Ottawa-Gatineau Restaurant News

[kwoldtimer]

Originally Posted by waterloowarrior

Confederation Park bistro is open tomorrow at 8AM

I drove by the Paterson Creek site yesterday and there was no sign of one there - I wonder if they haven't missed the opportunity for this year?

[rocketphish]

NCC's Confederation Park bistro opens to positive reviews

Luke Carroll, Ottawa Citizen
Updated: August 6, 2019



The National Capital Commission’s new Confederation Park bistro opened to positive reviews this week.

“It’s great. I love it,” said Robb Barnes, who was enjoying a beer on a sunny Sunday afternoon at the bistro. “I think Ottawa could use places like this.

“The prices are reasonable. The location is nice. I think it’s a great addition.”

The bistro consists of a kitchen set up inside repurposed shipping containers and an outdoor patio space for customers to sit.

The use of outdoor space was resident Kim Borg’s favourite touch to the project.

“It’s great. It’s a beautiful setting. There’s trees. There’s shade,” Borg said, who was enjoying Stella Luna gelato with her two daughters.

Jolanea Ferrao and her husband, Vincent, said they stopped at the Confederation Park Bistro because of it’s convenient location in the heart of downtown, .

“We were coming downtown at the same time,” said Jolanea Ferrao. “I used to come a lot to Confederation Park and it’s something new to visit.”

The bistros are a two-year pilot partner project of the NCC and local restaurants.

The Confederation Park bistro is the first of three to open, with the other two planned for Remic Rapids Park and Patterson Creek Park later this summer.

The Patterson Creek Park location was the subject of some drama from nearby residents who did not want the bistro in the area. Opponents cited lack of consultation, the impact of the bistro on the experience of park users and neighbours, the suitability of Patterson Creek as a site for the proposed bistro.

The NCC decided to go ahead with the project despite the opposition.

https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/nccs-confederation-park-bistro-first-of-three-to-open

[rocketphish]

Rideau Bakery bread is back and it's on Farm Boy shelves across Ontario

Megan Gillis, Ottawa Citizen
Updated: August 7, 2019

A beloved Ottawa institution has gone Ontario-wide.

Grocery chain Farm Boy announced Wednesday morning that Rideau Bakery Bread isn’t just back on its shelves in Ottawa — it’s now in all of its 28 stores across the province.

“Same great recipes, same great team members, new lower price!” Farm Boy said on Facebook with the hashtag “kosher.”

Operated by members of the Kardish family since 1930, the Rideau Bakery shut down its two locations on Bank and Rideau streets last month.

Enter Ottawa-based Farm Boy, which announced an agreement to purchase the Rideau Bakery’s assets from the Kardish family, promising to “keep the iconic brand alive” in its stores.

In a release from Farm Boy, Louis Kardish said on behalf of his siblings that “this really is a white knight scenario for us.

“We will see the tradition of our grandmother’s old-world, kosher baking live on.”

Now owned by Sobey’s, Farm Boy has stores in Ottawa, Brantford, Cambridge, Cornwall, Hamilton, Kingston, Kitchener, London, Oakville, Pickering, Toronto and Whitby with outlets opening in Burlington, St. Catharines and Newmarket in 2019 and 2020.

In Ottawa, a “fresh urban concept” store will open at 193 Metcalfe Street next spring.

https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-new...d-its-on-farm-boy-shelves-across-ontario

[J.OT13]

The gist of it is, Barry Padolsky was hired as the architect of the rebuild for the entire strip damaged by the fire. All the façades will be preserved, other than 41½ William Street (Roots), the façade deemed the lest historically significant, because they need access to clean-up debris. Bricks from 41½ will be salvaged for the new façade. No word on the structure of the buildings or timelines.

Incendie du Vittoria Trattoria: la majorité des façades seront préservées

JULIEN PAQUETTE, 8 août, 2019
Le Droit

«On aura l’impression que la rue William est comme elle l’a toujours été», promet l’architecte spécialisé en protection du patrimoine Barry Padolsky, près de quatre mois après le violent incendie qui a ravagé plusieurs commerces du marché By, notamment le restaurant Vittoria Trattoria.

L’avenir de cette artère au caractère patrimonial a fait l’objet de discussions jeudi matin au sous-comité du patrimoine bâti de la Ville d’Ottawa. Des fonctionnaires de la municipalité ont alors confirmé que la façade de la majorité des bâtiments détruits par les flammes pourra être préservée.

Seule la façade du 41½, rue William devra être démolie afin de donner un accès à l’arrière des autres façades pour dégager les débris et reconstruire les autres bâtiments.

