Eating my way through Ottawa

Lunch at Allium signals the end of "Birthday Month"

My boss and a few colleagues took me out for my birthday lunch. I chose Allium Restaurant because of its proximity to work and also because I enjoy it there.

Allium’s mix of Canadian cuisine and classic French techniques often lands it on various top 10 lists of best restaurants in the city. The menu changes on the first Thursday of every month and often includes your choice of duck, foie gras, salmon, steak, sandwiches and pastas.

I had the Mushroom Tagliatelle which was both tasty and filing. If I have one critique for Allium is that its portions are generally on the smallish side. Not this time. My plate contained a hearty portion of ragù which left me quite satisfied.

Mushroom Tagliatelle brought together slow roasted pork shoulder, tomato confit, bacon,
mushrooms, roasted garlic, chili and eggplant.

The rest of my party had the Club Sandwich. I received a chorus of approving nods when I inquired about how they liked their meal.

Club sandwich and potato salad

Allium is refined yet approachable. It carefully and quite adroitly straddles the line between casual and fine dinning. The menu offers regional and farm-to-table ingredients spun in interesting combinations like the Duck Fat Fried Eggplant with chili and garlic or the Scallop Salad that combines blueberries, nectarines, oranges, pickled red onion, spiced peanuts with a cilantro-parsley dressing.

I highly recommend Allium for anyone looking for bistro fare done right. It is located at 87 Holland Avenue in Ottawa.

I’m glad that I got to finish off my birthday month at Allium. It’s been a quite enjoyable to spend time with the cool people in my life. I’m a very lucky dude indeed. I’m already looking forward to next year!

"Birthday Month" – My dinner with Humphrey

My uncle is a fascinating guy. Apart from being an admirable person, he loves Paris the way I love Boston. Hard to imagine, I know. He spends oodles of time in France hanging out with his friends. He fences (with a sword!) He’s a wine aficionado and a proficient chef. He has the ultimate green thumb. He’s a skilled photographer. He’s kind to my mom (his sister), to me (his godson) and he’s a supportive father to his two great kids. And if that wasn’t enough, he has the raddest dog on the block, Humphrey.

I always enjoy spending time with my uncle and I was happy to snag an invite to his groovy abode. Not much to report but suffice it to say that it was a nice evening, with some fine wine, some good food and a cool dog. Sometimes, that’s all that matters. Enjoy the pics below.

My boy Humphrey

A jade plant

Another jade plant. This one is humungous.

I think this is an azalea. I’m not a plant guy so I can’t be sure.

A funny birdie

A pensive Humphrey

Stuffed tomatoes

Chicken brochettes, potatoes and stuffed tomatoes. Delicious!

The darkening sky as seen from the backyard

"Birthday Month" – My peeps take me out

My employees mean the world to me. If you met them you’d understand. Smart, funny, talented, hard working, good looking and they even smell good! Quite frankly, I’m the luckiest guy around to have the privilege of managing these terrific people. In addition to being great, they are also quite thoughtful and favour a good old beer and burger combo now and again. So with that, my birthday lunch was set at The Clocktower Brew Pub in trendy Westboro.

The Clocktower Brew Pub Westboro, 418 Richmond Road, Ottawa

This new location in Westboro is stellar. It’s also the largest of its four Ottawa locations. We took advantage of a sunny day to sit out on the patio. A big plus of the Clocktower is that they brew their own beer. Their website states that “attention to detail, authentic ingredients, no preservatives, no additives and small batches ensure our enjoyment.” They also have some cool imported beer. I had Kölsch, a lighter German ale. It tasted great.

House brewed Kölsch is a refreshingly crisp light blonde ale.

I ordered the Rise & Shine burger. Anytime I can incorporate breakfast items into my meal, I’m in! Eggs and bacon on a burger? Brilliant.

Rise & Shine Burger had a sunny side egg, crisp bacon and HP sauce.

One of the crew had a burger with goat cheese, banana peppers and spicy mayo with some soup on the side. His plate was wiped clean so I’m guessing he was pleased with his choice.

Angry Goat Burger: Herbed Goat cheese, banana peppers and spicy mayo.

Soups, salads, sandwiches, burgers, fish & chips and steak & frites make up the majority of the menu. You can also find some unexpected items like the Kung Foo Noodle Bowl, the Chicken and Leek Crock Pot and a Hummus Platter. But in the end, my table went with the tried and true pub grub and we all left full and satisfied.

I wasn’t feeling the greatest that day but it was made better by hanging out at a great new spot with some of my fav people. This birthday month is really about spending time with the people in my life that mean the most to me. And if I get to celebrate at a great place like The Clocktower, then I’m all for extending my bday into September!

"Birthday Month" – BBQ #5

My family knows how much I dig birthdays. Lucky for me they’re always willing to do it up big. This year’s celebration included gourmet burgers, salads and make your own sundaes. Sweet! My family is pretty fly. I’m a very lucky guy. Check out the party pics below.

Baseball balloon. Coolest thing ever.

Choice of drinks. And no, I didn’t go for the Skinnygirl cocktail.

Spectacular salad

Burger toppings: Guacamole, sun-dried tomatoes and aioli.

More burger toppings: Bacon, caramelized onions and mushrooms.

Burger and salad. A great combo.

“Make your own sundae” toppings

Sundae in a waffle bowl.

"Birthday Month" – BBQ #4

It’s been a long while since my last barbecue. Some pals of mine threw together the most fancy pants BBQ I have ever had the pleasure of attending. Salad, vichyssoise, steak, potatoes, fennel and my favourite pie in the world, coconut cream.

