Freshly Chopped Supper Club: Dinner + DJ at Grounded Kitchen, Ottawa

The Freshly Chopped Supper Club, hosted by Grounded Kitchen and Coffeehouse, had their kick off event last night.

The concept of Freshly Chopped Supper Club is a pretty cool one. On the last Friday of every month, a Chef and DJ are paired together to host a dinner + music evening ,with an over arching theme that brings the two together.

The first theme was Local Tea Fusion. Chef Justin Scott served a tea-infused 3-course meal and Jas Nasty, an urban gardening and local food enthusiast brought great music to complement the theme. Thanks to her, we're now digging Santigold's Shove it.

This was November's menu:

1st Course: Roasted butternut squash soup made with coconut chai tea, coconut milk & cilantro served with focaccia bread made with white needles tea.

2nd Course: Rotolo di Pollo alla Arcobaleno (stuffed chicken with ricotta, baby spinach & sun dried Tomatoes) orange blossom oolong tea, Jus/Duchesse Potato/Rapini-Cauliflower

3rd Course: Pear Tart with Jasmine Green Tea Glaze and Vanilla Bean Raspberry Mousse

The chef did a good job with the theme. The tea was brough out in every dish without it being too overpowering. The chicken dish was good. Each piece of chicken had a nice mix of white and dark meat.

Tickets are $40 each, and a little extra if you want a guranteed seat with either the Chef or with the DJ.
Although not locked in, the owner of Grounded Kitchen talked about some upcoming themes they are thinking about including one with a Southern twist, and one with a Hawaiian theme.

Looking forward to the upcoming supper clubs. They did a really good job with the first one. Ottawa was in need of something new and creative.

Grounded Kitchen and Coffeehouse
100 Gloucester Street
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Telephone: 613-567-1234

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Summer Harvest Garden Party 2012, Ottawa

The Summer Harvest Garden Party, supporting the Ottawa Humane Society and in memory of the late Chef Kurt Waldele, was a beautiful afternoon celebrating great food and a love for animals. The fundraising event, organized by Robin Duetta, featured 20 local talented chefs, restaurants and food shops from Ottawa.

Upon arrival, guests were greeted and welcomed with Champagne. Everyone was free to mingle and sample food from the indoor and outdoor food stations. The event ended with a live auction to raise money for the Ottawa Humane Society, followed by ending remarks from Ron Eade, Kurt's wife, and The Ottawa Humane Society's director.

Here's a tour of some of the awesome food that was served:

K.W. Catering & Events served a wonderfully tender 'deconstructed sushi'. It was a salmon confit served with pickled ginger 'caviar', sesame rice crisp, yuzu 'air', wasabi mayo and sesame 'snow'. This was definitely one of my favorites!

Chef Michael Blackie from Le Cafe served a warm pineapple sticky sting licker with a mallow torch, peanut crumble, drunk summer cherries and caramel squeeze. Most of the food stations were salty meat dishes, so it was nice to see someone doing something different.

Tim Wasylko from the Prime Minister's Residence served a fun chipotle pulled pork taco with corn salsa.

The Urban Pear served a light lemongrass infused grilled flank steak wrapped around pickled daikon, peashoots, fresh herbs and topped with a fermented black bean and corn emulsion.

Marc Lepine never ceases to amaze me. I love how he surprises with every one of his dishes. No two dish is ever the same, or remotely similar. For the party, Marc served smoked duck tongues with spicy mayo, Kentucky fried quail legs with prune sauce and coleslaw chips. I had never tried duck tongues until today...it had a fatty texture, like all things duck.

The Algonquin College Culinary Arts Program featured two dishes. One was port marinated strawberries in a chocolate phyllo cup with ginger foam and the other was a sesame crusted chicken mousseline with Asian Slaw and beet & fennel relish.

 

You haven't tried chicken wings until you've tried the wings from the Real Sports Bar & Grill. They were massive, juicy and full of flavor. The event featured their salt lime wings and double smoked bacon, maple and mustard wings. They were awesome!

 

Westin Hotel showcased a couple of dishes: smoked chicken, potato and peach salad, and mini prosciutto scone sandwiches.

Backlane cafe served a spicy Catalina gazpacho that was fresh and delicious.

Grounded served empanadas with roasted corn and black bean.

One of my favorites was Whalesbone's PEI Pickle Point oysters.

The oysters were simple, salty and fresh. An assortment of sauces were available with the oysters.

Cake Shop really impressed me with their cupcakes and shortbread. There are so many cupcake places now that I glossed over this stand when I first walked in. Their cakes are really something else and I'll definitely be back for more. I brought some goodies back for my sister Freebs, and she said the exact same thing. My favorites were the strawberry cupcake and the chocolate banana cupcake.

Stubbe Chocolates had an assortment of cocoa products. The lemongrass chocolate was cool to try.

