Whetting Your Appetite - Love Ottawa

This morning I received a pocket call on the home phone at 6:01 am.  Thank you to caller 'Anonymous' for that.  There was heavy breathing and a cough, but not in the way you might think.  If you think THAT way.

Based on the lead-in picture, it could suggest that this post is going to be about the newly opened Holland's Cake and Shake, but it's not. Actually, it is a bit. But it's not the main event. Though possibly the prettiest, and for sure sweetest.

I was up before the dogs barking and the hammers dropping symphonically on the many renovation projects surrounding my turret. On the plus side, it did get me out of the house. And the reason I bolted to an early start was because a Euro Capp in a blue cup was waiting for me at Café qui pense on Main Street.

When I went to bed last night, I didn't know I was going to get up early.

I didn't know I was going to start the day with an Equator Coffee Roasters' Ethiopian Single Origin bean.

I didn't know I was going to Holland's Cake and Shake.

I knew nothing of what would happen in between.

Like meeting the brains and photographer behind The Love Ottawa Project, Dwayne Brown.

Buying a baguette at True Loaf Bread Company.

Scouting some Société Orignal Goat's Milk Jam at The Red Apron.

But settling for less calories and a more practical solution for lunch with a savory galette smothered in roasted kale, cherry tomatoes, caramelized onions and feta.

Finding out that when everyone is looking up, looking WAY up at Beyond The Pale Brewery, they are checking on the vertical hop garden - part of the Community Grow Hop!

Discovering the location of SuzyQ's new quarters. Her doughnuts have textures. So why not the place.

Meeting Elvis. The truffle.

And his Maker.

Getting a $50 parking ticket from the remarkably efficient City of Ottawa. (12 minutes less talking could have saved me a bundle.)

None of this would have been part of my day if I didn't get that pocket call and then see a tweet minutes later that went something like this.

A perfect morning for an #Ottawa coffee! http://t.co/DzAKxXLl5p Any guesses to where this latte was photographed? pic.twitter.com/IKOpov0xF4
— loveOttawa (@love_ottawa) July 24, 2014

To which I replied...

@love_ottawa the table top has me thinking Cafe Qui Pense. But then why not the Euro Capp in the blue cups? Stumped.
— Anne Waters (@AMWATERS) July 24, 2014

And so began the conversation.

As I set my table for tea and cake tonight, the details of the very full morning came flooding back over me. A few nuggets stand out.

Embrace living in the moment. Living in the now.

Listen. Listen for possibilities.

Today I learned that how you frame a story isn't just in what you include in the picture but sometimes it's what you don't.

Cakes and treats from Holland's Cake and Shake on Armstrong across from the Parkdale Market. Bottom left: Pineapple Coconut Cream Cheese Caramel Cake $4. Middle: Orange Crush Meringue Tart $4. Top: Raspberry Shortcake $4. Bottom right: Elvis Truffle - Peanut Butter, Banana and Bacon, covered in White Chocolate $2.50.

True Loaf Bread Company Consults on Menu Plan

We are just back from a few days out of town and in some ways it felt like a food bender. The Urban Dictionary defines a bender as: "The status of being bent for more than a day. Usually results in loss of memory, money, strange tattoos, and other things you'll have a hell of a time explaining. " Imagine what four days of eating out can do to you and I would say that most of this definition applies.

When I went looking to restock my pantry and plan for tonight's at-home meal, I was thinking comfort. I knew I was going to the freezer for the overflow of the recently made carrot and coriander soup. Some nice bread with that seemed pedestrian but not if it was going to be really, really good bread. I was sure that I wanted something from a bakery. No strange ingredients I could not pronounce.



I was already on an errand to the The Red Apron so The True Loaf Bread Company, next door at 573 Gladstone Avenue would be my bread destination. It was minutes before closing at 1:00 pm and so many choices had already been taken. We both agreed that the Fig and Fennel would make an interesting combination with the soup. I told her I was also doing a salad and was eyeballing the Ermite cheese next door to put on top. She suggested that the Ermite would also go well sprinkled on the soup and how about I try La Sauvagine cheese on the bread. So creamy and dreamy. Its soft flavour would temper the strength of the fennel and the sweetness of the fig. Back to The Red Apron to pick up the two cheeses. We were living large.

La Sauvagine cheese is a washed-rind cheese from La Fromagerie Alexis de Portneuf, located in Saint Raymond, Quebec. It was named "Grand Champion" cheese at the 5th Canadian Cheese Grand Prix.

Ermite cheese is from Fromagerie de l'Abbaye Saint-Benoît in Saint-Benoît-du-Lac, Quebec. It is the only cheese dairy in North America that is run by Benedictine monks. The first cheese created in the Abbey in 1943 was the famed blue Ermite cheese.

It is worth noting that the True Loaf Bread Company's remaining bread at closing, goes next door to The Red Apron to be sold. I have also seen their bread at Serious Cheese in Old Ottawa South for those unable to make the trip to the middle of town.

That La Sauvagine cheese did go very well with the bread. Their hearty artisan bread is just so superior to anything you would ever find in a grocery store. And although the mister found the fennel a bit strong (and he actually is a big fennel fan) we both agreed it was addicting, as we kept cutting slice after slice.



The carrot and coriander soup from the freezer heated nicely. I did try the Ermite cheese as a topper. There was a lot going on with all those flavours as we also enjoyed the bread along side the soup. I liked it well enough just because everything was so fresh and pure in ingredients.



The salad was piled high with greens, then topped with shaved red onions, a selection of strawberries, blackberries, blueberries, raspberries and red grapes, halved. The sprinkle of Ermite cheese stood strong beside the sweetness of the fruit. The dressing was oil, white balsamic vinegar, finely chopped shallot, salt, pepper, honey and Dijon mustard. So light tasting. So refreshing. And you guessed it, we nibbled on more bread.

If you want a hearty artisan bread, you won't go wrong picking up a loaf of anything at the True Loaf Bread Company. And it appears they throw in their menu consultations for free!

True Loaf Bread Company
573 Gladstone Avenue
Ottawa, Ontario
613.680.4178

Open 7 am to 1 pm.
Closed on Sundays and Mondays.