take-out sandwich counter as a food truck without the wheels. Open since December, The Zydeco Smokehouse is simple, crowd-pleasing food, made to order and served up fast, with an emphasis on Southern-inspired barbecue meats that have been left to linger for hours in the smoker.

His slow-cooked fast food is all made from scratch, he says. “The only thing that comes from a package is the potato chips.” He slices up the cabbage for his sweet and crunchy (blessedly mayo-free) coleslaw fresh every morning, saying, “Day-old coleslaw just doesn’t work for me.”

The sandwiches — pulled pork, pulled chicken breast, and Andouille sausage are staples on the winter menu — featuring hickory, maple and apple wood chips, respectively. There’s no deep-fryer, so rather than fries, sandwiches can be ordered with a side of Delair’s smoked Mac & Cheese or his chipotle and molasses baked beans with smoked pork belly. He makes his own version of “poutine” by topping those beans with house smoked bacon, pulled pork, and cheese curds.

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INTRODUCING: The Bootleg Porchetta Company rolls into town

For Mike Nicastro, who heads up the kitchen at Il Negozio Nicastro, the multi-day process of rolling, rubbing, brining, and cooking a giant crispy-skinned porchetta — a traditional Roman roast of pork belly, loin, and shoulder stuffed with aromatic herbs and garlic — is a labour of love.

Until recently, his porchetta was showcased hot from the oven on Friday evenings at Caffe Ventuno, but the Nicastro family recently closed the restaurant to allow for a major expansion of the take-out food shop and traditional coffee bar (more on that story coming to City Bites soon). The succulent porchetta remains a staple at the deli counter at both Il Negozio Nicastro locations (1355 Wellington West and in the Glebe at 792 Bank St).

For the last 3 years Luigi Meliambro — the peppy personality behind Cheezy Luigi’s pizzeria in Chelsea — has been urging his buddy Mike Nicastro to start up a side-business selling his terrific porchetta. At first they envisioned a food truck, but were quickly discouraged by the red tape involved. Instead, they have decided to launch the venture without an address, using their respective kitchens for porchetta production and the moniker “bootleg” to allude to the quirky, fly-by-night, catch-us-if-you-can spirit.

Their idea is to offer three styles of porchetta (ranging from a full suckling pig, to a 30-40 lb roast to a smaller version for home use), sold either cooked or uncooked. They can supply delis or restaurants with porchetta as a wholesale product as well as a showpiece for catering and events (in the same way customers order up platters of oysters from the Whalesbone). The pair of cooks are also imagining serving up juicy porchetta sandwiches at various festivals around town, the same way it’s done all over Italy.

“Mike’s the porchetta man,” says Luigi. “I’m going to learn.”  Chef Nicastro recently returned from a trip to Rome where he went on a porchetta-tasting mission. “You have to get the spices right,” he says “ And the way you cook it makes all the difference.” Mike says he’s also planning to produce porchetta condiments — sweet and sour pickled onion, pickled fennel and homemade mostarda.

Luigi is focused on the marketing side of things. He recently served porchetta to the crowds attending the annual pizza eating contest at Oz Kafe and plans to approach local beer festivals. He says: “This could be the next pulled pork.”

For more information, follow them on twitter or send an email to: bpc.ottawa@gmail.com

BEST OF CITY BITES 2012: The Annual Digest of all that was noteworthy and delicious

It was a very decadent year. Looking back at my food photos taken over the last 12 months, one sub-theme emerged beyond the explosion of “Young Cuisine”: it was the year of ultra-homey desserts. We said so long crème brulée and hello gourmet doughnuts, decadent puddings, cheesecake, cream puffs, and ice cream sundaes. Along with that “trifle” of an observation, I offer this photographic snapshot of food memories from 2012.

Wishing you all a wonderful holiday and a very sweet new year!! — Shawna

 

 

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OPENING! Introducing Emulsify, the west-end olive oil and balsamic vinegar tasting bar

Jesseka Blom, a registered nurse, brings the olive oil tasting bar concept to the west end

While we’ve been inundated with news about the health benefits of olive oil, the process of shopping for a bottle at the supermarket or Italian food shops is less well-defined. In fact, it can be downright confusing, if not daunting. The prices range wildly, and even those of us who don’t mind spending a bit more money on good quality pantry staples wonder how much is too much to spend on salad dressing basics.

How can we choose between the $17 bottle and one that’s $37? How do we know when we’re paying for fancy marketing or worse — how do we know the bottle contains what it claims it does: 100% pure extra-virgin olive oil (adulterated and even fake oil is apparently widespread according to Tom Mueller in his book “Extra Virginity: the Sublime and Scandalous World of Olive Oil” — a great book, by the way).

Two independently-owned olive oil boutiques have launched in Ottawa in recent weeks, offering a new way to shop for oils and vinegars. It’s part of the wave of tasting bars that have supposedly become a retail craze across North America and Europe.

I visited Emulsify, the olive oil bar on Wellington St. W. but I understand the shopping experience is similar at The Unrefined Olive (151A Second Ave.) in the Glebe. Both shops are dedicated to extra-virgin cold-pressed olive oils and aged balsamic vinegars, but rather than choosing by price, the name of the game appears to be flavour — dozens of them.

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OPENING: Introducing Mitla, Vanier’s authentic Mexican take-out food shop and tortilleria

Ana Collins was inspired by life in Oaxaca Mexico to open a funky take-out food shop and tortillaria in her neighbourhood

Ana Collins wants to prove there is more to Mexican food than tacos. The indigenous food of Oaxaca — the region in southwest Mexico famous for its corn-based cuisine and known as the land of seven moles—is the inspiration for her new shop in residential Vanier.

She chose to call it Mitla, the name of an archeological and UNESCO World Heritage site in the Oaxaca Valley, because it’s easier to spell and pronounce than Oaxaca. But it’s the densely nutritious, fresh, and vibrant food — as well as the warmth of the culture — that she experienced while living and studying in Mexico that she is aiming to bring to her Ottawa neighbourhood.

Collins, who grew up in Ottawa and has family in Mexico, returned to the capital in 2008 and worked at the Wild Oat and the now-defunct Delish Catering. She gained a deep appreciation for the importance of corn to Oaxacan culture while working at a restaurant and tortilleria there called Itanoni that is dedicated to preserving organic heirloom corn varieties.

The idea of serving anything less than good fresh corn tortillas at her shop was out of the question. “I am really trying for authenticity as much as possible,” she says.

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BITE: Manchebello cheese from the new Fromagerie Montebello

When you name your cheese, Manchebello — a sweet, mellow sheep’s milk cheese made in nearby Montebello, Quebec — the comparisons to Manchego are inevitable.

But according to the website of the Fromagerie Montebello, the cheese factory started last year by Alain Boyer and Guy Boucher in Montebello village, the “Manche” actually refers to the European sea inlet between France and England. It does not appear to borrow its name from the famous aged sheep’s milk cheese — Manchego — made in the La Mancha region of Spain. Au contraire, it’s a very “local” story.

The factory website states: “This arm of the sea separates and unites at the same time the two countries that have colonized Lower and Upper Canada in the old days. The word “Manche” refers to those two countries that are part of our past. It also reminds us of the importance of our great Outaouais River that also separates and unites Quebec and Ontario.”

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