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.

Read More

Spotted - La Cucina, Ottawa

This month's Spotted is a long story. I had someone lined up, and then I didn't. I had another person lined up, and then I didn't. I hate to point fingers, but in both cases, I have to blame CK's laziness. I told him that if my Spotted Interviews don't work out this month because of him, he would be the one interviewed.

Well, here we are.

CK is extremely camera shy, so the picture below is the next best thing. Don't feel jipped because the character below does kind of look like him...big, bushy, angry eyebrows are one of his trademarks...hehe.

This month's Spotted interview is with my darling husband at La Cucina Ristorante, Ottawa.

Where are you from: Memphis, Tennessee, but I spent most of my life in Montreal and Ottawa.

Your signature dish: Boiled pasta and spaghetti sauce from a jar. It is the quickest and easiest thing to make when you are a student.

Most memorable dining experience: My answer will embarrass my wife, but chicken almond guy ding and beef & broccoli from Golden Palace Restaurant in Ottawa. I used to go here every year for my birthday, as a child, with my family.

Favorite ice cream flavor: Bubble Gum. It has the most refined flavor of any ice cream ;-)

Your last meal would be: All of my favorites. For mains, I would have kebab soltani, poutine, a medium tomato, onion & mushroom pizza, and a bowl of Lucky Charms with skim milk. To drink, I would have a glass of Dr. Pepper, and a glass of Cherry Coke. For dessert, two cream puffs.

Happy New Year Everyone! We'll be spending ours in Memphis.

Read More

Spotted - Zen Kitchen, Ottawa

Meet Dave and Caroline (pictured below). They are the friendly owners of Zen Kitchen, a gourmet vegan restaurant that pushes the envelope on vegan cooking.

Before I share my meal from Zen Kitchen, I'd like you to get to know the masterminds behind the operation first. Caroline is also the Executive Chef of Zen Kitchen, and Dave is the manager & drink expert ;-)

They are a warm couple who have a deep respect and affection for what they do. When I asked them who or what their biggest life influences were, this is what they said:

Caroline: My mother for better or for worse. She was very hard to live with, but she had a strong passion for food and presentation, and was a woman with a good sense of style and taste. She was a perfectionist. She loved people, and presenting food to people. Both my mom and dad were great cooks. My passion for style and presentation came very early for me.

Dave: Farley Mowat, whose books were instilled in me as a kid. He had a passion for protecting and caring for the natural world, but at the same time, maintained a good sense of humour. I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to take him to lunch, and took him to Fressen on Queen Street.

This month's Spotted interview is at Zen Kitchen, Ottawa.

Chef Caroline Ishii

• Where are you from: I was born in Toronto but I've lived all over the world. I've lived in the Soviet Union, I studied in Quebec City, and I moved to Ottawa 20 years ago to study French.
• One cooking utensil you cannot live without: A tasting spoon. I need to constantly taste stuff
• Go-to dish when serving guests: I love serving hors d'oeuvres and small plates. I'll serve like 15 little plates of Japanese Cuisine. I'll serve a clear soup, then a sea vegetable salad, then rice, etc. I'll definitely do a Terriyaki of some kind. Maybe a Terriyaki fusion with wild blueberry. I usually change up the protein.
• Weirdest thing ever eaten: Fish sashimi that was still alive. It was a whole fish cut up. It was so fresh, the meat was still hanging off the fish. I was a little kid at the time, and I just couldn't eat it. I asked the sashimi master to cook it, which obviously was a faux pas. He was insulted. It was horrifying. **laughs out loud**
• Your last meal would be: I love Japanese food so it would be a simple Japanese meal of rice and homemade pickles.

Dave Loan

• Where are you from: Southern Ontario, near St. Catharines. I've also lived in Huntsville and Sudbury.
• One cooking utensil you cannot live without: My Chef's knife. It does everything from peeling to chopping to shaping. It is a Japanese knife from Japan. It doesn't have a specific brand signature, but it was handmade from a famous knife shop in Tokyo. The blade smith there makes only 2 knives a day.
• What do you always have stocked in your fridge: Beau's Beer. That's an easy one.
• Weirdest thing ever eaten: It was in New York at a sushi bar where the staff only spoke Japanese. I ordered a giant clam on rice. After I ordered it, the chef said something to Caroline in Japanese, where she replied 'oh'. They were telling us not to use the chopsticks to pick it up because the clam was trying to crawl off the rice.
• Your last meal would be: Pasta...a nice ravioli. I crave ravioli all the time. It takes a long time to make.