La devanture du 41½ est toutefois celle qui avait la valeur patrimoniale la plus faible, ont indiqué les fonctionnaires de la Ville au sous-comité. De plus, les briques encore en bon état seront préservées et ajoutées autant que possible à la façade du bâtiment qui remplacera celui qui sera démoli.

M. Padolsky a été embauché par un groupe de propriétaires de bâtiments brûlés sur la rue William. Il soutient que les plans de reconstructions devraient être soumis à la Ville au cours de l’automne.

Les travaux pourraient commencer au printemps, selon les échéanciers les plus optimistes.

https://www.ledroit.com/actualites/ottaw...servees-132a1fc09223128ea1d54dbd8a3c4e19

[rocketphish]

Popular bar Hooley's closes, owner blames Elgin Street construction

Luke Carroll, Ottawa Citizen
Updated: August 8, 2019



Disruptive Elgin Street construction has led popular bar Hooley’s to officially close its doors, says its owner.

Majority owner Dale Hill, 52, said he has countless happy memories at Hooley’s but a loss of approximately 40 per cent of his clientele made his business no longer financially viable. The bar’s last day was Tuesday.

“You have to have pretty deep pockets to carry a losing business another year,” he said. “You can’t control stuff that’s going on outside your doors.”

Hill blamed the loss of business on the Elgin Street renewal, a $36.3-million road, sewer and water construction project that has had the entire street closed to vehicles since the beginning of 2019.

“Right now, with Elgin Street, Ubers couldn’t even get there,” he said.

The construction is scheduled to be complete by fall 2020 latest.

The bar announced the closure in a note posted on its door that read “the time has come to close the doors and try a different concept with a different group.” The note reminisced about some of the happy memories the bar hosted, including several major sporting events and cheap wings nights.

“We had such good sporting events there,” Hill said. “We’ve had some good runs there, the World Cup, 2007 Stanley Cup run with the Senators.”

Although Hooley’s has officially closed, Hill said he has another year and a half on the existing lease and is allowing the minority owners a week to decide if they want to open a smaller bar in the space.
Hill said he is unsure what he will do with the space if the minority owners do not proceed with a plan to open a new bar.

He said it was a difficult decision to close the bar and thanked everyone who attended over its 14-year tenure.

“It’s one of those things where you have a hard time walking away from it,” he said. “I’m a business man first and it pulled on every heartstring to keep it going as long as I did.”

https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-new...s-owner-blames-elgin-street-construction

[rocketphish]

Heritage architect aims to retain look of William Street after spring fire in the ByWard Market

Jon Willing, Ottawa Citizen
Updated: August 8, 2019

The ByWard Market buildings destroyed by fire last April will be fixed up and William Street will be “refreshed,” according to the heritage architect on the project.

“When people see the outcome when we complete the work, it will just feel like William Street always was,” Barry Padolsky said Thursday after the city’s built-heritage subcommittee received a brief staff update on the major reconstruction project in the heritage conservation district.

Fire ripped through historic buildings on William Street on April 12 when roofers were working on 35 William St., where the restaurant Vittoria Trattoria is located. Ottawa Fire Services said the roofers accidentally started the fire. Billows of smoke hovered over the tourist district as firefighters extinguished the stubborn blaze. No one was injured.

The preliminary damage estimate was $2 million, but that number was expected to climb as assessments continued.

There are multiple property owners impacted by the fire.

“The fire swept through five of the buildings and made them inhabitable and four of the five are, in the interior, totally destroyed,” Padolsky said.

“It’s hard to tell from the street, but when you put on your hard hat and boots and go inside, it’s basically all destruction.”

Padolsky, who’s also a member of the built-heritage subcommittee, said four of the five damaged building facades will be retained.

The facade at 41 1/2 William St. needs to be demolished because workers need a place to remove all the damaged debris on the site, like creating a giant door opening. The bricks from the facade could be reused in the reconstruction.

Padolsky said the city issued a heritage permit Wednesday for the selective demolition of the heavily damaged parts of the buildings. He anticipates a demolition permit will be issued in the coming days so the tear-down work can begin.

The plan so far is to have reconstruction plans ready in the fall, he said.

City staff estimated that reconstruction could begin next spring, since there might be other planning approvals required, but Padolsky said some of the project could begin earlier. The building owners are “impatient” to get going and the city is helping with the permit requirements, he said.

“We’re wanting to do it as quickly as possible,” Padolsky said. “Some parts might start earlier than others, but I think we would start even in the winter if we could.”

