Ruby Inn

If you're ever having a craving for egg rolls, this is THE place to go.

These open-ended rolls are filled to the brim with a delicious pork mixture that blackens to a delightful crisp on the ends when fried.

This last visit was the first time I ever ordered anything else off the menu. A simple dish of bright green bok choy and tender pork, yum. This probably won't be the last time I do that, but the trek will always be primarily for the egg rolls.

Ruby does take-out only and is tucked away in the strip mall with the Shoppers and Value Village on Bank and Walkley. They also do delivery but only after 5pm.

Ruby Inn

The Urban Pear and Chef Ben Baird – Another Gold Medal Plates Competing Chef

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Of the list of competing chefs at this year's Gold Medal Plates in Ottawa, there are a few that I have not had the pleasure of experiencing their creations. Chef Ben Baird from the Urban Pear is one of them. Having won Bronze in both 2009 and 2007, I had been looking forward to dining at this neighbourhood local for a while. And my experience was a good one!

I started by making my reservation online. When you're swamped at work and just need to get something so simple like that done, having the option is brilliant.

I was so excited when I got to the restaurant, both for the food experience, and the company we had set to spend the evening with. Tony and Cathy both love food as much as we do and our time together is always very fun. The atmosphere, big beautiful windows, colourful walls and softly lit tables were the final touch I needed to relax after a crazy work week. Even the noisiness of the many conversations going on around us seemed to get more muffled after we sat down.

The menu, small but comprehensive, left nothing to hide. Every mouthwatering detail of each dish described to a T. I hadn't felt this indecisive about anything in a while. It took all of me to finally make some choices. And the best one I made was on my appetizer.

Three discs of pan seared sea scallops, so plump and juicy inside, piled onto a thin sesame crepe stuffed with sautéed corn, cabbage, leek, garlic & ginger, followed by a rink of raspberry-miso glaze and topped with a green onion and preserved lemon pesto – and yes, it was better than you can imagine. Seriously to die for.

My husband was also happy with his app, Tomato, double smoked bacon and white bean salad dressed with almond and basil pesto, cornmeal crusted calamari, nasturtium leaf slurry and heirloom tomato coulis.

Cathy and I ordered the same main, pan seared west coast sockeye salmon. I ordered it mostly for the chèvre gnocchi that came along with it, but unfortunately it was undercooked and the doughiness overpowered the cheese inside. The salmon on the other hand, was spicy and flavourful, perched over a roasted heirloom carrot salad with broccoli and tomatoes. Roasted tomatillo, cilantro & fresh chili pepper sauce brought everything together nicely.

Much more successful was my husband's Canadian lamb sirloin with crispy green olive and chick pea polenta, creamy organic cabbage, sautéed cherry tomatoes with cinnamon cap mushrooms, and tomato broth mounted with a tarragon aioli. Delicious.

The men and their meat enjoyed a bold red from Sandhill Estate Vineyard, “One”. A blend of Cab Sauvignon, Petit Verdot and Malbec. It was REALLY nice (I had to try it). Cathy and I shared the Southbrook Triomphe Sauvignon Blanc, also very good and the perfect pairing for our salmon.

Although I found the service to be a bit slow and unattentive, the food, atmosphere and company were more than enough to make my night a huge success.

www.theurbanpear.com

You can also experience some of Chef Baird's magical creations at the Gold Medal Plates.

To purchase tickets, contact Sue Holloway (contact information below) or click here.

Gold Medal Plates Ottawa

Tuesday, November 16, 2010 6:00 pm
National Arts Centre
53 Elgin Street

Sue Holloway
818 Nesbitt Place
(613)274-3107 phone
(613)274-0851 fax
hollowayjoy@rogers.com

The Whalesbone Sustainable Oyster and Fish Supply Shop

Just because I haven't posted anything about the Whalesbone in a while, doesn't mean I stopped going! I just don't want to bore anyone with the same thing over and over again, because I personally can't seem to get bored of these sandwiches. But what brings on today's post is the new addition to my Cod Burger – potato salad. Not just any potato salad, this tasty mixture has added bits of smoked bacon and mussels. Oh yeah! And at $3 a pop, how could you not add this magical creation to an already amazing lunch.

