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 Issue 669 Volume 3 Number 169

The Ottawan

 

HELLO OTTAWA

It's Wednesday, December 14, 2022 and we're thinking of heading over to the Costco to pick up a six pack of cold Libra IPA before the snow hitsLibra Beverage Co. of PEI is introducing their alcohol-free IPA to Atlantic Canada  – and Ottawa. 

Have an event coming up?

Submit it to our calendar here.

 

7 Take Home Christmas Dinners 

You’re not into cooking a Christmas Eve or Christmas Day meal this year. We get it. Luckily these Ottawa restaurants have the perfect hack. With one exception, they’ve prepared fully cooked festive feasts, so all you have to do is heat and serve. One caveat: they’re selling fast. 

1. Soca Kitchen is taking care of those looking for less stress the night before the big day. The star of their Christmas Eve Dinner at Home feastis a Roasted Leg of Lamb, which is accompanied by Salmon Crudo, Lobster & Potato Gratin, and other yummy sides. $175 for two people, with an optional wine pairing to complete the experience. 

2. Fraser isn’t kidding when it calls its Christmas Eve Dinner a take-away feast. Serving 4 to 6 people, the meal features turkey two ways, short rib wellington, bread stuffing, fully loaded colcannon potatoes, and more. $340.

3. The Brookstreet Hotel Christmas Turkey Dinner will feed up to 10 at your home and only needs 25 minutes to heat up. Available for pickup on December 24 and 25. $365. 

4. Build your own delicious Christmas dinner with a mosey through the selections at the Piggy Market. Start with a generous Charcuterie board that serves 4 to 6 people, or choose an even bigger one for 10 to 12. Next, select your main, whether it’s a Christmas Whole Ham Bone In, a roast leg of lamb, a turkey, or even a Christmas Goose. Your dessert could be cherry or raspberry pie.  

5. NeXT’s Four Course Plated Turkey Dinner for four people includes salad, soup, Roast Galantine of Turkey (rolled and stuffed breast) with stuffing, gravy, and veggies, and pineapple and sweet potato pudding (I should’ve worn a bib to type this). $169 plus tax and gratuity. It’s available December 23, 24, and 25. 

6. Meatings’ Holiday Turkey Box is a fully cooked slicked turkey roll with stuffing, potatoes, maple bacon Brussels sprouts, squash, gravy, and cranberry sauce. Order by December 19 for pickup on December 23. $210. 

7. Here's one you will be cooking: Slipacoff’s premium online butcher is offering not one, but two Christmas dinners that you cook at home. The Christmas Turkey Dinner ($249) and the Christmas Prime Rib Roast Dinner ($289) arrive frozen and raw, so you’ll need to factor in thawing and cooking time. But you’ll save time on the shopping and planning. Each will serve 8-10 people. 


Food + Drink Update

▪️Peter Hum at the Ottawa Citizen is of mixed feelings about Cocotte in the Metcalf Hotel. On one hand, the braised veal cheeks and French cuisine take on Beavertails were successful, but Hum found that the pickerel quenelles were a little heavy in the fish soup.

▪️Ralf Joneikies at Capital Eats says Shinka Sushi is the best sushi joint in Ottawa, although their East End location is now takeout and delivery only.

▪️Café Morala in the Glebe has become a Happy Goat Coffee Company location. Café Morala was opened 20 years ago by then husband-and-wife team Miriam Rangel and Henry Assad. Ten years later, the couple split up with Rangel keeping the café and Assad co-launching what is now the 13 store Happy Goat chain, Rangel will still own the location and keep the Mexican cuisine menu.

▪️Ottawa Tourism continues to prove that they support the the viability of the local tourism industry with this list of cocktail spots by neighbourhood.

▪️This is not quite food or drink, but Magic Mush, Ottawa’s third psilocybin dispensary, has opened on Bank Street. Magic Mush is retailing dried mushrooms, microdose capsules, gummies and chocolate bars containing the chemical compound found in magic mushrooms. Is selling psiocybin which grows naturally on the ground  legal? No. Is selling psiocybin legal through some technical loophole? Also, no. Groovy.


Deals of the day

1️⃣ BKind has rebranded, and they’ve got to unload products with the old labels. Enter the Nail Polish Mystery Box, with its six bottles bearing the old branding. A $96 value, the box is only $25. You won’t know what you’re getting, so this deal is perfect for those that love a surprise.

2️⃣ Save 10% when you purchase Perth Brewery’s 12 Beers of Christmas before Friday. Available in store and online, and you don’t need a code. 

 

Darren is flying to Vancouver tomorrow on a $99 Flair Air flight, which means tomorrow's ottawan may be somewhat abbreviated. Regular service will return Friday, assuming the plane lands at the right airport.  – Martha and Darren


✈️ Is there something that Ottawa should know about? Email to us at hello@theottawan.com. We read every single comment.

STATS

Weather: 🌞 Sunny. High of -5°, low of -10°. There is a snowstorm alert for tomorrow evening, with 10 to 25 cm of snow expected.

Number:  $75,000. The amount that the Ottawa Network for Education has recieved in donations to provide 75,000 meals to kids in Ottawa schools. [CityNews]

Ottawan of the Day: Tree Abraham. Abraham has written a new book, Cyclettesa meditation on ‘life experiences and philosophy from the perspective of one who has spent considerable time riding’. [Waterloo Record]

Quote: ‘[They are] sort of tours of duty and not everyone wants to be on this next tour’ – Harley Finkelstein, president of local mom and pop business Shopify, on four top c-level suite executives leaving the company. [Ottawa Business Journal]

🎄It's too late to order a Historic Logo t-shirt for Christmas delivery

Don't get us wrong – we'll still take the order but there is no guarantee that it will arrive before Christmas. Please don't order one for Christmas delivery.

But it would make a great gift to ring in the New Year, after the fact.

Historic Logo t-shirts
Ottawan T-shirt

Support the ottawan

Buy one of our Ottawa Historic Logo t-shirts or an ottawan logo t-shirt (which is sure to be historic one day).

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WHAT OTTAWA IS TALKING ABOUT
 

▪️The Ottawa Police says it had no choice except to allow thousands of trucks to occupy downtown Ottawa. In newly published documents by the Emergency Act Inquiry, former Chief Peter Sloly and the Police Service had planned for 3,000 trucks to enter downtown. They felt not allowing thousands of trucks to park in the middle of the streets would cause worse problems. In a closing submission, the City of Ottawa said it relied on the Ottawa Police’s expertise. [CBC]

+ Related After relevations this week that the Ottawa Police Service cut off email access to prevent leaks to the Convoy by supportive officers on leave, Kitchissippi resident Mayor Mark Sutcliffe says he believes the Police will be able to rebuild trust. The Ottawa Police are refusing to say how many investigations into officer leaks have occured.

+ Related A court has ruled that the Trucker convoy organizers cannot use funds from donations under escrow in their defence against a proposed class action by downtown residents. About $6 million in donations has been frozen.

▪️Porter Airlines will start flying to Boston, New York-Newark, and Québec City from Ottawa next March. We previously mentioned that Porter would also start flying to Thunder Bay at the same time. These flights will be using the young urban creative-friendly Dash-8s with artisinal propellers. [Newswire]

▪️Ottawa Citizen reporter Blair Crawford and Edmonton Journal columnist Keith Gerein discuss the O Train inquiry report in a National Post podcast. [National Post] [Podcast]

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