Chef Robin Bowen from Shallows Restaurant at the Southway Inn served a nice cracked fennel seed & Madagascar peppercorn hickory smoked Atlantic salmon with yellow corn pancake, mango & serrano chilli and creme fraiche.

 

Other food stations included Brookstreet Hotel with a roast sweet corn and chorizo chowder and a shrimp & pork dumpling, Big Easy's New Orleans style food, The Pine Restaurant at the Monterey Inn, and sweets from Pasticceria Gelateria Italiana.

 

The auction featured a lot of 'foodie' prizes which included brunch/dinner for 8 at Gay Cook's home, Cocktail-Dinatoire for 12 with Margaret Dickenson, weekend for 4 in Prince Edward County, and a Chefs at Home package where Ottawa's most talented chefs like Marc Lepine and Matthew Carmichael will come to your home and entertain 10-12 guests.

 

The event was extremely well organized, and the length of the event was just right. Not too long and not too short.  And to top it off, one couldn't have asked for more perfect weather.

 

Other sponsors of the event included Knock on Wood, Beau's Beer, C.A. Paradis, Colaneri Estate Winery, Kara's Sugarcubes, Responsible Choice and Star Motors Ottawa.

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Aroma Festival, Sydney

Next Sunday is Aroma festival in Sydney! An outdoor festival, in The Rocks, dedicated to coffee, tea & chocolate. What can be better? This is an event where vendors from all over Sydney come together to showcase and serve their finest drinks, chocolate, and spices.
As cool as that sounds, this event is so much more than that. It's not just about coffee, tea, and chocolate. There's also food, mulled wine, entertainment, outdoor markets, and much more...
Ummm...like camel rides for example :) How random, right!? These camels were just hangin out in the crowds like it was no big deal. I was shocked that they didn't freak out with so many people around.

Last year, my good friend Super J, her new boyfriend, and I explored Aroma Fest together...eating and drinking as much as we possibly could.
Meet Super J's boyfriend! LOL. He is such a good sport. I can't believe he said yes when I told him to try on a mask.

Outdoor Market at Aroma Festival 2010

So this is how it goes down at Aroma Fest:
Grab some grub and fill your tummy.

Fight through the crowds and grab a cup of coffee for cheap.

Eat some more.

Quench your thirst with another cup of coffee. Let's do organic this time.

But wait, you'll need to fight through the crowds and long line ups first.

More food to go with that coffee. These Turkish gozlemes were insanely good. You squeeze fresh lemon juice over top while they're still hot, and you've got heaven on a plate! Gozlemes were a discovery I made while in Sydney.

Keep the cycle going until you are completely stuffed from the food and wired from all the caffeine. When you're ready to call it quits, unwind and complete the day by headin to a pub! :)

The Rocks, Sydney

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Happy Persian New Year!

Happy Nowruz everyone!

Today is Persian New Year, also the first day of Spring! Eid-e Nowruz (Persian New Year) is the biggest holiday for Persians, celebrated in many countries including Iran, Albania, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.

This is the first year that CK and I are celebrating Persian New Year without his parents, which means that we (including his sister) had to do all the New Year prep ourselves. All the prep revolves around the idea of starting the new year with a fresh start: a thorough Spring cleaning of the house, purchase of new clothes, and the purchase of new flowers.

Another major prep for Nowruz is the Haft Sin spread (pictured in the title photo), a traditional table setting reflecting the major symbols of life and signifying all the things we want in life.

Sabzeh: signifying Rebirth and Renewal

Haft Sin means seven 'S', and everything displayed on the haft sin table starts with the letter 'S'.
The Haft Sin is the focal point of the New Year celebration, and families take pride in displaying beautiful, elaborate settings. I think the three of us did a pretty awesome job with our haft sin this year.

The seven major haft sin items are:

1. sabzeh - legume sprouts (symbolizing rebirth and renewal)
2. senjed - dried fruit of a lotus tree (symbolizing love...my favorite one!)
3. sib - apple (symbolizing health and beauty)
4. samanu - wheat pudding (symbolizing fertility)
5. serkeh - vinegar (symbolizing age and patience)
6. somagh - crushed sumac berries (symbolizing the color of sunrise...sun conquers evil)
7. seer - garlic (symbolizing medicine and good health)

Additional 'S' items are optional such as eggs (fertility), candles (energy), gold fish (life), hyacinth (life and beauty), coins (wealth), mirror (cleanliness and honesty), and pastries (sweetness).

One of my favorite parts of eid is the egg decorating. Every year, we all compete for the best decorated egg.

Decorated Eggs

The winning egg, hands down, is CK's 'kumbaya' egg. Isn't this the cutest egg you have ever seen? He has never been the artistic type, so I'm impressed that we even got him to decorate an egg. Thank god for March Madness...he decorated his egg while watching basketball. I'm so proud of him for doing this! His egg just makes me smile.

