A recent trip to Ottawa (where we stayed at the Lord Elgin Hotel) brought lots of food related fun. Watch here for magazine-related commentary (two non-food periodicals with food themed issues purchased at Mags and Fags), a mystery with truffles at its root, and etcetera. Meanwhile, a few bits and bites of restaurant reviews.
Domus is a favorite, though I just learned that its restaurant and kitchen gadget stores are separate, unrelated businesses these days. Too bad. Anyway, the restaurant does regional Canadian cuisine. And, it is a key site on the best soups ever highlight trip across the universe. Yes, they do soup exceptionally well. I can remember a fresh pea soup there that drove me into attempts to reproduce it (failed attempts, let me be clear). This visit I had a mushroom soup that was the most mushroom-y tasting liquid ever. The chives on top were tasty too. Not too heavy on the cream. Lovely. And then I followed it with a small tart with goat cheese and duck confit. The accompanying microgreens deserve rave reviews. Swell. Not to mention dessert --
Beckta was a new place to visit in an old house right there on Nepean. Only after making our reservation -- and arriving in Ottawa -- did we discover this year's "Best of Ottawa" lists Beckta as "best splurge." I agree. We went with the chef's 5 course tasting menu (preceded by a cosmopolitan for me and champagne for. . . . ), adding the wine tastings and a cheese course (for which we also added wine). We began circa 6:20 or so and left for our hotel close to 11 -- so, no, they did not rush us simply because we were 20 minutes late. The service was absolutely great; knowledgeable about wine and food. And the amuse bouche that started us was both tasty and humorous -- a waffled thin potato crisp with foie gras mousse and currant jelly. Talk about chip & dip! The cheese course had 4 canadian cheeses and two french. Their bread was ok -- but we still love Dustin's right here in Geneva. But what did we eat you ask? Here's the menu and wine pairing (which they thoughtfully printed out for us when we were about to leave):
To Start (after the amuse.. . ): Smoked House Salmon, Mango Caviar, 2 year old Manchego, horseradish wafer, shoestring beet salad with apple cider viagrette. So, this came on a single plate that looked as if it were pleated into four sections. A white plate -- which made the colors of the various dishes really stand out. The mango "caviar" was a puzzle -- until its creation from mango juice and various chemical processes (today's new version of cooking) revealed its secret. The taste (and consistency) was much more memorable than the procedure. The beet salad was beautiful -- truly curls of beet with the apple cider vinagrette. And the salmon was chunky with the cheese mingled within it. . . . Not to mention the lovely horseradish crackers that appeared caddy corner to the salmon presentation. The wine: Cave Spring Chenin Blanc, VQA Niagara 2005.
And next: Lobster and Foie. Sounds rich, but was perfect. Here we had a tiny bit of lobster, appearing above sunchoke and roasted garlic puree and topped with seared (very and thus very lovely) foie gras. Next to it, a glass of lobster consomme. Wowzers. And served with it a french alsatian gerwirtraminer, Mittnacht Klack, 2003.
Then: free form ravioli. This turns out to be the top of a ravioli and the bottom of a ravioli (not attached to one another) -- with lovelies strewn between them. In this case, the lovelies were escargots (not usually my fave but swell -- truly swell), smoked pork belly and some thises and thats. The wine: Ladybug Rose, VQA Niagara 2004.
And what next? An Intermezzo! And I have to say, this was surprisingly swell. A lemon-passionfruit sorbet in a glass, into which was poured (by the very accommodating server) elderflower water and red currant "ice cubes." A true palate cleanser.
And then on to the "main course." And what was it? A short rib cassoulet -- taragon braised, served over a white bean puree. And the wine? Old Vines Foch, Malivore, VQA Niagara, 2004.
Yes, we wanted more. So: a selection of artisanal cheeses. We got one serving for us both (and I admit, we didn't finish all of them). The selections: delice de bourgogne, sheep's milk morbiere, sauvagine, 9 years old Forbar cheddar, Snow Road, and Le Bleu Benedictin. As I said, two french and 4 canadian. And all delicious. (For details on the cheeses, see e.g. this site on the bleu -- though you'll likely need to translate it into English -- I did -- or this site for the Snow Road.)
To conclude: dessert was a lemon-lime panna cotta, with a swirl of avocado mousse, a small heap of (now this was both wonderful and odd) salty caramel corn, and lemoncello gelato. Served with wine? Yes: Coteaux du Layon, Domaine des Baumard, Loire 2004.
Then -- something not on the menu arrived to send us off into the night -- small glasses of eggnog with rum, and tiny beignet to dip into . . . I have forgotten what. But I remember -- it was wonderful!
Ottawa. Hurrah!
