Flower + Coffee at blumenstudio, Ottawa

I've been MIA for a few months because I have been getting ready for my move to LA! I am changing jobs and this new adventure is moving me from Ottawa to California. While I am very excited, the last few months were full of ups and downs. Change is not easy! It was a long 5 months for me, but I finally have everything worked out and I've decided on an end of May move date...which is coming fast, yikes!!

Now knowing that I'm not going to be in Ottawa for much longer, I want to post all of the yummy places I have eaten at lately so that I don't forget how great Ottawa is. I'm consciously trying not to stock up on food at home, so CK and I have been eating out a lot more lately.

Anyone that knows me knows that I am a HUGE coffee lover. One of my favorite places in Ottawa for coffee is blumenstudio cafe on Parkdale.

What's really cool about blumenstudio is that it is a flower shop and coffee shop in one. When you enter, you are surrounded by beautiful plants, flowers and sculptures, making it a very warm and inviting atmosphere.

Kat Kosk and Nathan Turner are the owners of blumenstudio. Extremely talented, Kat was trained in Germany as a professional floral designer, spending most of her time in Dresden and Berlin. She moved to North America over 10 years ago and is now living her dream.

Blumenstudio is a cozy little space with great coffee and sweets. I love their marzipan balls and their coffee is consistenly good.

I recently found out that blumenstudio is dog-friendly, so little Pepper (newest member of our family) was able to join us for coffee, which was a lot of fun.

Check this place out. It is definitely worth a visit or two, or more!

Blumenstudio Cafe
465 Parkdale Avenue
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

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Aussie-Grade Coffee at Workshop Coffee, London

The time I spent in Oz has made me appreciate coffee in a whole different way. In a few years, I learned more about coffee than I ever imagined. Aussie's are so passionate about coffee that they have schools (like Italy) that specialize in coffee where you can learn about latte art, the art of making the perfect espresso, and even the ins and outs on how to run a profitable coffee business. Baristas are the rock stars of Australia and the ones who do it really well, are surely recognized for it.

Everywhere I travel now, I'm always on the look out for good coffee. In London, a very notable coffee bar is Workshop Coffee. With roots in Melbourne Australia, Workshop Coffee was once St Ali, a sister coffee bar to Melbourne's St Ali. Almost a year after St Ali London opened, they decided to re-invent themselves as Workshop Coffee.

In Aussie fashion, Workshop Coffee takes their coffee seriously. They are meticulous about the sourcing, roasing and brewing of their coffee, which you can read all about on their website. Every year, they take the time to travel to different countries to learn from the people who grow their coffee. This year, the focus will be on travels to Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Colombia, El Salvador, Costa Rica, and Guatemala.

Workshop Coffee currently has 2 locations - Clerkenwell and Marleybone. The Clerkenwell location (the one I visited) is the larger of the two and serves hot food including weekend brunch. The Marleybone location is the complete opposite with just 14 seats and a small selection of pastries and sandwiches. In March of this year, they are opening a 3rd location, a 1200 square foot space, on the ground floor of Amazon's headquarters in Holborn.

On Feb 17, they announced that they are shipping their coffee globally, which means you can enjoy Workshop's awesome coffee whether or not you can get to London.

Workshop Coffee
27 Clerkenwell Road
London, UK
Telephone: 0207 253 5754

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Cool Little Coffee Shop on Elgin. The Ministry of Coffee, Ottawa

The Ministry of Coffee is a great little place to hang out, chill and enjoy good coffee. The staff is incredibly friendly and they've got a decent menu of coffee, drinks and food. This is a great place to get comfy and slow down, while the quick paced traffic on Elgin buzzes by.

The Ministry of Coffee specializes in coffee but they also offer other drinks, baked goods and sandwiches. On the day I was there, they had a pork tenderloin sandwich and beet & herb goat cheese sandwich on the menu, which sounded delicious.

I decided to be adventurous and try the Nutella latte. What I loved was that the Nutella was very subtle...not overly sweet and syrupy. Their flat white was also good but slightly acidic for my taste. I don't think it was how they made the coffee, but more the coffee itself. It was obvious these guys know their stuff, which is hard to find in Ottawa

Their 'sex sells' sign got a few good chuckles from passer-bys. Smart way to get someone's attention :)

The Ministry of Coffee
279 Elgin Street
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Telephone: 613-255-3410

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Indie Coffee Passport, Ottawa Edition

Hey, all you coffee and tea lovers from Ottawa, have you guys heard of the Indie Coffee Passport?

If you're the adventurous type and are always seeking out the next best place for tea or coffee, this is a cool thing for you to check out. For just $14, you get to sample tea/coffee from 12 different independent coffee shops in Ottawa. The card is good for one cup of coffee or tea (up to $4.50) from each of the participating shops.

 



The shops are mainly based in Central Ottawa including Sandy Hill, Downtown, Glebe, Old Ottawa South, Westboro/Hintonburg and Little Italy.

Here are the participating shops:

• Alpha Soul Cafe - 1015 Wellington Street W, 613-761-8000
• Cafe Morala - 734 Bank Street, 613-235-4740
• Collected Works - 1242 Wellington Street W, 613-722-1265
• Cyclelogik - 111A Wellington Street W, 613-722-2345
• The Daily Grind Art Cafe - 601 Somerset Street W, 613-233-2233
• Grounded Kitchen & Coffeehouse - 100 Gloucester Street, 613-567-1234
• i Deal Coffee - 176 Dalhousie Street, 613-562-1775
• Le Michel-Ange - 35 Laurel Street, 613-601-4614
• Stella Luna Gelato Cafe - 1103 Bank Street, 613-523-1116
• Sun Cafe & Flowers - 410 Bank Street, 613-422-0642
• T.A.N Coffee - 317 Wilbrod Street, 613-421-0228
• The Tea Party - 119 York Street, 613-562-0352

You can purchase the passport online or drop in at any one of the participating shops minus The Tea Party on York Street.