Padolsky said it’s a tricky project because it’s a busy pedestrian area and the project team doesn’t have complete information about the makeup of the damaged buildings.

“It’s like being in the emergency room of a hospital. You have this crisis and you have a number of different buildings that were damaged in different ways,” Padolsky said.

“We know very little about the anatomy of each building because some of them are 120 years old and they changed over time, so we expect to learn a lot after we gut the space behind the facades to learn what’s really going on in there.”

[email protected]
twitter.com/JonathanWilling

https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-new...t-after-spring-fire-in-the-byward-market

[rocketphish]

Patterson Creek will have a bistro for summer 2020

Jacob Hoytema, Ottawa Citizen
Updated: August 16, 2019

The NCC announced on Thursday that Patterson Creek in the Glebe will have a bistro, but not until June 2020.

Glebe residents had objected to the bistro’s installation this past June after construction started in the park without consulting the community.

After the outcry, the NCC, which owns the canal-adjacent park, stopped construction and ran consultations. They announced consultation results on July 9. While social media comments were mostly positive to the idea, the majority of email and open house comments were opposed.

Nonetheless, the NCC said at that time that the bistro, which was to be made out of shipping containers like the one in Confederation Park, would be completed by July 29 of this year. But Thursday’s update from the NCC says that “delays in installation and construction” had postponed its opening until next summer.

There is another bistro opening at Remic Rapids on August 17 of this summer. The bistros are “French-influenced” and offer light food options and alcoholic beverages.

https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/patterson-creek-will-have-a-bistro-for-summer-2020

[kwoldtimer]

French-influenced shipping containers sounds very chic indeed!

[eltodesukane]

The Sinister Brutality of Shipping Container Architecture, By Richard J. Williams
Dr. Williams is a professor of contemporary visual cultures. Aug. 14, 2019
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/14/opinion/shipping-container-homes.html

It’s become a mark of hipster modernity everywhere from Amsterdam to Beijing. It’s also utterly ill-suited for human life.
They’re great for doing what they were designed to do, which is transporting stuff. A simple technology, they have helped facilitate global trade like no other. But they’re designed for things, not people. Dark, damp and airless, boiling in the summer and freezing in the winter, they’re hopeless living and working spaces. They’re not even particularly cheap. It is often said that they are sustainable, as they adapt an abundant, readily available form. But you have to do an awful lot to them to make them habitable; insulation is just the start. To use them for architecture is rarely the convenience their proponents make it out to be. So let’s call it what it is: a matter of aesthetics.

[rocketphish]

Burnt ByWard Market eatery won't reopen for more than a year
Heritage rules, insurance process stalling plans to reopen next spring

CBC News
Posted: Sep 05, 2019 6:53 AM ET | Last Updated: September 5



The owner of a restaurant gutted by fire in Ottawa's historic ByWard Market says restoration work has only just begun after months of bureaucracy and a long insurance investigation.

Vittoria Trattoria owner Domenic Santaguida had hoped he could reopen by his birthday in May; now he says the most optimistic date is likely December 2020 at the earliest.

"Next week will be five months since the fire happened and we're just starting," he said.

Fire broke out on the roof of 35 William St. on April 12, destroying much of the building and several businesses.

Vittoria Trattoria was undergoing roofing work at the time of the fire, which fire officials later deemed to have been "accidental and preventable."

Santaguida said since the fire, city engineers had to establish whether the heritage building's facade could be preserved.

Then the insurance company only recently released the site to the building owners after a long investigation ruling out other possible causes.

Last week, workers finally began demolishing the interior.

Because of the heritage designation of the building, Santaguida said it's being done by hand, avoiding heavy machinery to protect the facade of the structure.

He said the recent tour of the inside of the structure itself had been an emotional experience.

"I was just overwhelmed by how much devastation happened inside," said Santaguida, describing damage by not just fire and water, but by firefighters who smashed and hacked at furniture, walls and ceilings to put the blaze out.

The restaurant — known for its extensive wine collection — is not allowed to keep the few bottles not destroyed in the fire, for fear of contamination.

About 40 people worked at the restaurant at the time of the fire.

Santaguida said while he was able to secure work for some employees at the family's other two Ottawa restaurants, others chose to look for other jobs.

He said he believes all the employees found work after the fire.

As for reopening the Byward restaurant, he said the goal is finally in sight.

"We have a long road ahead of us," said Santaguida but he's more optimistic:

"The last few days I think have been better for me mentally, that we can actually see that there's something happening."

