Ryan and Katie started the show off with an interview with provocative local photographer Jonathan Hobin. Though his images of children in metaphorical representations drawn from world issues may be familiar to Ottawans, his work is starting to make waves (and draw criticism) internationally. He is currently about to have his first solo exhibition in Toronto, but he took the time to call in from a hotel lobby in Hogtown.

Next, they chatted with Lee and Janik, who are both a part of this weekend’s Jane’s Walk Ottawa festivities. There are plenty of activities taking place across Ottawa, but you can also take part in a very special walk through Somerset Street West organized by Apartment613 editors on Saturday. Or check the Jane’s Walk website for a full listing of walks and other events.

Apt613 contributor Erika Nelson joined our hosts in studio to talk about her recent feature article on the best cocktails in Ottawa. Erika was pleasantly surprised to find some amazing cocktails around town and gives you the lowdown.

Here are the songs we played this week:
Young Galaxy – Pretty Boy
Billy Bragg - No One Knows Nothing Anymore
The Acorn – Flood Pt. 1
Hotel Morphée - La Bête et la mitraille
Aidan Knight – You Will See the Good in Everyone

It has been a tipsy journey, full of great excuses to get a fancy drink on a week night.  Although I retain some longing for an overly hipster, dim-lit basement in Brooklyn run by a tattooed bartender (or should I say professional mixologist) with a post-ironic mustache, I have discovered some amazing drinks, some cool people making them, and a new appreciation for the small independent and creative spots that are making Ottawa so much more than a boring government town.

1.  Union 613 (315 Somerset St. W.) – Best all around!

I had the lovely opportunity of sitting down with Ivan, one of the owners of Union 613, and asking a few questions.  Turns out he is a straight whiskey man and who can blame him? But he also let me know that “The Ottawa” – a version of which regularly sits on their “Standard” permanent menu – is his personal favourite. The current version, concocted with Centennial Rye, Melleti Amaro, Birch Syrup and Angostura Bitters, happens to be one of my favourites, too.  The 6 rotating seasonal cocktails and the Standards are collaborations between staff, the bartenders and the owners.  Their house cocktails include a hibiscus rum punch and hot spiked cider.  They always have the classic Sazerac (one of my personal favorites), which is not a surprise in a place that does modern Southern food so well.

“People say Ottawa is boring, I say it’s a blank canvas,” says Ivan, challenging a judgmental newcomer like myself.  After a couple of cocktails at Union 613, I couldn’t agree more! For their creativity, continuously new treats, and the fact that they have not one but two amazing bars, (their downstairs Speakeasy being the second), Union 613 gets my vote as #1 Best Cocktails in Ottawa.

2.  The Moon Room (442 Preston) – A Classic Cocktail History Lesson

There are many things to appreciate about The Moon Room. First, the menu has the date and location that each cocktail was invented (The Prohibition: Philadelphia, 1920; The Whiskey Sour: Port of Iquique, 1870). They also credit their own creations, like the Brazzo!, the-no-joke-bourbon-based cocktail I loved on my most recent visit (Bookers Bourbon 130 Proof, Raw W&H Walnut Brown Rare Old Oloroso and West Indian Orange Bitters on top of two enormous ice cubes).  Second, in an industry mostly dominated by men, I can’t help but appreciate the very lovely, predominantly female bar staff (and while we’re getting “more feminine”, I loved their killer style and hair).  They seem to do it all, including taking a blow torch to their bacon wrapped olives behind the bar.  On top of that, they make delicious, heavy drinks – our bartender even asked us if we were driving, warning that the cocktails were strong.  Luckily we were on foot, so we just ordered more! An appreciation for the classics, female empowered mixology, and a concern for personal safety, what is not to love?

3.  The Hintonburg Public House (1020 Wellington St. W.) – Simplicity

The Hintonburg Public House may truly shine as a great local beer haven, but they also know how to keep their spirit-lovers satisfied.  It is a simple small menu, but it’s all delightful, unpretentious and tasty. Kind of like the place overall. They have a rotating seasonal cocktail menu with around four options. I enjoyed the French 75, very classic and well-suited for the finally emergent spring.  On my visit they were also featuring a Manhattan made with Mead Wine.  My last brunch visit there included an expert Caesar.  It may or may not have included red wine as a secret ingredient – but I can’t confirm that for sure.  Either way, it was a very necessary and spicy Hair of the Dog.  I love the homey and casual yet refreshing and creative feel of The Hintonburg Public House, and the cocktails are perfectly fitting match.