Also new to me, their brownbag lunch is available from 11am until 2pm from Tuesday to Saturday! Woohoo, 2 more days of yumminess!

www.thewhalesbone.com/TheSustainableOysterFishSupply

The Scone Witch

I've been asked a few times recently why I don't post any bad reviews about restaurants. My answer to that was, “Why would I?” I do this in my spare time and I do it to keep a log of the wonderful food I've had. If I don't feel something is worth my time writing about, then I just don't write about it. Unless of course, it was so completely awful that I must let people know, so they don't waste their money. Which makes this post a bit of a weird one – it's somewhere in between.

I occasionally dart up the street to the Scone Witch for some fresh, warm and delicious scones. I love their feta, herb and onion, and oatmeal scones the best. I can never make up my mind so usually end up buying all three and sharing them. I love everything about the little shop on Albert street, except for one thing that unfortunately remains consistent – the service.

Ok, maybe not the actual service per se, they hand me the scones I ask for. But never with a smile. Never a thank you. Never a bit of emotion that would make me feel happy about buying the scones. If anything, I've often felt as though I was doing them a major disservice being there. Just this Saturday, a small line-up of people stood outside the door that clearly said open at 8am. They saw us there, they even started setting up the chairs at the tables while we stood and waited, and they did this ever-so-slowly. By 8:10am they finally decided to open the door and let us in. And rather than apologize for the wait, the girl mumbled good morning, without a smile or any eye contact. Is it really that bad to work there? I have to wonder. It's not that they opened late, it's how they did it that troubled me.

It wasn't until some other people confirmed my belief (that the staff just wished you weren't there), having experienced the same thing time and again, that I finally decided to write about it. It's too bad that they have to take their name so literally.

The Scone Witch

Meet a Gold Medal Plates Ottawa Competing Chef: An Afternoon with Chef Michael Moffatt

The following guest post continues a series of “Meet a Gold Medal Plates Competing Chef” interviews you will see on the Fridays leading up to the Gold Medal Plates Event in Ottawa. It's from the wonderful people at foodiePrints.

For the second installment of "Meet a Gold Medal Plates Ottawa Competing Chef", Jenn and I visited Play Food and Wine at 1 York Street. This is one of the restaurants we always recommend to people who visit Ottawa and stay in the ByWard Market area. It is one we recommend to friends who just want to gather together, eat great food, and drink great wine.

Menu

Downstairs Dining Room

Bar

Glassware

Because Play serves "small plates", tapas-style dishes, the restaurant can accommodate just about any palate. Best of all, it lets patrons sample a number of dishes instead of enforcing a rigid appetizer, main, and dessert sequence. Of course, recommended wine pairings are listed on the menu.

There, Jenn and I had lunch towards the end of service, meeting Play's gracious owner Stephen Beckta. We shook hands with its Wine Director Grayson McDiarmid. Like Beckta, McDiarmid is a trained sommelier. He is also the voice behind Play's Twitter account @playfoodandwine.

Jenn ordered the quail and the steak frites.

Quail on house creamed corn with roasted green onion, local peach relish

Grilled and soy marinated hanger steak frites with 4 kinds of mushrooms and house aioli

Cost: $22.60 (because of the 2 plates for $20 lunch special, after taxes, before tip)

Afterward we declined dessert and Chef Michael Moffatt (Executive Chef of both Play and Play's sister restaurant, Beckta Dining and Wine), joined us for an interview.

Chef Michael Moffatt

Chef Moffatt can be best described as disarmingly friendly. The interview felt more like an easy conversation. He, effortlessly answering questions and offering wonderful insight

What's your philosophy when it comes to food and your restaurant?
According to Chef Moffatt, "Everyone deserves a great meal." He feels strongly guest experience should be paramount.

"It's not about the chef or entitlements. It's about guests and their preferences."

"Food should be about memories." While, restaurants can't compete with food-related memories from anyone's personal history, they can leverage them to create great guest experiences.