Read More

Gold Medal Plates Ottawa 2009

This is going to be a long post so I'm going to cut to the chase.

Gold Medal Plates Ottawa. Wednesday October 28th. A charity gala that celebrates Canadian cuisine, wine, and Olympic athletes. Ten chefs competed for gold. Proceeds used to support the Canadian Olympic foundation. An annual event that takes place in six cities across Canada.

Gold Medal: Chef Matthew Carmichael, Restaurant E18hteen
Silver Medal: Chef Michael Blackie, Le Cafe
Bronze Medal: Chef Ben Baird, Urban Pear

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Now, if you want the extended detailed version, read on my dear readers...

Gold Medal Plates Otawa '09 was held at the Hilton Lac-Leamy hotel, and was a sold out event with over 500 participants. The evening was packed with good food, good entertainment, and loads of auction items to spend your money on. Of course, the main attraction was the food.

Ten local chefs (with the help of their fabulous teams) competed. Here is the run down:

Yannick Anton, Signatures, Le Cordon Bleu
Ben Baird, The Urban Pear
Michael Blackie, Le Cafe, National Arts Centre
Matthew Carmichael, Restaurant E18hteen
Duane Keats, Luxe Bistro
Kenton Leier, Capital Dining Room, Delta Hotel
Marc Lepine, Atelier
Michael Moffatt, Beckta Dining and Wine
Rene Rodriguez, Navarra
Warren Sutherland, Sweetgrass Aboriginal Bistro

Prior to the main event, last year's winner, Charles Part of Les Fougeres, served up a dish of maple brushed wild Baffin Island Arctic Char. The fish was served on top of a parsnip-sherry puree and citrus basil jus.

Les Fougeres Team Serving Maple Arctic Char

In the meantime, this year's competing chefs were busy preparing their food in the main salon. There were 10 food stations in total, and each chef was teamed with a local winery and Canadian athlete. Here's a tour of the excellent food I ate:

First up is Ben Baird of Urban Pear. He was in a prime location as it was the first station you saw as you walked into the main salon. Chef Ben Baird served a dish of Ontario grass fed AAA beef tartare with a stick of beef flank jerky and organic beet and beef marrow creme brulee. Over top was a seedling salad. Everything about this dish was awesome. I loved the hints of crunchy and sour from the house cured pickles in the beef tartare, and the beef marrow creme brulee was silky smooth.

Ben Baird - Beef Tartare, Beef Marrow Creme Brulee, and Beef Flank Jerky

Next was Kenton Leier of Capital Dining Room. This station served an espresso spiced Bearbrook Farms venison loin with foie gras ravioli, wild mushroom, black garlic, beet salad, vanilla butternut squash puree, cherry compote, and spicy chocolate jus. This dish was good, but I have to admit, it was one of the last dishes I tried, and my stomach was just too full for me to pick up any fine points.

Kenton Leier - Espresso Spiced Venison Loin with Foie Gras Ravioli

Third was Duane Keats of Luxe Bistro. His dish was quail three ways. First was a confit leg shepherds pie topped with dehydrated cranberry dust. Second was the breast stuffed with Le Coprin mushroom and spinach with a pumpkin puree beneath. Third was a savoury pickled cranberry brulee. The paint on the plate was a reduced pinot noir from Coyote's Run Winery, their paired winery. The paint was then dusted with gold flakes. I thought the gold flakes were a nice touch. This was a nice dish overall, and I especially enjoyed the quail confit shepherds pie.

Duane Keats - Quail Three Ways

Next was Chef Rene Rodriguez's station. This story is an unfortunate one. I had arrived too late and was sad to hear that they had run out of food! I was really looking forward to this station, and I've made a note to self - don't talk so much....food first :) I did try a piece of their leftover parsnip gnocchi, but it just wasn't the same. Rene's dish was three compositions based on Quebec milk fed piglet and Ontario parsnips. Darnit!

Rene Rodriguez - The Leftover Parsnip Gnocchi

The next dish was the champion dish: pan roasted sustainable sea bass, crispy braised octopus, and steamed rock shrimp siu mai served over a fresh ground curry sauce. Chef Matthew Carmichael definitely did a great job on this dish, and it was simple and clean.

