Eryngii

Le Coprin mushrooms are local and organic. To be honest, I haven't noticed a huge taste difference yet, but I really want to! I've never seen such bright, bouncy fungi. Available at Herb n' Spice on Wellington, The Byward Fruit Market, and the Ottawa Farmer's Market.

Thanks to Chris and Megan for getting me interested in the king oysters (above).

Recent Past

Who Is This?

Feel So Bohemian

This food. These friends.

Rock Stars

The sexy Sarah Sims: Event Coordinator, Lead Vocals, and Occasional Guitar.

The Kimmy Gibblers: live, loaded, and letting it rip on the Sims Hartell Main Stage.

Found

Found this note in Adam's loose change jar. Trust that guy to squirrel away crumpled up paper covered in cryptic phrases.

In Ottawa, we wait all year for warm nights like these. When you can pile the grill with oyster mushrooms, eggplant, peppers, and lamb. When you can drink G&Ts until dinner - at which time you gamely switch over to organic merlot. And then, when you can drive home in the dark: full, tired, and good for going home.

Use Your Noodle

At Phnom Pehn for a quick and dependable noodle bowl with tofu, onions, and lemongrass. Man, I love this neighborhood.

Ever see this guy when he wasn't wearing a sling?

After Dinner

Indian Express Food & Sweets operates at a frustratingly slow pace. And there is a good chance you'll be overcharged or your order will come out wrong.

But it's close to us and the food tastes slightly better than average. Also, the sweets are well-worth popping in for. Adam's favorites are made from fig and pistachios and shaped to look like little green pears. Last night, they only had cashew apples, though, which were sweet and nutty, but didn't compare to the pears by a long shot. Lucky we got stuffed gulab jamun too, overladen with syrup, but you know what they say about a spoonful of sugar.

Dooryard

You can take the girl out of the country, but she'll never leave the dooryard.

'Dooryard' is now an organic beer by Fredericton's own Picaroon's, and I couldn't be more psyched. You can say what you want about the Atlantic provinces, but you'll never have a better pint in your life than you will in a Maritime pub.

As everyone says in Carleton County, fill yer boots!

Hino-style

There's nothing wrong with Ottawa's restaurants. People just don't eat in the good ones. And with people like Chris Knight touting the sorry likes of Social and The Wellington Gastropub, it's no wonder that Ottawa eaters choose style over substance. But if, like me, you're a little more London, England and a lot less London, Ontario, you'll love Hino -- a smallish spot whose decor is so bad it's good. Combine this with a handful of loyal barflies and made-to-order home-style Japanese food, and you may quickly become a regular.





Best: Thick Japanese curries cooked with fat shrimp and ladled over bowls of warm sticky rice; a tangle of skinny noodles; 'Hino-style' chicken; thickly-cut fried potatoes, homemade salad dressing over shaved carrots and crisp iceberg lettuce; two-layer chocolate cake doused in rum and frosted with the smoothest dark chocolate buttercream my tongue has ever tasted.

Go there.

If you know what's good for you, try making Brunch Butter by pureeing roasted sweet potato with caramelized onions, a spoon of 'real' butter or tahini, and three pinches of homemade masala. Then, spread on a thin rye cracker and sprinkle with La Baleine 's sel de mer, which comes from the clear blue Mediterranean Sea.

A New Half

Home Safe

Sending wellness wishes to Sir Pigasus Furryman, who has returned home from the hospital. There will be lots for his mama to do in the coming days, so sending vibes of strength and wisdom to both of you.

Eat This

When you're out on Merivale at lunchtime, the pickings are slim. You can get a cold cut sandwich at the European Deli or NiCastro's; AYCE sushi, or a good-old fashioned burger at Dick's.

We always choose the latter, partly because their onion rings are coated in salty panko crumbs and deep fried to a color well-past golden. But there's nothing wrong with their thick milkshakes either - made with local ice cream - or their juicy burgers, which you can order in classic beef or in more contemporary turkey, chicken breast, or black bean (all with aioli, Dijon, sautéed onions, and a whole grain bun).

Vigil