What inspires you? How do you come up wth ideas for the dishes you create?
True to his food philosophy, Chef Moffatt draws inspiration from taking great ingredients and presenting them in a new way. All the while, he likes to stay true to the essence of his ingredients. Change the texture a little. Highlight a different flavour or textural aspect.

When we pressed him for an example, we gave him a scenario of encountering great produce in the ByWard Market. He answered with the example of a jalapeño. Jalapeño oil has a unique flavour. He recently made "onion" rings out of fresh jalapeños, which he battered and deep fried. Topping a tomato salad with his jalapeño rings caused it to absorb some jalapeño oil, imparting heat.

I know your menu changes at both Play and Beckta often. What's your favourite dish from both menus and why?
Chef Moffatt admitted there is a lot on both his menus he likes. If he were to choose one current dish at Beckta, it would be the British Columbia Spot Prawn appetizer for its uniqueness.

At Play, he could not really choose a dish, but said the Ling Cod stands out. He remarked at the dish pairing cheese with fish.

Incidentally, Stephen Beckta's favourite dish on Play's menu is the Pork Belly.

These happened to be the dishes I ordered.

Ling Cod on grilled honeydew with house ricotta mixed with grape fruit zest and spicy pistachios

Pork belly served on wilted beet greens with a miso and plum sauce

Cost: $22.60 (because of the 2 plates for $20 lunch special, after taxes, before tip)

What's the ingredient you can't live without? (other than basics)
After qualifying what was meant by "basics", Chef Moffatt immediately replied "Mushrooms. I love mushrooms." His favourite variety is shiitake.

At Beckta, all the entrees on his menu, save for 2 exceptions, have mushrooms. 50% of Play's menu has mushrooms.

Is there anything you won't eat?
"Yes. I won't eat horse." Accordingly, horses have been domesticated for too long. There is too much human interaction.

Do you have a guilty food pleasure?
"My favourite is grilled cheese sandwiches. And, Doritos. Although I haven't eaten those in a while."

He enjoys pizza, but "who doesn't?"

What was your most memorable meal and why?
Chef Moffat asked "eaten or cooked?" Generously, he responded to both.

"Cooked" would be a dinner he prepared Thanksgiving 1999 for his 92 year old grandmother before she died. Then, he was new to the restaurant industry, "young" (as he put it). His grandmother ate every bite, refusing to believe he had prepared it.

"Eaten", he has two.

The first, was eating one of Atelier Restaurant's tasting menu with Stephen Beckta. There, his most memorable dish was Chef Sarah Allen's popcorn and beer soup. Chef Moffatt likes how Atelier's dishes are "playful and thoughtful."

"The focus is on guest experience, something it [Atelier] isn't given enough credit for."

The second, was in New York City in 2002. Chef Moffat had the opportunity to eat at Chef Mario Batali's first restaurant, Po, with the now legendary Italian chef actually in the kitchen. The standout dish there was ox tail ravioli, which had "a beautiful earthiness, brightened by sherry vinegar." Accordingly, the food, while unique, demonstrated a real emotional connection between chef and dish.

"It was cared about."

What would your last meal be?
"It would be my grandma's grilled cheese."

"Food is a social medium," said Chef Moffatt. Many of the memories we have come from gatherings with friends and family. Oftentimes, there is food. It is his fond memories eating, his grandmother's grilled cheese sandwiches that make grilled cheese his guilty pleasure.

If you could travel to just one place in the world for food, where would you go and why?
"Italy! This country understands regionality. In the north, you don't eat pasta. You eat rice."

"It is where the "slow food" movement started."

Because Italian culture has such a commitment to food, "being there would teach you food on a different level."

Describe your perfect Sunday.
"Spend time with my family, cook for friends, and play hockey at night."

For those who are newly attending the Gold Medal Plates event, how would you describe it? What can one expect?
"It's quite the spectacle. It's a unique and well-choreographed event, that is part culinary competition, part fundraiser, and part Olympic athlete exposure."

Traditionally, anywhere from 350 to 500 people attend. There is a silent auction with big ticket items.