Matthew Carmichael - Sea Bass, Octopus, and Rock Shrimp Siu Mai

Michael Moffatt served 3 mini courses. The first was a bite sized biscuit with salt cured tuna loin, smoked and rendered pork belly, arugula and tomato & tarragon powder.

Michael Moffatt - Salt Cured Tuna Loin & Smoked and Rendered Pork Belly

The second mini course was a lobster risotto.

Michael Moffatt - Lobster Risotto

And third was a deep fried boneless BBQ pork rib. Although the food was good, I expected more pizazz.

Michael Moffatt - Boneless BBQ Pork Rib

Warren Sutherland served an Ottawa farmer's cassoulet. This was a hearty beet stew with a trio of meats: duck sausage, braised pork, and lamb bacon folded in beans. Served with the stew was a crispy king eringi mushroom slice and tomato powder.

Warren Sutherland - Ottawa Farmer's Cassoulet

Marc Lepine served a wonderful caramel apple boar dish. This was one of my favorites. It was a Mariposa wild boar belly cooked sous vide and then pan seared via induction. On top was fleur de sel and Mill Street Tankhouse ale bubbles. Beneath was a fresh green apple and jalapeno salsa. On the side were dehydrated sweet potato chips. Complimentary to the dish were tastes of caramel, vanilla, crab apple, honey Dijon mustard, sage, and truffle.

Marc Lepine - Caramel Apple Boar

Another one of my favorites was Yannick Anton's venison dish. It was slow cooked deer tenderloin and deer osso bucco. The osso bucco was served in what he called a chestnut puree mille feuille. Also part of the mille feuille were porcini mushrooms and a Saskatoon berry jelly slice.
This station also served an edible cocktail that combined foie gras and apple. The cocktail had many different textures and taste: crunchy, smooth, bitter, sweet, and salty. Although unique, I didn't enjoy it very much.

Yannick Anton - Venison Tenderloin and Osso Bucco

Chef Michael Blackie's station was executed with style. He had live dancers that were projected on to a screen, and his dishes were prepared on a moving conveyer belt. The last time I saw dancers like that was in a bar in Vegas.

Michael Blackie Mural with Live Dancers

His dish was entitled 'Clawing the Paw': a hemisphere of lobster bisque with a knuckle meat core and rabbit carpaccio, manicotti of lobster with acidulated chanterelles over top of a cauliflower truffle peach pulse, and rabbit leg confit.

Michael Blackie - Clawing the Paw

After the food fest, the chefs had to patiently wait while they had 2 hours of live entertainment and auctions.

The moment right before the winners were announced...

And, a final glimpse of the three winners:

Gold Medal: Chef Matthew Carmichael of Restaurant E18hteen.

Matthew Carmichael and Wife Sheila

Silver Medal: Chef Michael Blackie of Le Cafe.

Michael Blackie and Wife Jillian

Bronze Medal: Chef Ben Baird of Urban Pear.

Ben Baird

For more information on the event, check out the Gold Medal Plates website.

Read More

Spotted - Fleurs Place, Moeraki

I'm very excited about this month's Spotted interview.

I not only dined at the famous Fleurs Place, but I got to meet Fleur Sullivan herself. She is somewhat of a culinary celebrity, and any foodie from NZ will know who Fleur is.

As I mentioned in my last post, Fleurs Place became known in other parts of the world when British chef and food writer, Rick Stein, picked Fleurs Place after he was told he could go anywhere in the world to write a travel article. Stein was right on the money. Fleurs Place is a charming restaurant with exceptional food.

This month's Spotted interview is at Fleurs Place, Moeraki, New Zealand.

Where are you from: Waitaki River, New Zealand. Waitaki is the new wine growing area.

Favorite ingredient to cook with: Any food of the region. In this case, it would be fish. I had a restaurant for 20 years before Fleurs and the only reason I created Fleurs restaurant was because of the fresh fish.

Most memorable dining experience: Ham and eggs with a lid on top. It was something different, and even the place was different. The walls were covered with Bohemian Dutch scarves. Another experience was when I was a young person, about 16 or 17. It was at the Waitaki hotel. I had lamb with bones and brains in it. But it was the whole dining experience that made it memorable: the service, the silver, the linens, and the well trained waiters.

Favorite ice cream flavor: Hokey pokey. It is a vanilla ice cream with toffee. There is a shop in Hamden that sells great hokey pokey ice cream.