If you want one, get it soon because the card expires November 30th!

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Japanese Cafe Restaurant EMON, Sydney

CK and I were craving sushi while in Sydney recently, and we decided on Japanese Cafe Restaurant EMON for dinner. We have walked by this place numerous times, and wondered each time, whether or not their food was good. Well, we finally found out.

The staff here was very polite and their sushi roll portions were quite large. Overall, the food here, I would say, was average.

For an appetizer, we ordered the renkon chips...chips that are made of thinly sliced lotus root. This was neat but a little salty.

The salmon and avocado roll was my favourite. The fish and avocado tasted extremely fresh. I don't usually care for avocado, and I loved it that night.

Their unagi roll was also good.

Althought it looked very nice, their soft shell crab roll wasn't very good. Soft shell crab doesn't have a lot of taste to it, so when stuffed with a bunch of lettuce, it completely masked the crab.

For dessert, I had to try their black sesame icecream affogato. Now, this is an affogato with a Japanese twist. Instead of the traditional vanilla gelato with a shot of espresso, it is black sesame ice cream with a ristretto shot. The verdict? Not so hot. When mixed with a little bit of the black sesame ice cream, the coffee turned sour and when mixed with a lot of the ice cream, the coffee tasted very bitter. Either way, it wasn't very good. It is a neat idea, but the Italians definitely do it better. The icecream alone, however, was great.

CK had the tiramisu and that wasn't very good either.

All in all, this place wasn't bad for sushi. One thing I do have to note was that their wasabi was super fresh. They chopped up their wasabi really fine and served it that way. It was not like the paste I normally see.
I would recommend their salmon and avocado roll, and would advise against the soft shell crab roll. For dessert, stick to the ice cream.

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Sydney's Top Cafes

After 30 hours of travelling, I finally arrive in Sydney. This is my 5th time visiting in 3 years, and I have really grown to love this city. The first thing I did was go out for coffee. Well technically, the first thing I did was unpack and shower, but that is besides the point.

If there is a city that takes their coffee seriously, it is Sydney. The baristas here are passionate about their coffee, and they take pride in what they do. Sydney cafes have no doubtedly mastered the art and science of making coffee.

The funny thing is is that I didn't really care much for coffee until I visited Sydney for the first time. I was researching things to do, and found an article about coffee in Sydney. I decided to enroll in espresso school, and I instantly fell in love the drink. For about a year after my first trip to Sydney, I lived and breathed coffee. I bought several espresso machines, read every book and watched every documentary ever made about coffee. Obsessed you say? Absolutely! That obsession has somewhat died down, but I still love a good coffee and am a major critic when drinking it.

My favourite espresso based drink is the flat white. It is basically a latte with less foam, but for some reason, it tastes better than a latte. You can't find it in North America (an Australian and New Zealand drink), so when at home, a latte is the closest thing.

Here are my top Sydney cafes:

1.) Single Origin, Surry Hills - This place is tucked away in Surry Hills and may be hard to find, but it is well worth the search. The cafe has a very funky vibe to it, and the staff here are extremely passionate about their coffee. They also roast their own coffee on site.

2.) Campos, Newtown - This place is always packed and busy, and it is definitely not the place to have a leisurely coffee. You come for your coffee and go...no messin' around. This espresso bar definitely has the most consistent coffee in the city.

3.) Mecca, Downtown - The coffee here gives an excellent aftertaste. Located in the heart of the Central Business District, Mecca will produce great coffee without fail. The staff here are super friendly with high energy.

4.) Toby's Estate, Woolloomooloo - This is where it all started for me. In the back of this coffee shop is where I attended espresso school and learned all there is to know about making espresso. If you want a laid back atmosphere, this is the place to be. Toby's also hosts regular tasting events.

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Low Fat Tiramisu

I'm all about eating healthy. To me, healthy equals natural, which means eating real food. Oh yea, another thing...the quicker and easier, the better! My general philosophy on eating healthy is to avoid processed and hydrogenated foods, eat mainly whole wheat and whole grain products, and always eat at least 5 servings of fruits and vegetables a day. Easier said than done, right? I have to admit, eating healthy is not easy. However, it is not that hard either. You just always have to be conscious about what you are eating. The way I see it, eating feeds your soul, not just your stomach, so it is worth the effort.

I made this low fat tiramisu a few weeks ago, and this weekend, my sister begged me to make it again. Not only is it tasty, but it is truly a guilt-free dessert. I got the idea from the Made Healthier blog. This version of tiramisu is made of espresso, savoiardi biscuits, and vanilla pudding...that's it!

Low Fat Tiramisu

- Approx 24 savoiardi biscuits (lady fingers)

- 6-8 shots of espresso

- 2 cups of vanilla pudding

- Cocoa powder to sprinkle on top of tiramisu (optional)

1. Prepare the espresso and vanilla pudding. I used a stove top espresso maker and I made the vanilla pudding using 1% partly skimmed milk and Jell-o instant vanilla pudding powder. Dip each savoirardi biscuit quickly into the espresso, and build a layer across the bottom of the serving dish. My serving dish was about 9 inches long and 2.5 inches high.

2. Spoon a layer of vanilla pudding over top of the savoirardi (approx 0.5 inches thick).

3. Alternate between layers of espresso dipped savoirardi biscuits, and vanilla pudding until you reach the top of the serving dish. Refrigerate for 2 hours, and voila....guilt free tiramisu! When you are ready to serve, sprinkle some cocoa powder on top.

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