Kumbaya Egg

My sister-in-law, naturally, creates the most symbolic and thoughtful egg of the bunch. This year is the Year 1390 in the Persian solar calendar.

1390 Egg

And this was my egg! No significance, it's just what came to mind.

Peacock Egg

It is also important to eat a traditional New Year's dish for Nowruz. In CK's family, it is traditional to have lentil rice with sauteed onions, raisins, and dates. A very simple yet delicious dish.

Lentil Rice

Sauteed Raisins, Dates and Caramelized Onions

And Nowruz is all about visiting family and friends (which we did). It is also imperative to eat something sweet to ensure a sweet year to come!

Pastries to Start a Sweet Year

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ORHMA Gala 2011

Chef Marc Lepine and Chef de Cuisine Sarah Allen of Atelier

Congrats to Atelier for winning the people's choice award for best dish at the Ontario Restaurant Hotel Motel Association (ORHMA) Gala last night in Ottawa! It was my favorite dish of the night, and I was excited to see them win. They deserved it. The Atelier dish was a beautiful display of Albacore tuna, Niagara prosciutto, whitefish caviar, cilantro, basil, young coconut, cucumber, spicy shallots, and pickled cattails. The dish was light with the perfect amount of spicy and salty. A beautiful blend of tastes.

Albacore Tuna and Niagara Prosciutto

My second favorite dish of the evening was Wellington Gastropub's seared beach scallop with roasted sunchoke salad, lamb bacon, preserved lemon, parsley, and veal jus. An honourable mention goes to Absinthe for their foie gras 3 ways: foie gras terrine with cranberry walnut crostini and quince jelly, seared foie with beef short rib, and a foie chocolate bon bon. And of course, a huge congrats to all of the other winners from the event:

17th Annual Bill Joe Restaurateur of the Year: Steven Beckta of Beckta, and Play

Chef of the Year: John Taylor

Lifetime Achievement Award: Val Belcher

Ottawa's New Restaurant of the Year: TOWN

Top Restaurant Design Award: Shore Club

A recap of the event can be found at Ron Eade's blog.

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The Restaurant Adventures of Caroline and Dave

Photo above by Miv Fournier

I was excited when Ian Capstick of MediaStyle sent me an invite to join Caroline and Dave, this past Wednesday, for the launch of their new TV show, The Restaurant Adventures of Caroline and Dave.

An evening out celebrating Dave and Caroline’s launch + rubbing shoulders with food enthusiasts? How can I say no! I was extremely exhausted because I had just landed from a long day of travel that day, but this was something I knew I absolutely wanted to support.

The Restaurant Adventures of Caroline and Dave is a 13-episode TV documentary showing the process of opening their vegan restaurant, Zen Kitchen. Caroline and Dave have been busy filming for the last year, and this is a show that hides nothing. Their show documents the entire process from the early stages of business plan development, to seeking finance, to menu construction, and beyond. Dave & Caroline mentioned that this show was somewhat therapeutic for them. Letting their frustrations out in front of the camera allowed them to resolve issues quickly and move on.

The show was produced by Ottawa’s Mountain Road Productions Company, and their creative spin combined with Caroline’s animated character combined with Dave’s wonderful humor has made this a highly entertaining show to watch. If you are an Ottawa resident, you’ll also enjoy the random shots of the city and local establishments.

If you live in Ottawa, tune into The W Network, channel 62, on Wednesdays at 9pm ET. You can check out the promo video here (courtesy of Mountain Road Productions).

Left to Right: Tim Alp, Caroline Ishii, Dave Loan

This event also gave me the opportunity to meet other fellow food bloggers, which was a bonus. It’s funny, I felt like I had known these guys for years but they were in reality, complete strangers. Food bloggers included: Rachelle Eats Food, foodiePrints, The Waffle, and It Ain't Meat, Babe. It was great meeting all of you!

Of course, the awesome Zen Kitchen staff served awesome little bites throughout the evening to keep our appetite satisfied. Here is a snippet of what was served:

A wonderful cauliflower soup with orange blossom oil.

Cauliflower Soup with Orange Blossom Oil

Marinated Eggplant and tomatoes. The eggplant was deliciously flavorful!

Marinated Eggplant and Tomatoes

Caramelized Onion Dumplings.

Caramelized Onion Dumpling

Lemon Pie...seriously, can't believe vegan can be this good.

Lemon Pie

Jantine Van Kregten from Ottawa Tourism posted a short video of the event:


If you want to read more about Zen Kitchen, you can check out my past meal at the restaurant here, and a Spotted Interview with Caroline and Dave here.

Zen Kitchen
634 Somerset Street West
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Telephone: 613-233-6404

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