Your last meal would be: Oh, you would need a very big table, rather laden. Hmm...I would have bluff oysters and some lemon, and...[after much thinking] you don't need much else, really [laughs].

Read More

Spotted - Hopewell, Marlborough Sounds

After my freshly caught meal at Hopewell, I asked my dinner guest, Y, if she would be my Spotted for this month.

Y is a teacher in Germany who has decided to take five months off to travel in New Zealand and Asia. She is an avid rock climber, and travelled all the way to NZ just because she heard there was good climbing here. Of course, she is also very keen on good food.

This month's spotted interview is at Hopewell, Marlborough Sounds.

Where are you from: Hanover, Germany.

One word that describes you: Variety.

Favorite ingredient to cook with: Soy sauce.

Weirdest thing ever eaten: Whitebait nigiri sushi in Japan.

Your last meal would be: Starter would be fresh oysters. The main would be anything that my ex-boyfriend cooks. He is so good at cooking. Dessert would be a really good chocolate ice cream, and then I'd finish with an espresso with grappa.

Read More

Spotted - Morning Owl, Ottawa

Meet Jordan and Sarah. They are a charming couple who also happen to be the proud owners of Morning Owl coffee + sandwich shop.
 

Morning Owl is a vibrant little shop with a very inviting atmosphere. Jordan and Sarah have poured a lot of love into this place, and it shows. This month's spotted interview is at Morning Owl, Ottawa.

 

Sarah O'Leary

• Where are you from: Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
• Your signature dish: Oh! Nothing. I'm a horrible cook. Her best friend did chime in to say that she bakes a mean cupcake. That, I can attest to.
• One word that describes you: Busy! That's how busy I am. I can't even think of a word that describes me.
• Memorable Dining Experience: The Black Cat Bistro in Ottawa. It is thus far my favourite dining experience.
• Your last meal would be: Jordan's mom's pasta, and Jordan's grandma's ribs.
  

Jordan O'Leary

• Where are you from: Ottawa, Ontario.
• Your signature dish: A traditional meat pasta sauce (he's an Italian boy).
• Weirdest thing ever eaten: Atelier's Elvis truffle. A peanut butter, banana, and bacon chocolate truffle.
• Favorite ice cream flavour: Chocolate...wait no, butterscotch for sure.
• Your last meal would be: Baton Rouge ribs.

Read More

Spotted - Le Cordon Bleu, Ottawa

I took a Gourmet weekend cooking course at Le Cordon Bleu a few weeks back and got the chance to chat with my instructor, Chef Gilles Penot, after the class. He is a man who is passionate about food, and I learned that he adores salt and butter. He claims that you can never have too much of it, and truthfully, I'm not sure where he puts it all!

I will soon post about the wonderful dishes I learnt during my weekend gourmet course, but in the meantime, this month's Spotted is at Le Cordon Bleu, Ottawa.

Where are you from: Beauce, France, but I spent the last 15 years in Normandy.

Your signature dish: Sauces and fish. I love cream and butter, and I love to work with fish. My signature dish would be a cream sauce with a fish flavor.

Weirdest thing ever eaten: I don't like pralines. It makes my stomach sick. I am in trouble when I smell it. I've always wanted to taste insects but I am too scared to.

Favorite ice cream flavour: I prefer sorbets. Any fruit flavored sorbet.

Your last meal would be: Rillette de lapin made by my mother. Delicious! Amazing! But it must be from my mother.

Read More

Spotted - Atelier, Ottawa

While dining at Atelier for Omnivore's Ottawa Supper Club, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to ask Ron Eade to be my Spotted for June.

Ron Eade is the Ottawa Citizen's food editor. He has a great local food blog called Omnivore's Ottawa that provides the latest goss on Ottawa's food scene, along with the supermarket specials of the week.

Ron is a very upbeat and sociable person and can chat your ear off about food.

I know, I'm spending a lot of time at this place (can't help it, this place rocks)...this month's spotted is at Atelier, Ottawa.

Where are you from: Kitchener, Ontario.

Your signature dish: Long, slow cooked BBQ pulled pork smoked on applewood in my big green egg.

Weirdest thing ever eaten: I'll eat anything except for okra. I hate okra. I don't really find things weird, but no blowfish please. I've eaten sweetbreads and tripe....oh! I don't like durian. It smells awful.

Favorite ice cream flavour: Peanut butter & chocolate, a match made in heaven. Mr. Reese was a smart man.