4.  Gezellig (337 Richmond Rd.) – Sophisticated Standards

It is not the kind of place one can go to every week, but I was delighted with their short but impressive cocktail menu when I splurged on an anniversary treat there shortly after the opening.  They have a Smoked Manhattan, and I make a habit of loving all things smoked. Plus they make a serious Pimm’s Pint and a classic Negroni – my always enjoyable, routine order.  I would certainly return to Gezellig for another special occasion, and that special occasion would certainly involve a cocktail.

5.  Navarra (93 Murray St.) – Best Margarita

Ok, this place is not cheap, but the food is unique and full of flavor and the Margarita list has got to be the freshest and best in town.  A Margarita is not something I want every day, but there is definitely a time (summer) for one, and there is also a place!  A couple people in my party sampled the “Spicy Pineapple” and it received raves all around.  I would definitely have it again. Another member of our party had the classic and it was a totally perfect execution of a Margarita – tart, salty and boozy.  They also do a Mojito, and a Ginger Gimlet, both of which I would have trouble turning down. To top it off, our waiter could not have been more friendly and chatty, recommending all his favorite spots in town.

Honourable Mentions:

Two Six {Ate} (268 Preston) – Most of the drinks on the menu are a little sweet for me, but I think they please a lot of folks as I have heard good things.  They do have an Old Fashioned – which is crucial – and a few appetizing sparkly drink options. Plus, the food, the prices, and the service are so great, that Two Six {Ate} needs to be included on any of my favorite lists.

Brothers Beer Bistro (366 Dalhousie Street)– Mostly a beer joint, obviously, but they can mix up some classics upon request. The bartender fed me a great Manhattan recently.  They also feature a rotating barrel aged/infused liquor option. It was not ready yet when I asked, but apparently some inspiring flavored gin is in the works and I hope to make it back for a sample.

Hey loyal Apt613 readers! This week we’re trying out something new on the Apartment613 Live post. Now you can listen to each individual show segment by using the handy Soundcloud widget below each description. Let us know if you like this in the comments. If you haven’t yet, be sure to subscribe to the show on iTunes.

This week’s show was about eating and dancing, but not about eating while dancing, which would probably be uncomfortable and wouldn’t turn out well for anyone. Ryan and Karen were joined during the first segment by Jason Gray, Community Harvest Coordinator at the Ottawa Food Bank. Each summer, the OFB grows thousands of pounds of local, organic producer for those in need in the community, and Jason is the agricultural buff who puts it all together.

Next our hosts were joined by stalwart Apt613 Live guest Chris Sheppard. Kichesippi, Chris’ brewery, is celebrating its third anniversary this Sunday, April 28, and you’re invited to their party at 866 Campbell Avenue from noon until 5 pm for some beer and good eats.

Then our Vice Editor Katie called in to discuss the potential popping of the cupcake bubble. Both the Wall Street Journal and the Globe and Mail ran stories this week pointing to signs of the coming downfall of the cupcake empire. So, if the mighty cupcake does crumble for good, what will take it’s place? There’s a craft-baked donut lurking just around the corner, waiting to step into the spotlight. Good news for SuzyQ’s!

Here are the tracks we played on this week’s show:
Little Stella – Woods
Common Citizens – One Sweet Day
Ceremony exclusive Apt613 mix by Roberta Bondar’s Gary Franks
Jesse Dangerously – Slept Through a Landslide

This apartment marks a new chapter for Lauren and Tom. Their previous apartments were furnished with gems from major thrifting sessions. Now Lauren, a graduate student, and Tom, a lawyer, are two months away from getting married. Between long hours of work and study, they decided they don’t have enough time for vintage hunts, and discovered that it’s possible to furnish a flat on a reasonable budget.

How would you describe your apartment?

Tom: It’s a mix of modern and slightly industrial with the exposed concrete ceilings. It’s also a little bit minimalist.

Lauren: It’s an adult funhouse. It looks like a playground with the primary colours, like kids have, and playboys, like adults have. It’s just fun.

What was your vision or inspiration?

Lauren: I was actually taking an art history class when we first moved in here. One of the buildings I had to study was a Mondrian, and this building is called the Mondrian. In my readings, they were talking about how all of his design inspirations had to do with clean lines and primary colours, which is why I picked the chairs out in different colours. Then after that we knew we wanted to do the Playboy wall, and everything followed that. We just did what worked with the wall.

What’s your favourite element? Is it the Playboy wall?

Lauren: My favourite thing in the apartment is actually the mural in the bedroom. I really love it because it feels like it’s especially for us and it was done by a local artist (Robbie Lariviere, Owner of Fall Down Gallery). I also really like the desk, which was a great find. It’s the only old timey piece, but it seems to work.