You’ll notice the absence of a shot of the vichyssoise. I’m a photography dunce. I’m working on getting better so I ask for your patience. [As an aside, if you have tips for taking better pictures with an iPhone, send them my way. I would be eternally grateful.] Suffice it to say, the vichyssoise pic didn’t turn out and I was not going to subject you to the blurry mess. Although I have to say that the salad shot ain’t bad, no?

Thank you kind friends for throwing me a beautiful birthday BBQ. I appreciate you and all of the time you put into this great meal. You guys are brilliant!

A colourful and delicious summer salad

Dinner by candlelight. Steak, potatoes, fennel and wine. Mmmm.

My favourite pie, coconut cream

Birthday Month – Celebrating with "Endless Shrimp"

My friend loves Red Lobster. She also happens to have a birthday near mine. A double birthday celebration at the RL was in order. Although I’m used to amazing New England seafood, Red Lobster ain’t half bad. I worked there when I was a teen so I know just what to order. You can never go wrong with clam chowder and lobster. Great combo. Happy Birthday to us!

Sunday, Monday, Happy Days

Have you ever time travelled? Apparently I have ’cause I somehow ended up in the 1950s hanging out at Dick’s Drive-In & Dairy-Dip. Now the ’50s certainly wouldn’t be my preferred “Quantum Leap” destination, but I made the best of it while I was there. Dick’s motto is “Welcome back to the good old days.” And he ain’t kidding. I wasn’t around in the “Happy Days” era, but I’m thinking this is what things were like for the Fonz: A neighbourhood malt shop served juicy burgers grilled over charcoal with hand cut french fries on the side while a scary hulking sculpture of a milkshake hovered above the tables.

The burgers were quite scrumptious and tasted decidedly retro. They’re real meat topped with fresh ingredients and cooked to perfection. Nice concept. All beef burgers are Angus Pride beef and come with lettuce, tomatoes, pickles, aioli, sautéed onions, Dijon or regular mustard, unless you say otherwise.

Blurry pics of food are my specialty. Sorry about that 🙁

But here’s what’s “coolamundo” about Dick’s. While it’s unquestionably a 1950s joint with food that harkens back to pre-Kennedy times, its menu items are flat-out present-day diverse. Ostrich burgers, veal burgers, bison burgers and yes kangaroo burgers have a starring role along with the usual diner fare. While I wasn’t in the mood for a gamey culinary adventure, I now know where to go when I have a hankering for something a little more exotic.

While it was “neat-o” to visit the bygone days when they “rocked around the clock,” I was happy to time-travel back to 2012 when Dick’s ranked #4 in the Ottawa Citizen poll for Ottawa’s Best Burger 2012. But hear me out. I’ve been to the supposed top three haunts, and I can tell you from the bottom of my heart and the top of my palate, Dick’s is #1. But don’t just take my word for it, try it out for yourself. “Be there or be square!”

Dick’s Drive-In & Dairy-Dip is located at 1485 Merivale Road, near Clyde Ave.

Not gonna talk a lot ’bout TacoLot

Listen, I don’t like to say not-so-nice things about food establishments that are clearly putting forth an effort. But TacoLot is not so fantastic. I agreed with my friend’s statement, “I really wanted to like this place.” I really did. But I ended up disappointed. TacoLot’s got much going for it. It’s in the getting trendier by the minute Hintonburgh area. It’s a hut on a lot. It’s an easy to walk to neighbourhood joint. And it serves the ever popular tacos. But the aforementioned tacos are pretty unspectacular. So bland that even a hot sauce couldn’t spice up. The tortillas were dry and almost crusty. The rice was unexpectedly sticky. Even the pico de gallo was flavourless. I’m willing to chalk this up to a bad night and give it another try maybe later on this summer. But for now at least, I’m left dreaming of a better taco. Any suggestions?

TacoLot – 995 Wellington Street West

Pork tacos platter

Five questions, five answers about Five Guys Burger

What is Five Guys Burger?

A U.S. burger chain first opened in the mid 80’s.

Who are the Five Guys?

They are five brothers from the Washington D.C. area.

Where is Five Guys Burger?

It’s in 46 states and in 6 Canadian provinces, including the Ottawa location at Train Yards. An Orleans Five Guys is coming soon.

What’s on the menu?

Hand-formed burgers, dogs, sandwiches and fresh-cut fries. For the burgers and the dogs, you can choose as many free toppings as you want. Munch on salted peanuts in the shell as your wait for your order.

Is the food any good?

It’s not terrible. I had the burger and it was tasty. The price was a little disconcerting. Over $14 for a burger, some fries and a fountain drink. You do get an inordinate amount of fries but it all gets thrown together in a paper bag that gets very greasy. I don’t think I will be going back. In my opinion, you can get this kind of meal at any food truck for half the price. Try FGB and let me know what you think.

If you’re travelling to the west coast of America or to Texas, go to In-N-Out burger. Sweet Baby Jesus that’s the best burger anywhere. How I miss that burger. It makes you weak in the knees. Say a prayer that one day In-N-Out will come to Canada.

Nicastro’s Italian Food Emporium

Ottawa’s a pretty small town. The hunt for annoto seeds, fresh dates, morel mushrooms or cabot cheddar can take you on a pretty wild goose chase. Nicastro’s on Bank street has bailed me out on more than one occasion in those times where I need to acquire a hard to find ingredient for my recipe. It’s a beautifully well-stocked market where you can find fresh produce, pasta, meats and sausages, deli items, cheeses, coffee, cookies and other gourmet foods. If Julia Child had lived in Ottawa, this is where she would have shopped.