"It is 10 field kitchens, serving food to attendees." But, afterward, it is an opportunity for chefs who don't usually see each other (because "we're usually stuck in our kitchens") to chat.

How would you prepare for a competition like Gold Medal Plates? "It's hard to prepare in advance. Food is perishable."

Chef Moffatt has two restaurants to run, admitting "Whoever I take with me isn't working that day." Neither Beckta nor Play close for Gold Medal Plates.

Preparation-wise, "We use whatever gaps [in services] we can to prepare." While he received the invite to participate in January, he has only begun to finalize his dish now, 3 months before.

"We've always done trios", which means anywhere from 1500 to 1700 portions of food need to be prepared, plated, and served.

As last year, preparation is dependent on available ingredients.

"November is also going to be a busy month at Beckta and Play."

Between questions, Chef Moffatt also shared with us how the restaurant industry has been humbled of late. Mostly, due to it weathering a long recession. It has become more guest-centric. At the same time, food media has caused food culture to "progress." Thoughts have shifted. Appetites have changed. For instance, sustainable fish from both North American coasts are now available that weren't accessible even 6 years ago.

Ottawa's food scene particularly has developed. This was once a city where visitors from Toronto ate before they arrived or traveled to Montreal for dinner. Now, 20% of Beckta Dining and Wine's patrons come from Toronto.

Thank-you Chef Moffatt and Stephen Beckta for having us. We had a wonderful lunch and chat. Both food and service were fantastic.

To Chef Moffatt, good luck this November at Gold Medal Plates.

Facebook Page: Gold Medal Plates Ottawa

To purchase tickets for Gold Medal Plates, contact Sue Holloway (contact information below) or click here.

Particulars:
Play Food and Wine
1 York Street
(613) 667-9207

Gold Medal Plates Ottawa
Tuesday, November 16, 2010 6:00 pm
National Arts Centre
53 Elgin Street

Sue Holloway
818 Nesbitt Place
(613)274-3107 phone
(613)274-0851 fax
hollowayjoy@rogers.com

Super Sliders

Ok seriously, what in the world is more fun than a mini burger?

And my husband knows how to do them right! Not only did he serve 2 different kinds of meat – a spicy turkey and tender beef. He also prepared a trio of accompanying pots of flavoured mayo – pesto, dijon and smoked paprika.

The fresh tomatoes don't even need to be halved to take part in this action. Heirlooms were the exact fit. I took great delight in building these miniature towers, adding red onion, crisp lettuce and of course, picking the perfect sauce for each one.

Barbecued corn on the cob was the perfect side. Make sure if you do grill these that you leave a bit of the husk on and soak them in water for 15 minutes. This helps to not dry them out from the cooking.

Mini Mignon en Croûte

Oh yes, this definitely was as good as it sounds. We spent the weekend at our friends Marc and Zoya's and as usual, she totally outdid herself. Before the meal was even done I was having heart palpitations at the excitement of what I was about to eat.

I have a weakness for things in pockets (ravioli, dumplings). So imagine, a delicious filet mignon surrounded by mushrooms, onions and garlic, and then closed into a light and flaky rustic pocket. It was to-die-for.

First you start by quickly searing the meat so that the juices stay inside. Place it, along with some fried King Bolete and Shiitake mushrooms, onions and garlic onto some dough and then close it up. Put in the oven at 425 for 20 minutes or until the pastry is golden-brown.

The King Bolete mushrooms came from Zoya's friend Isabelle's back yard in La Conception near Tremblant.

Our side salad is proof that just a bit extra work can make something go from good to absolutely amazing. Slivers of crisp onions fried in peanut oil – it's so difficult not to eat them all off everyone's plate! (I seriously wanted them all to myself.) And maple-caramelized turnip, so sweet and sinful. All on a bed of fresh, baby arugula. Probably one of the best salads I've ever had.

And what's a fantastic dinner without the wine? 2007 7 Deadly Zins, and 2007 J Lohr South Ridge Syrah. Both from California and both from the August 21st vintage release. These wines were made for red meat. I highly recommend both.

Zoya, thanks so much for such an amazing dinner! Doing this post is bringing me back to the evening that I wished had never ended.