Tom: My favourite’s probably the Playboy wall. I like the desk as well. It’s usually really hard to get an older piece to work in a newer apartment. I also really like the sliding doors, and how that adds to the industrial feel. But it also means the cat can get into every room, which is annoying.

Why a playboy wall?

Tom: We had a similar wall at our previous apartment but with comic books, Gen 13, but Lauren thought it was a little too frat house. So we retired the comic books and Lauren came up with using Playboys.

Lauren: We looked online to see which years were our favourite and we settled on 1973-74. I really loved the Andy Warhol cover and there were a couple others we really liked. Since then we got a few more years off eBay and have switched it up a bit.

Let’s talk furniture. Where did you find these pieces and what are your go to spots?

Lauren: We only really shopped at three places, which makes it easy: The Modern Shop, elevenfiftyfour, and IKEA. We got big pieces like the couches at IKEA, but we mixed it with slightly more expensive pieces, which detracts from the IKEA look. Then we got a couple pieces from west elm. The Modern Shop is really nice and well priced. Except the coffee table was a little expensive. I never told you that, Tom, so I’m telling you now…

What was your biggest indulgence in the apartment?

Tom: Apparently, it’s the coffee table. I’ve always liked it though.

What kinds of feedback have you been getting from visitors?

Tom: Our friends seem to really like it. Older people don’t really get it. They ask us why no one finished the ceiling and why we’d live in a small place downtown when we could live in the suburbs instead.

You have a lot of unique elements, what would be your advice to someone trying to spice up their place?

Tom: Find someone who has a good sense of style. I have no sense of design, so I just defer to Lauren. Find someone who is good at design and get help. It’s way better than wandering around Home Sense and buying a bunch of random shit.

Lauren: One of my favourite things here is the statue on the balcony that we actually found in the condo’s garbage room, so don’t discount the dumpster room. I guess what’s really key is you don’t need to spend a lot of money on furniture. Get your bigger pieces from somewhere more affordable, and accentuate it with something unique. Don’t worry about matching too much, because then it becomes really difficult to find pieces that are in your price range and fit your apartment. Typically if you buy things you like, they’ll end up going together because they’ll just fit into your overall home style.

What’s your favourite DIY project?

Lauren: My most recent one, which are the wedding invitations.

Tom: The Playboy wall.

Ryan and Katie kicked things off this week by informing the world about an Indiegogo project by Mike Dubue, formerly of the Hilotrons. He’s been commissioned to set music to The Adventures Of Prince Achmed, the oldest surviving animated feature film. The film will be screened alongside a live performance of Dubue’s score on April 30 at the Bytowne Cinema.

Next, our hosts were joined by Randy Innes, assistant director at the School of Photographic Arts: Ottawa (SPAO). He told us about Exhibition No. 8, a yearly event featuring a collection of photographic work by SPAO Portfolio students. This year’s exhibition explores classic photographic processes and features projects that look at themes like nature, the environment, identity and self-discovery, many of which embrace the idea of photography as storytelling. The exhibit runs from April 19 until 26.

Katie then brought us some sobering news about the Byward Market’s prospect for the future. A report by a U.S. non-profit says that we risk losing the market’s distinctive flavour in the face of encroaching big business, bars and touristy establishments.

In other news, A Tribe Called Red’s new track Indian From All Directions, a collaboration with the now defunct Das Racist, was given an exclusive premier on Pitchfork this week. Congrats to one of the hardest working electronic acts in town. You can hear it on their Soundcloud page.

Here’s what we played during this week’s show:
Hilotrons - Lost in Yichang
Andrea Simms-Karp – Alternative to Flight
A Tribe Called Red – Indian From All Directions
Fevers – Passion is Dead (Long Live Fashion)
The Goodluck Assembly – Wait for Me
Aidan Knight – Telecommunicate

Katie and Karen held it down in the studio this week. They started the show off with the first in a recurring series of chats about local politics. This week’s iteration brought news that Ottawa’s Planning Committee has approved a 45-story tower called Icon that is slotted for Little Italy. Though there are still plenty of roadblocks in the way, this brings the neighbourhood-changing tower one step closer to being a reality.

Next, our hosts were joined with members of local “ouija-rock” band The Yips to chat about their show this Saturday with F Hood and Kings Quest at Club Saw. The band is really excited about the local reaction to their music, as well as the growth in and variety of the current scene.

