Foodie Friday

Oats… in ice cream? You bet. Oat & Mill’s vegan oat-based ice cream, created by Candace Tierney, is available all over Ottawa.

Welcome to your grandma’s living room. This is Nan’s Parlour, a new concept bar and restaurant in the Byward Market, right by the Heart & Crown on Clarence street.

Orléans, give a warm welcome to Brine & Grill, your newest smoking hot barbecue place where everything is good, seriously.

Le Poisson Bleu opened in February with a seafood-focused menu, and brothers Alex and Eric Bimm and their cousin Sophie Velour at the helm.

La Terrasse at the Fairmont Château Laurier has reopened for the summer season.

This just in: Dessert First, a new boutique bakery at Somerset and Bay, is the next Centretown gem. After passing through a cozy patio overlooking Dundonald Park, you’re greeted by lovely daffodil wallpaper, gorgeous tiny hanging plants in a large bright window, a scintillating centrepiece display stocked with lavish handmade treats, open kitchen aromas, and smiling, welcoming staff.

Inspired by the Parkdale Night Market and Ottawa Markets, Little Jo Berry’s owner Josephine Masterson has another fun new experience for the 613: The Vegans Who Snack Festival, bringing about 40 local businesses together to celebrate community and snacking on June 3, 2022, from 5–9pm.

I’m sure many of us have a childhood attachment to fast-food burger joints: the cardboard packaging, the smell of french fries, and the root beer floats. The team at Gitanes, a fine-dining French restaurant on Elgin Street, decided to recreate this childhood nostalgia centred around the concept of McDonald’s and elevate it into a trendy destination.

Parle began in the early days of the pandemic as a venture called Viet Fresh by owner David Wen, but operated under an umbrella business called Casper Kitchen. With the shutdowns and periodic indoor dining restrictions over the past two years, the Casper Kitchen brand has been able to enjoy massive success due to its delivery-focused model, which allowed Viet Fresh to “go solo” and open their own dine-in location, Parle.

Hi friends! We are Tyler and Steph, the hosts of the Ottawa Pizza Podcast — a show in which two friends try pizza from Ottawa pizza places to determine whether the pizza is, as we say, “good”, just okay, or downright bad.

In their sixth year, Little Jo Berry’s (LJB) bakery is evolving again with a fresh batch of new ideas for Ottawa. Owner Josephine Masterson (the “Jo” of Little Jo Berry), co-creator of Bike Yeah, the upcoming Vegans Who Snack Food Festival, and monthly dinner pop-ups, where another caring business takes over their kitchen, is innovating once again with a new product line and shopping experience.

Cantina Gia is an Italian comfort food restaurant and specialty shop in the heart of the Glebe, created by co-owners Chef Adam Vettorel and Chris Schlesak who started North & Navy back in 2015. Their vibe strikes a perfect balance between intimate and lively, ideal for date nights. The decor is quirky and warm with […]

Last week, we brought you part 1 of this suburban coffee shop roundup, covering great independent spots in the western suburbs of Ottawa. This week, we’ve got a selection of awesome cafés in the southern and eastern suburbs. Enjoy!

I don’t know if Ottawa residents are aware of how many wonderful independent coffee shops exist in the suburbs. Some feel like hidden gems or special secrets I’ve been keeping to myself. So, I’m sharing several of my favourite suburban discoveries here, focusing on non-chain independent coffee shops and cafés without multiple locations, to celebrate their unique qualities.

Some call the snowy spring days of late March and early April Ottawa’s third winter (followed closely by mud season), but I prefer to think of it as the sweetest time of year: maple syrup season!