▪️Last year our giveaway of three Purdys Chocolatier Advent Calendars was our most popular of 2023. We’ll be repeating that excitement on Friday (November 8) when we launch our 2024 Purdys Advent Calendar giveaway. We’ll give away one each of the Holiday Reindeer, Braille, and Vegan Chocolate calendars. 

To enter, you must be a resident of Ottawa, Gatineau, or the Valley, as we like to hand deliver the calendars to the winners. 

This year, we’re holding one of the calendars back for OTTAWAN membersonly. So if you’re not a member and you want to increase your chances of winning one of these delicious calendars, here’s the link to join. Note: you don’t have to pay anything to join our membership, but if you would like to make a one-time, monthly, or annual donation to help us cover the costs of producing this newsletter we’ll be deeply grateful. 

Check our instagram reel on Friday to see the unboxing, and get ready to enter the giveaway in that day’s newsletter. Good luck!

▪️ There is a lot of eating action going on in the valley.

🍔 Ten restaurants are participating in the United Way’s Novemburger event wherein $2 from a specific burger on the menu will be donated to the agency. Taking part are: Fat Les’s on King (Brockville), Bridgeview Restaurant (Prescott), CedarValley Golf Course (Elizabethtown-Kitley), Karra’s Burgers & Fries (Brockville), Keystorm Pub (Brockville), Luna Pizzeria and Restaurant (Brockville), Manoll’s Fish & Chips (Brockville), Rapid Valley Restaurant (Lansdowne), Stoodleys (Elgin), and Tim’s Fish & Chips (Prescott).

🥤 The former Douglas Tavern has been transformed into a classic eatery, the Douglas Diner. The small town of Douglas is west of Renfrew.

▪️ Faces Magazine supposes that it has sorted Ottawa’s best brunches. To wit: The Soca Kitchen, Malti, Gezellig, and Cocotte Bistro. 

▪️ Covert Ottawa Guy has put a serious amount of work into his Best (and Worst) Chip-Trucks of Ottawa South. The nature of the business means the trucks don’t generally have websites – but Covert Ottawa Guy has provided helpful maps.

▪️ Ameya Charnalia at Eat the Strip decided to check out a strip mall that he had not visited before and discover Divisoria Market, a Filipino grocery store and eatery. Two take home stews, beef and pork, cost him $10.

▪️ In the Ottawa Citizen, Peter Hum dined at the city’s oldest Sri Lankan restaurant, Ceylonta. Says Hum, ‘If there’s a better, or even another, coconut sambol in Ottawa, I’ve yet to find it’.

In Apt 613’s Best Bites column, Hannah Manning and Kiersten Vuorimaki ate at La Bonita (‘my favourite is the quesabirria, a folded taco full of delicious meat and cheese that’s grilled to crispy perfection and served with a flavourful broth for dipping’), Schoolhouse Pizza (‘The pizza is thin, New York style crust, with perfect chewiness and minimal sauce’), and Corner Peach (‘The corn cacio e pepe was a delightfully creamy, cheesy, and sweet dish with a very generous serving of sweet corn’).

– The number of sick days taken by Public employees working for the Treasury Board between September 1 and September 30 this year.

- The longtime Canadian Press reporter has joined The Logic as a reporter in the Ottawa bureau. The Logic is a digital-only publication dedicated to covering the tech scene in Canada.

– Carleton University’s former director of basketball operations, Dave Smart, who is now the basketball coach at the University of the Pacific in Stockton, California.

▪️Over 560 hectares of swamp and marsh in rural southeast Ottawa are now protected as wetlands. The Algonquins of Ontario-owned land is near the proposed Tewin development, with which the Algonquins are also in a partnership.

▪️More closures will happen on the O Train as OC Transpo did not finish all the maintenance required. Various stations – and the entire line – have seen closures between September 19 and November 3. Line 1 will be closed between Tunney’s Pasture and Hurdman stations after 10 pm tomorrow. Line 1 will also be closed between Rideau and Blair stations all day Sunday.

▪️ The Flat Earth Society Orchestra, which celebrates 25 years in 2024, Brings a jazz playlist - with some surprises - to the NAC’s Fourth Stage. 

▪️ Canada Aviation and Space Museum has special exhibitions and activities in store for Remembrance Week (today through November 11; included with regular admission). Admission to the museum is free for active military personnel and veterans.  

▪️ If yesterday’s US election results have your head spinning, lose yourself in the nonsensical world of Escape from LA, courtesy of Ottawa Bad Movie Nights. Ottawa Public Library Main Branch. 

▪️Enjoy craft cocktails and live music at Jazz Nite with Elaine K Band. Queen St Fare. 

▪️U of Ottawa Obstetrics and Gynaecology Residents present the annual Karaoke fundraiser for HPV and Cervical Cancer charity and awareness. Rainbow Bistro. $20 in advance, $25 at the door. 