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/vittoria-trattoria-ottawa-fire-reopen-1.5270925

[ars]

Looks like Pure Gelato on Elgin has closed down(their Bank location closed early August). According to Reddit, they said that the construction on Elgin was the primary reason.

— because they actually had the best crepes that we've tried in Ottawa.

[OTownandDown]

Yup, super sinister.


http://ncc-website-2.s3.amazonaws.com/images/MG_6404.jpg?mtime=20190807135622

The only person who thinks this is sinister is this lady, who also thinks your dandelions growing unchecked and spreading to her lawn, is also sinister.

Originally Posted by eltodesukane

The Sinister Brutality of Shipping Container Architecture, By Richard J. Williams
Dr. Williams is a professor of contemporary visual cultures. Aug. 14, 2019
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/14/opinion/shipping-container-homes.html

It’s become a mark of hipster modernity everywhere from Amsterdam to Beijing. It’s also utterly ill-suited for human life.
They’re great for doing what they were designed to do, which is transporting stuff. A simple technology, they have helped facilitate global trade like no other. But they’re designed for things, not people. Dark, damp and airless, boiling in the summer and freezing in the winter, they’re hopeless living and working spaces. They’re not even particularly cheap. It is often said that they are sustainable, as they adapt an abundant, readily available form. But you have to do an awful lot to them to make them habitable; insulation is just the start. To use them for architecture is rarely the convenience their proponents make it out to be. So let’s call it what it is: a matter of aesthetics.

[rocketphish]

Skating and scotch? NCC aiming for bar on Rideau Canal ice
Clear plastic igloo could open up on canal this winter

Ryan Tumilty · CBC News
Posted: Sep 23, 2019 4:00 AM ET | Last Updated: 5 hours ago

This winter, you could cap off a leisurely skate on the Rideau Canal with a scotch on the rocks, as the National Capital Commission is considering opening a bar on the historic skateway.

The NCC is considering a "Bistro on the Ice" pilot project for this season, similar to the outdoor shipping container bistros that launched this summer, according to a briefing note obtained by CBC through access to information.

The proposal, approved by NCC CEO Tobi Nussbaum in April, would see a clear plastic igloo set up on the ice near kilometre zero of the skateway, close to the National Arts Centre and the Château Laurier hotel.

The NCC is still working through the details, but if it succeeds, the the igloo bar could become a regular feature.

"This two-year pilot project would be a feature to visitors for the 50th anniversary of the skateway, with the possibility to be a legacy feature for the following years if the results are conclusive," Nussbaum said in the note.

The NCC declined an interview, but confirmed they are working to bring the idea to life.

"Building on the success of our bistro in the park initiative, our Rideau Canal Skateway team is currently looking into the feasibility of [the pilot project]," said spokesperson Cédric Pelletier in an email.

The bistro in the park project aimed to set up three pop-up bistros this summer on NCC land. Two of the bistros went ahead, at the Remic Rapids and in Confederation Park, while a third bistro at Patterson Creek was delayed until 2020.

In the briefing note, the NCC acknowledged there could be issues with a bar on the ice and stressed they need to find just the right operator.

"Partnering with the right operator on a defined pilot project should be a priority to minimize potential risks," the note said.

The NCC also hopes for a sponsor for the on-ice bar, but wants one that's the "best fit." It notes a shortlist has been prepared that includes the LCBO, NCC tenants and flagship restaurants.

In a hand-written note, Nussbaum applauded the idea, while encouraging staff to consider ways to ensure the bar could remain open if the canal had to close due to poor ice conditions.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/ncc-rideau-canal-ice-bar-igloo-1.5290812

[mykl]

A bar on the canal is a great idea!

[YOWflier]

A bar on the canal is a great idea. People who let uncontrolled weed growth infest their neighbors' lawns —.

[CityTech]

I don't pull dandelions from my yard. Dandelions are actually very important to the ecosystem as they are among the only plentiful flowers in early spring, so they are a vital food source for bees who are just coming out of winter. A lot of governments have actually stopped controlling dandelions on their properties for this reason.

https://www.cbc.ca/amp/1.3526394

https://amp.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle...2/dandelions-pollinators-wildlife-garden

[YOWflier]

There are dandelion buffets on public lands mere feet from my and most homes.

[CityTech]

Where I live there aren't such public lands in the immediate vicinity.

[rocketphish]

Land assembly in progress...

I wonder if Brian Lahey will tap his brother for another of his stunning architectural masterpieces?

