A new book released this month by two local food bloggers aims to shine a light on Ottawa’s culinary transformation in the past 30 years, including the rise of innovative restaurants in Centretown highlighting local ingredients.
For eight years, Ottawa blogger Don Chow has written about the capital’s food scene for his website www.foodieprints.com (the name is a nod to Chow’s two loves, food and photography). An IT professional who writes in his spare time, Chow started his website as a way of sharing his popular biscotti recipe with his coworkers.
Later, Chow used the site to keep track of noteworthy restaurants he visited with his then-girlfriend, Jennifer Lim, who has since become his wife and the website’s editor. To date, the site has featured more than 1,000 posts including restaurant and wine reviews.
This month, Chow and Lim’s first book Ottawa Food: A Hungry Capital was released. The authors will be on hand for a book launch at the West End Well co-op on Wellington street on Oct. 29 at 7 p.m.
Focusing on recent developments such as the rise of chef-driven restaurants and the shift to embrace local produce, Ottawa Food charts the early attempts to shape the culinary identity of a city that has not always been known as a destination for quality food.
Chow explains that Ottawa faces more imposing expectations when it comes to food than other Canadian cities do. “We have to make good food that people will like, but at the same time,” he says, “we’re expected to demonstrate Canadian cuisine.”
In the past, this had meant an abundance of diners and pubs in downtown neighbourhoods such as Centretown, which weren’t interested in pushing the envelope.
Ron Eade, a former food editor for the Ottawa Citizen who blogs about food at www.roneade.com recalls a time when many Ottawa restaurants would get their vegetables, meats and even toilet paper delivered by one company. “But modern chefs, the young guys and girls that come along,” says Eade, “they’re getting away from that. They’re working directly with producers.”
In the past 10 years, more chefs in the city have embraced Ottawa’s agricultural offerings, forging relationships with farmers and letting local flavors inspire their dishes. This, says food critic Anne DesBrisay, author of local restaurant guide Capital Dining, is critical if Ottawa wants to become a destination for foodies from across the country.
“Cities like Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, they’re bigger, more ethnically diverse and they have a deeper culinary history than we do in Ottawa,” says DesBrisay, “but nobody in this country does regional detail better than we do.”
Chow cites the Art-Is-In Boulangerie, near Somerset and Preston streets, as evidence of Ottawa’s evolving food culture. Art-Is-In is the brain-child of classically trained pastry chef Kevin Mathieson, who earned a name for himself after selling his bread to Ottawa’s top restaurants. “People would recognize that is was Kevin’s bread being served on the table,” says Chow.
Art-Is-In moved to Centretown as demand for Mathieson’s artisanal bread grew. According to Chow, “people go to see Art-Is-In because it is this amazing semi-New York style, warehouse dining area that serves great brunch.”
While Chow is quick to praise the city’s dining scene and its recent improvements, he’s also aware that there’s room to grow. “Do we have a distinct culinary culture?” he asks, “No. Are we building one? Yes.”
“Our identity is starting to form,” Chow adds, “it’s not just BeaverTails anymore. We have chefs that take local to a new level, and they’re showcasing our region.”