Our hosts then took us through the efforts of Mayor Jim Watson to drum up interest in bringing a new baseball team to the city. The Fat Cats, who started playing out of the east-end Ottawa Stadium in 2010, have suspended operations as the prospect of a Double-A team is bandied about.

Here is what we played on the show this week:
Couples – Scar Teens
Suuns – 2020
Jokers of the Scene – John I’m Only Braindancing (Jokers of the Scene remix)
The Yips – Vicinage
Metz – Rats
Jenn Grant – The Fighter
Suuns – Minor Work

Ryan and Karen opened the show this week with a phone interview with Jesse Alberto, proprietor of the recently opened House of Barons barber shop. The shop on Sussex brings some previously scarce men’s grooming services to Ottawa, like straight blade shaves and shoe-shining while you wait. Our hosts then chatted with Michael Wallack of Wallack’s Art Supplies and Sharif Virani of Creative Mornings about Art Throb, a night of music and interactive art in support of the Ottawa School of Art (OSA) and School of Photographic Arts: Ottawa (SPAO). This week’s show also featured some discussion of CHUO’s brand spanking new iPhone app, which you can download at their website.

Here’s what we played on this week’s show:
Zoo Legacy - Out All Night
Souljazz Orchestra – Bibinay
FIRExFIRE – Make It Happen
Zoo Legacy – All Falls Down
Silkken Laumann – On The Mend
Roberta Bondar – Night Danger

This week’s show hosts were joined by Jeremy Dias, who filled us in about this year’s Jer’s Vision/International Day of Pink Gala on April 10. This is the eighth year of the locally grown anti-homophobia campaign, and what better way to celebrate than by heading to the gala at the Government Conference Centre at 6 pm? Next, Ryan chatted with A Tribe Called Red‘s Bear Witness about their Spirit Tracks party, an event that happened as part of Electric Fields. To round things out, Max Savage from self-proclaimed RawBeat rock duo StillNative came down to the studio to talk about their debut self-titled album, which was recorded in just two weekends.

The CHUO funding drive has wrapped up for another year, so thanks to everyone who helped support community radio in Ottawa!

Here is what we played on the show this week:
Suuns – 2020
A Tribe Called Red – Trap Heat
A Tribe Called Red – Native Puppy Love
Ariane Moffat – Walls of the World
Still Native – No Steam
Kellylee Evans – Good Girl
Dala – Life on Earth

It was foodie madness on the show this week, and Ryan and Jared were joined for the whole show by foodiePrints‘ own Don Chow. In a week filled with foodie news, Algonquin College announced a new bursary for culinary excellence in honour of former Ottawa Citizen food editor Ron Eade. Part of the show focused on the news that Art-Is-In Bakery will be rolling back their wholesale operations, meaning that you won’t be seeing their bread on every menu in town going forward. In other big news, Kichesippi Brewery is jumping into the soda business, starting with a flagship ginger beer. Local Dark and Stormies, here we come! And Richard’s Hintonburg Kitchen, helmed by Juniper founder Richard Nigro, just opened in everyone’s favourite west-end foodie hood. Look out for an early review from Apt613 this week. All these stories and more dominated the week in foodie news.

Steven Flood from The Black Tomato called in to chat about their new late-night menu, which is set to challenge misconceptions that Ottawa is an early-to-bed kind of town. Check out their rather extensive list of microbrews while you’re there. While en route to Toronto by car, Roberta Bondar called in to talk about their new EP Hiss, which is being released on tape.

Here’s what we played on the show:
Suuns – Powers of Ten
Kman and the 45s – Sheena is a Punk Rocker
The Peptides – Revenge at the Vinyl Cafe
The Peptides – Attack of the Treadmill
The Yips – Blood Meridian
Roberta Bondar – Haus
Tall Trees – Fickle Fiendish Friend

For every $25 you donate, you get a super cool CHUO discount card that will easily save you $25 at places like Auntie Loo’s, Antique Skate and Pressed Cafe.

We’re also going to be giving away awesome Apartment613 T-shirts to some of the folks who donate. We’ll be drawing 5 times, over the next week. Your odds are great!

There are a few ways that CHUO will take your money. You can call the studio at 613-562-5968 or you can donate through paypal online at chuo.fm. However you donate, please specify that you’re donating because of Apartment613 Live by adding a note to your paypal donation or specifying over the phone. If you would like to be entered in our t-shirt contest, make sure you send an email to apartment613@gmail.com or a tweet us at @apt613 so we know that you’ve donated and how to contact you if you win.

All of the money for the funding drive goes directly to CHUO to support the amazing programming they’ve got going all week long. We don’t get anything but the love you show our show!

Thanks everyone! We really appreciate the support.