Spotted - Atelier, Ottawa

For this month’s Spotted interview, I got the opportunity to interview the talented team at Atelier.

Atelier is one of Ottawa’s most cutting edge restaurants, offering molecular gastronomy cuisine. What is that? You’ll have to find out for yourself. Can’t get there? I’ll be posting my meal from Omnivore's Ottawa Supper club at Atelier soon, but in the meantime, check out my dinner from a couple of months ago at this link.

I couldn’t decide which Chef I wanted to interview most, so in the end, I asked all three if I could do a triple feature. The great thing was that these guys aren't just colleagues, they have become good friends. This was quite obvious during the interview.

Without further ado, this month’s Spotted interview is at Atelier, Ottawa.

Chef Michael Holland (Pastry Chef)

• Where are you from: Toronto
• Your signature dish: My Elvis Truffle
• Weirdest thing ever eaten: Crunchy Dog Food. My friend was eating some, and I asked to try it. [Sarah asked Michael if he was a kid when he did this, and he embarrassingly said no.]
• Favorite ice cream flavour: Any ice cream that I make.
• Your last meal would be: Would I be in a cell and then lead to execution? That makes all the difference in my answer. I would have a cake with a file in it so that I can try to escape.

Chef Sarah Allen (Chef de Cuisine)

• Where are you from: Castleton, Ontario
• Your signature dish: My signature dish is whatever inspires me at the moment, but if I had to pick something, it would be soup. (Marc chimed in and said she makes a kick a** soup).
• Weirdest thing ever eaten: Duck fat ice cream. It was horrible. Marc experimented and made it when we were at the Courtyard. It actually made me sick. (Luckily, everyone was able to laugh about it).
• Favorite ice cream flavour: Store bought flavor would be heavenly hash. Non-store bought flavor would be star anise.
• Your last meal would be: Hot dogs from Crif Dogs in New York City.

Chef Marc Lepine (Owner and Chef)

• Where are you from: Kincardine, Ontario
• Your signature dish: I don’t have one.
• Weirdest thing ever eaten: Carbonated raw beef. It was awful. It was moving and jiggling. It was alive!
• Favorite ice cream flavour: Chocolate.
• Your last meal would be: A glass of Italian red wine.

After the interview, I went and checked out their garden to see what cool things were growing. I was surprised to see what once was a patio, turned into a garden full of cool herbs and veggies. Some things to note were their curry plant, pineapple sage, and lemon verbena.

I also checked out their solar oven, which has been used to cook things such as braised leeks.

I'm heading to San Diego for a few days, but I'll be sure to write about my exciting 12-course dinner from last night when I get back.