85 years later, Prescott being sold but pints to keep flowing

Kelly Egan, Ottawa Citizen
Updated: October 1, 2019



The Prescott Hotel, home to the city’s most legendary tavern, is being sold, shocking news only a beer might soothe.

Third-generation owner Tony Disipio confirmed that talks are being finalized with Brian Lahey, a principal at The Properties Group, an Ottawa-based real estate investment and management firm that is eying a handover date of April 2020.

But lest a poor, wretched city begin weeping in its pints, both sides say nothing will change for years — possibly as long as 10 — and that Disipio, 69, will continue to oversee operations.

“My staff and managers are all going to stay in place and I’m going to maintain an office here,” he said Tuesday. “I’ll be very honest with you. It’s a difficult and emotional thing but it’s a great opportunity for me to stay involved and resolve things in my old age.”

Not only is it located in the heart of Little Italy, but the Prescott represents a continuous link to another era: the days of men-only sides and nickel glasses of draft, a time when it was known as the “Last Chance” watering hole on the highway south (No. 16) out of town.

Both sides in the deal were keen to emphasize that this is not the beginning of the end of square pizza, meatballs sandwiches or hard, seal-barking chairs dragged on terrazzo floors, or long tables full of half-uniformed ball teams recapping their amateur heroics.

“This is not a real estate deal,” said Lahey. “I’m not buying it to build a condominium. I don’t know that it will ever change.”

The business began as the Preston Hotel in 1934, operating from the home of Antonio Disipio, Tony’s grandfather, at Preston and Beech Street. A sign in the front window said: “Purveyors of Beer and Wine.” And were they ever.

It was renamed the Prescott in 1941 and gradually expanded to include a proper sit-down restaurant beside the main beer hall and banquet space up and downstairs.

In its heyday, cops drank at tables not far from known scoundrels — the truce was understood — and blue-collar workers joined government pencil-pushers for ale-filled lunches. Waiters — and they were all men at one time — moved as many as 12,000 to 15,000 quarts a beer a week, one of the highest volumes in Canada.

The end of family ownership at the Prescott is part of massive changes on the horizon for Preston Street in general, but the southern portion in particular. Lahey’s group, in fact, is pitching a six-storey main street building behind the Prescott, along Beech Street.

He is sensitive to the Prescott’s beloved place in the city’s evolution, where many high-schoolers first met Mister Barley and Master Hops. “I’m truly honoured that (Tony) picked me, and I mean that.”

As for the large parking lot between Beech and Aberdeen Street — one of the biggest empty footprints in central Ottawa — there are rumours of a large rental apartment building, a major-chain grocery store (Farm Boy’s name is being tossed around, maybe wishfully) and possibly an LCBO, which the area lacks.

Lori Mellor is executive director of the Preston Street BIA. She sees lots of change in the near future.

“It’s going to be really exciting. It’s just a matter of when because there’s a ton that’s been approved.”

With a new LRT station coming at Gladstone and the extension of the Trillium Line south, Preston is destined to become a transit corridor, with multiple residential towers already approved, the massive Trinity development at the northern end and the eventual link with LeBreton Flats.

And Ottawa’s tallest condominium, the Claridge Icon at Preston and Carling, has topped out at 45 floors and will be ready for occupancy in the fall of 2020. Taken together, there will be thousands of new residents living within a short radius of Preston, many of them without cars.

All of which makes the absence of a large grocery store in the area that much more striking.

“They keep telling us we don’t have the density yet, but it’s coming,” said Mellor. “It’s tragic that you can’t buy a bottle of wine or a tomato in Little Italy,” she joked. “What’s wrong with this picture?”

Though the buyer and seller for the Prescott say an agreement is in place, there are a number of details to work out, as the deal involves both the real estate and the business itself.

So it isn’t last call at the P, Ottawa. Relax, have another round.

To contact Kelly Egan, please call 613-726-5896 or email [email protected]
Twitter: @KellyEganColumn

https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-new...ott-being-sold-but-pints-to-keep-flowing

[OTownandDown]

Dandelions are the reason this lady filed a human rights complaint against her neighbour. Dandelions, and their damned 2002 Honda civic creating an eyesore blight from her living room window.

Originally Posted by CityTech

I don't pull dandelions from my yard. Dandelions are actually very important to the ecosystem as they are among the only plentiful flowers in early spring, so they are a vital food source for bees who are just coming out of winter. A lot of governments have actually stopped controlling dandelions on their properties for this reason.

https://www.cbc.ca/amp/1.3526394

https://amp.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle...2/dandelions-pollinators-wildlife-garden