Your last meal would be: Bouillabaisse...no question about it. With my luck, I'll be executed in Saskatoon, and they'll have no fish.

Read More

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.

Read More

An Afternoon with a Le Cordon Bleu Chef-To-Be

I spent this past Mother's Day with my friend’s niece to help her cook a great French dinner for her family. Ok, so I can't say I helped cook the meal, but I did take a lot of photos and peeled some potatoes and carrots :-). She recently enrolled at Le Cordon Bleu Ottawa, and decided to cook for us to practice for her upcoming exam.

Everyone, meet Ashley, aka Chef Ashlee (pronounced in a heavy Frech accent). She is a funny and personable 18 year old who has chosen a career path in culinary arts. She is passionate about food, and can talk your ear off about her experiences at Le Cordon Bleu.

Chef Ashlee

She arrived with a big black bag around her shoulders, and revealed that it was her set of beautiful Wüsthof knives.

Wüsthof Knives

Le Cordon Bleu Ottawa is one of the best campuses in the world, and lucky for us, they are planning on opening a second campus here in Ottawa. I learned that there are some campuses that are not true Cordon Bleu Paris schools, which means they only teach a subset of the French techniques in the regular curriculum.

Even though Ash is a vegetarian, she says that it has not been a challenge cooking at Le Cordon Bleu. She loves cooking, and that’s all that matters. She decided to become a vegetarian because she is a huge animal lover and doesn’t believe in the slaughter of animals. She does understand that there are people who will always eat meat, so she tries to keep an open mind about the issue. Her ultimate dream is to work for a gourmet vegetarian restaurant (Zen Kitchen, are you looking for people!!??).

Le Cordon Bleu does not provide a lot of notes. For each dish learnt in class, only the ingredients list is provided. It is up to each student to diligently take notes on the method and techniques taught in class. While Ash was busy setting up her kitchen, I looked through her notes, and laughed out loud when I came across this page (pictured below). The only thing that stood out on the page was an instruction to "turn these bitches".

Not only can the girl cook, but she can draw as well. She calls herself weird for drawing the picture below, but I think it's brilliant.

We spent a large part of the day preparing and turning vegetables.

Shallots

Turning vegetables is a traditional French technique that involves shaping vegetables into an egg-like shape with exactly 7 faces. This specific shape makes it easier to sauté vegetables because it allows them to easily roll around in a pot. A lot of the vegetable is wasted through turning, but at Le Cordon Bleu, the unused parts are used to make vegetable broth.

Turned Turnips

Next came the meat preparation. This poor little piggy cutting board got butchered during our lamb and beef prep.

Here's Ash hard at work searing the lamb before it went into the oven. Check out her tasting spoon attached to her sleeve. I was amused by it.

An interesting fact I learnt about Le Cordon Bleu: they put gelatin in their good wines to prevent students from drinking it. It is still good to cook with, but awful to drink…hehe.

Ash is definitely an interesting character, and that is evident when I asked her who she would invite to her dream dinner party. She responded with 4 guests:

• Chef Gilles Penot (her favorite chef at Le Cordon Bleu Ottawa),
• Davey Havok (lead singer of AFI),
• Auguste Escoffier (author of the culinary bible), and
• Stephen Hawking (in her opinion, the most intelligent man in the world)

One thing she did make clear was that Gordon Ramsey would not be invited because he scares the P out of her (what P means exactly, I'm not sure).

And FINALLY, here's what we ate for dinner:

Freshly baked multi-grain baguette.

Multi-grain baguette

Tomatoes stuffed with parmesan, bread crumbs, and parsley...very flavorful and tasty.

Tomatoes Stuffed with Bread Crumbs and Parmesan

Navarin D’agneau Printanier, a DELICIOUS braised lamb shoulder stew with veggies glacer au blanc. The veggies were sauteed in water, butter, and sugar. This was definitely my favorite of the evening.

Navarin D’agneau Printanier

Cote de boeuf grille avec beurre marchand de vin: Grilled beef ribs with an awesome butter that got its beautiful pink color from a red wine reduction. I don't normally like butter, but I couldn't stop eating the butter Ash made. Not only did it taste good, but she made it look good by piping the butter into pretty little flowers.

Cote de Boeuf Grille avec Beurre Marchand de Vin

For dessert, we had a humongous Costco apple pie with vanilla frozen yogurt.