▪️Organizers suggest that Comedy Night at Eddy’s Diner is perfect for first dates. Get back to us on that one, okay love birds? $5 cash cover at the door. 

▪️ByTowne Cinema: Conclave, Warren Miller’s 75  

▪️Mayfair Theatre: The Outrun, Emilia Pérez, Alien: Romulus 

Gigs

▪️Bluegrass Wednesdays with Maple Hill. Red Bird

▪️The Prime Rib Big Band. Irene’s Pub

▪️The Goddamsels. LIVE on Elgin

▪️Open Mic. Atomic Rooster

▪️Open Mic. Pour Boy

▪️Taproom Trivia. Stray Dog Brewing

▪️The 8th annual Ottawa Canadian Film Festival starts tonight with screenings of seven short Canadian films at the ByTowne Cinema. Purchase tickets to single evenings or get a full festival pass, which also includes admittance to tomorrow night’s shorts and Saturday’s screening of the feature Stealing Vows for $60. 

🆓 Goethe Institut is relocating to Alliance Française premises, and there’s going to be a party. 

▪️Enjoy fine food from Executive Chef Tim Stock, cocktails, and the chance to support youth experiencing homelessness at Operation Come Home’s Evening on the Rideau event. $75 per person. 

▪️Settle in for craft beer and some laughs at the Comedy with Calabogie Brewing evening. 

▪️Ottawa Senators welcome (as if! - ed.) New York Islanders to Canadian Tire Centre. 

▪️ByTowne Cinema: Conclave, Ottawa Canadian Film Festival 

▪️Mayfair Theatre: Emilia Pérez, Megalopolis 

Gigs

▪️Will Cook Video Release Party. Overflow Brewing

▪️Al Wood. Irene’s Pub

▪️Comedy Night hosted by Radiant Health Studio. Rainbow Bistro

▪️Open Mic with Matthew Palmer. Stray Dog Brewing 

▪️Capable. House of TARG

▪️Comedy Night. Pour Boy

▪️Paige Warner. LIVE on Elgin

▪️ Visit 260 Fingers Exhibition and Sale at the Glebe Community Centre this weekend and get up close and personal with 26 of the finest ceramic artists to be found in Ontario and Québec. Tonight’s opening party runs 6:00 pm to 9:00 pm; tomorrow and Sunday you can visit from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm. 

▪️ Urban Legends Poetry Collective presents a poetry slam featuring Lucia de Luca, as well as an Open Mic. Pay What You Decide with a suggested donation of $10. Masks are required. 

▪️ View - and perhaps buy - pieces by artists from Ottawa, Montréal, Toronto, and beyond at Noir Art Festival, today through Sunday at Horticulture Building, Lansdowne Park. 

▪️ The Esencia Flamenca Canada tour makes a stop at the Shenkman Arts Centre on Friday November 8. This mesmerizing production was created by the Castro Romero siblings, recognized as some of the best flamenco dancers and choreographers in Spain. 

▪️ Road Trip: Locally made crafts, cocktails, and entertainment are on the menu at the Holiday Night Market in McNab/Braeside near Arnprior. 

▪️ The Craig Ferguson Pants on Fire gig at Algonquin Commons Theatre is nearly sold out but you can get tickets if you book fast. 

▪️ Likewise there’s just single seating remaining at Disney’s the Lion King tonight. 

▪️ Tonight’s Ottawa Canadian Film Festival screening of eight short films starts at 7:00 pm. 

▪️ ByTowne Cinema: Blitz, Anora, Ottawa Canadian Film Festival 2024 Day 2. 

▪️ Mayfair Theatre: The Outrun, The Piano Lesson, The Substance 

Gigs

▪️ Gin & Tonic. Heart & Crown Preston Street

▪️ Salem Trials. Club SAW

▪️ Trixter. The Brass Monkey

▪️ Video Premiere and ‘Nurture Nature’ Album Release party. Overflow Brewing Company

▪️ Jazz Night with the Ottawa Pocket Jazz Band. Lavender Grill

▪️ Table 9. Conspiracy Theory Brewing

▪️ Radican. Dominion Tavern

▪️ Sage Reynolds. Montgomery Scotch Lounge  

▪️ Recreated Designs on Somerset St. W has four new holiday craft workshops costing just $47 (plus tax), beginning this Saturday with Faux Marble, Metallic & Mercury Ornaments. 

▪️ Chamberfest’s upcoming concert features selected art songs as well as Robert Schumann’s song cycle Dichterliebe on Wednesday November 13. 

▪️ Paint a gorgeous picture while enjoying a cocktail and plant-based snacks at the Split Tree Cocktail Co’s Paint & Sip Sunday (December 1).