Winter is here (yuck) and so is the weekend (yay)! For those of you who have not begun your winter hibernation just yet, there is plenty to do out-and-about in Ottawa. Keep warm this weekend with a glass of bourbon, at the first ever Ottawa Bourbon Week, which kicks off this Friday night at Two Six {Ate}. Beginning this weekend, and continuing on through next week, you can enjoy some delicious drinks paired with inventive eats at some of the best venues in the city – all in honour of... | Continue reading article

The holiday season is packed full of craft shows – so many that you could hit one up every Saturday and Sunday from now until Christmas! Krista Leben, coordinator and co-founder of Urban Craft, has once again put together a curated guide of indie shows for you to hit up: the shows here feature hip handmade stuff that you (and everyone on your list) will love! Capital Pop Up! Saturday, November 22 10am-3pm The Bronson Centre, 211 Bronson Avenue Capital Pop Up! popped up on the Ottawa craft scene earlier... | Continue reading article

I have friends who refuse to use plastic bags, others who would rather share a car with complete strangers than have one for their own convenience, those who don’t buy the user-friendly Pampers diapers but instead use cloth, and a few who dream of living off the grid and being completely self-sustainable. I took a tiny step toward decreasing my carbon footprint recently by beginning to order produce from Ottawa Organics and Natural Foods. And it’s only the tip of the iceberg in terms of options available to Ottawa residents when it... | Continue reading article

Back in September of this year, Ottawa added another craft brewery to its steadily growing stable. Bicycle Craft Brewery is located at 850 Industrial Ave., Unit 12 and offers several delightful craft beers, including our favourite, Base Camp Oatmeal Porter. And, in case you’re wondering, yes there is a bike rack outside the brewery. There’s also plenty of parking if you’d prefer to drive. BCB founders, Fariborz and laura, were kind enough to entertain our interview questions: Brew Brahs: What inspired your brewery’s name – why “Bicycle”? BCB: The name came very naturally to us because we enjoy riding our bicycles to... | Continue reading article

The rain has come but our spirits aren’t dampened, Ottawa. We’ll kick this weekend roundup off early this week and start with the 9th Annual Martini Madness in support of Crohn’s and Colitis tonight. Martini Madness has raised over $150,000 for Crohn’s and Colitis research to date, and in addition to funding research for the disease the fund also aids in improving the lives of children and adults living with Crohn’s and ulcerous Colitis. To enter to win two tickets to Martini Madness, send us an email with “Martini” in... | Continue reading article

The cocktail craze is inching westward. They’ve cropped up in the Byward Market, Centretown and Little Italy and now Teatro Café is introducing carefully crafted cocktails with house-made syrups and largely local ingredients to Wellington Village. Never heard of it? Not surprising. Teatro Café just opened in June and it’s easily missed tucked away on the ground floor of the Great Canadian Theatre Company at Wellington Street and Holland Avenue. It tends to attract an older, theatre-going crowd of teetotalers and wine sippers looking for a bite before the show.... | Continue reading article

This first weekend of November has much in store for us Ottawans. This weekend is full of local visual arts love. Thursday brings about the final show at The Studio Cafe. Artist Crystal Beshara will be showing her series of watercolour and oil paintings of Newfoundland, inspired by her visit out East in 2013. The Ottawa School of Art is also hosting a fundraiser screening of “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” at the Bytowne Theatre Thursday night at 9:20pm. Tickets are 10$ and go towards supporting arts education in our... | Continue reading article

Jennifer Lim and Don Chow love food and Ottawa and have written a book about it: Ottawa Food: A Hungry Capital. They are also the bloggers for my personal favourite Ottawa food blog: Foodieprints. The book is now available in stores and on Amazon.ca. The book looks at Ottawa’s food landscape as well as transformations in the last 30 years or so in Ottawa’s continuously evolving food scene. Before we get to talking about the food scene itself, I was really curious about how Jen and Don, who are a couple,... | Continue reading article

Halloween is just around the corner and there’s plenty of fun to be had in preparation for next week’s festivities. We’ve got everything from Poutinefest to beatboxing burlesque to keep yourself entertained and warm this weekend, so let’s get started. Want to take in some art and culture this weekend? John Wenzel is Exhibiting all weekend in Westboro. The exhibit is in tandem with Julian Luckham’s photography book release as part of What If Weekends Exhibit. Support Local Month is still going strong and is working with Vivien Tytor for... | Continue reading article

A belated birthday lunch for a dear friend. But where? Somewhere peaceful, with an attractive and refined decor, comfortable chairs, nice lighting, and an accommodating and helpful server. Well that turned out to be Rosie’s Southern Kitchen and Raw Bar on Bank Street. The two of us arrived on a Tuesday late morning just when Rosie’s was opening for lunch. We sat in the weather-protected patio area up front, a spot of our choosing. We were the first customers there and when we sat down, the quasi-country southern music came... | Continue reading article