Costco Apple Pie

Read More

Spotted - [No Name], Ottawa

This man is the most active man I know. If he is not running a race, he is biking, kayaking, or golfing. He even convinced me to run a half marathon with him last year. Note that it was my first, and LAST half marathon. People are crazy to wear out their bodies like that.

This month's Spotted location will remain unnamed. I had such a bad experience here that I have chosen not to endorse the restaurant in any way. All I will say is that this month's Spotted interview is in my home town, Ottawa.

Where are you from: Havana, Cuba

Your signature dish: Picadillo

Weirdest thing ever eaten: Chicken feet, iguana, and tripe

Favorite ice cream flavour: Coconut

Your last meal would be: A spitfire roasted piglet with an apple in its mouth.


Did you enjoy this post? Check out these other Spotted interviews:

Duane Keats Spotted at Luxe Bistro, Ottawa, Canada
Spotted at La Bottega, Ottawa, Canada
Spotted at Little Mercato Italy, San Diego, USA

Read More

Spotted - Luxe Bistro, Ottawa

I had the pleasure of meeting with Luxe Bistro's executive chef, Duane Keats, to shoot the breeze. He is one of the most down to earth people I have met, and I enjoyed chatting about food, family, and work with him.

At the end of the conversation, I convinced him to be my Spotted interview for March.

Down to the last wire with just a few hours to spare, this month's spotted is at Luxe Bistro, Ottawa.

Where are you from: St. John's, Newfoundland

Your signature dish: Anything you have to cook for a long time...braised short ribs, osso bucco.

Weirdest thing ever eaten: Wild boar liver...it tasted dirty.

Favorite ice cream flavour: Tiger tail: orange and black licorice ice cream mixed together. The funny thing is, I don't even like black licorice.

Your last meal would be: A selection of hot, crispy chicken wings.

Did you enjoy this post? Check out these other Spotted interviews:

Spotted at Cafe Neve, Fox Glacier, New Zealand
Spotted at Ventuno, Sydney, Australia
Spotted at Little Mercato Italy, San Diego, USA

Read More

FoodMODE at Ottawa Home Show

I found out that FoodMODE magazine was hosting a series of kitchen demos at the Ottawa Home Show, so I decided to go check it out today. I was not disappointed, and was actually surprised at how well organized things were.

The FoodMODE kitchen demos helped folks gear up for the summer time by creating presentations with a BBQ and grilling theme. Each demo consisted of a chef/local farm pair, so that you could eat good food and be educated on why eating local is better, all at the same time.

Today's line up was a great one. It was:

- Ron Eade of the Ottawa Citizen and Omnivore's Ottawa blog teamed with Keith Salisbury from Natural Lamb Farms cooking gourmet lamb burgers, and
- Marc Lepine of Atelier Restaurant paired with Aartje den Boer of The Pickle Patch cooking kurobuta pork belly (photo of Marc and Aartje below).

I didn't get to Ron's demo early enough to snag a front row seat for photo opps, but believe me when I tell you that his lamb burgers were amazing. They were very moist and lean, but more importantly, the burgers didn't have that overpowering lamb flavor you normally get when eating lamb dishes. The burgers were served with crostini, aioli, and a balsamic syrup reduction. The Katahdin lambs at Natural Lambs Farm are grass fed, and have a lower cholesterel content compared to domestic or New Zealand lambs.

Marc Lepine was up after Ron Eade, and he made a sous-vide kurobuta pork belly with a black olive caramel sauce, fizzy apple slices, and BBQ bread. The pork belly was first cooked for 18 hours in his kitchen, and then lightly grilled at the show as a finishing touch. His dish also tasted great.

In Marc's presentation, he explained the concept of his "molecular gastronomy" restaurant, and also explained how Atelier is different from others. He brought his sous-vide machine for show and tell, and was truly excited to be educating the audience on the different techniques used at Atelier.

In the photo below, Marc is torching rosemary while explaining how scents can trick your brain into thinking you are tasting something you really aren't.

For those that are not familiar with the term 'kurobuta pork', it is very similar to the idea of Wagyu beef and meat marbling. Aartje revealed that her pigs are fed beer to help with the marbling effect, but it is still too early to see if her technique is working. Either way, I think it is extremely cool that our local farms are employing techniques that I always thought were foreign.

Overall, I really enjoyed myself. The presentations were informative, and I am now inspired to eat more local.

Read More