Dining + Drinking news: Best in the Glebe, Brassica, and Polka Delicatessen

12 February 2025

• If Family Day (Monday February 17) has you stumped, Cupcake Lounge just might have the answer:  Bring the kids for a cookie decorating sesh.  
• Birch Bark Coffee Company announced the launch of the Birch Bark Coffee Foundation Fund, which will directly contribute to charities that support seven amazing Indigenous charities. You can help by purchasing coffee or by donating. 
• Peter Hum in the Ottawa Citizen loves Wednesday tapas night at Brassica in Westboro. ‘[T]he highest praise, I think, is that these dishes elicited immediate, gut-level kudos before my critic’s analytical brain could even think of kicking in’.
• But back chasing the sugar dragon, Hum finds the Valentine’s tarts are to his liking at Tartelette Bakery.
• At Eat the Strip, Ameya Charnalia finds a strip mall restaurant straight out of Central Casting: between a cell phone repair shop and a make-your-own wine space. Polka Delicatessen sells deli sarnies at $6.
• In the Ottawa Business Journal, Jordan Pizzuti lays out his top ten items from last week’s 25th annual Taste in the Glebe event.  They are: Northern Pearl Oyster – Pelican Seafood Market & Grill, Baby Shrimp Toast – Thr33’s co, Rum Ball – Stella Luna Gelato Cafe, Rigatoni Alla Vodka with Venison Bolognese – Aiana Restaurant Collective, Parm Wheel Cacio E Pepe – Cantina Gia, Potato & Leek Soup with Baby Shrimp – Le Poisson Bleu, Brisket and Ribs – Lexington Smokehouse & Bar, Coconut Strawberry Pistachio Tart – Tartelette Pastry & Cafe, California Bowl – Paradise Poke, and Whipped Ricotta Dip – Joey Lansdowne.
• In Apartment 613’s Best Bites column, Kiersten Vuorimaki, Alison Larabie Chase, and Hannah Manning ate at Aperitivo (‘We dipped and swirled and scraped up every last bit, and I would have eaten more of it’), Fairouz Café(‘I have since fallen in love with the cozy dining area and gorgeous back patio’, and Heartbreakers Pizza (‘ It’s got to be one of the best pizzas in town, whether you take it out, or enjoy it in’).