HELLO OTTAWA

Weather: ?️ Clearing. High of 18°, low of 5°

Number: 10. The number of businesses fined for COVID-19 violations over the Easter weekend, including a barber and someone who didn't wear a mask in Costco. [Ottawa Citizen]

Ottawan of the Day: Éric Barrette. Barrette has created a new podcast – Assis Devant. The French language podcast looks at unusual Ottawa and Eastern Ontario history. [Le Droit] [Podcast]

Quote: “Ottawa's a good place for vintage clothing because it's a market still largely untapped. There's still a lot of great pieces in a lot of closets” – Carol Kelly, co-owner of Bellwethers Vintage. [CityNews]

Wednesday Food + Drink Roundup

After a year, we’re all pretty adept at finding fun things to do at home during lockdown. Here’s just a sampling of food and drink to enjoy safely, and when you order you're helping Ottawa's beleaguered food and drink businesses to keep going. 

▪️ Fun for those who like a dram: The 56 Years of Highland Park flight from Deacon Brodies pub features a winning lineup of the distiller’s best, ranging from 10 to 18 year-aged whisky. $70. Email [email protected] to order and to arrange pickup.

▪️ Our idea of self care includes a nice cup of tea shortly after lunch, so of course our ears pricked up at the sound of The Vanitea Room’s Afternoon Tea Box for 1. Imagine opening a box of goodies like jam and scones, bite-sized sweet and savoury treats, and tea. And a Mimosa. $65.20. Available for pickup only, from Wednesday to Sunday 11:00am to 3:00pm, and when you arrive, wish them a happy 5th anniversary!

▪️ Seasoned gardeners are deep into planning for the summer vegetable harvest, but the rest of us shouldn’t despair if we neglected to plant seeds indoors last month. Plantables.ca sells vegetable plants ($4 each) that will go directly into your garden once the risk of frost has passed. The site is used for fundraising by groups like Stonecrest Elementary School, who receive a percentage of your purchase. Use code SESCplants21 to help the school raise funds to improve their outdoor spaces.

▪️ We’re a day late in celebrating the USA’s National Caramel Popcorn Day, but PapaJack Popcorn doesn’t mind. They’ve put both the caramel (from $1.25) and chocolate caramel ($7 for 405g ) flavours on sale for for a limited time. Pickup or have it shipped.

▪️ Almanac Grain is milling their own flour at their Beacon Hill bakery. Their spelt is used in their baked goods – but you can also buy their Ottawa-milled flour online.

▪️ The Citizen has once again aligned their food reviews with ours, thank you very much Peter Hum. This week, they are looking at Portuguese, Filipino and Haitian bakeries. 

We'll see you tomorrow – Martha and Darren

?️ Is there something that Ottawa should know about? Email to us at [email protected] We read every single comment.

CORONAVIRUS UPDATE

? 2,621,839 doses have been administered in Ontario

Info from Vaccination tracker by Andrew Lam (@socialvizcanada)

? Pfizer, Moderna, and AstraZeneca vaccines delivery tracker
Federal Goverment database listing predicted future deliveries

? Public Health Reports:

COVID-19 NEWS

⭕ It’s assumed that Ontario will issue a stay-at-home order for tomorrow, closing all non-grocery and drug stores except for curbside pickup [CBC]

⭕ Wouldn't it make more sense to vaccinate essential workers first, then vaccinate by age? asks expert [Maclean’s]

⭕ COVID-19 variants are only weeks from being the majority of cases in Ottawa [CBC]

⭕ The Toronto public health officer has used their authority to close all Toronto schools [CTV]

⭕ Toronto's Hospital for Sick Children has opened its intensive care unit to adults to help the city cope with increasing COVID-19 needs [Toronto.com]

⭕ Queensway Carleton hospital cancels non-urgest surgeries due to rise in cases [CityNews]

 ? The Canada COVID Alert App

Be alerted if you have come in contact with someone who has tested positive for COVID-19. 

? How It Works       [Apple App Store]      [Google Play Store]

#WHAT OTTAWA IS TALKING ABOUT

▪️ Spartan Bioscience declares insolvency, looking for buyer. The Nepean firm had launched a quick-test COVID-19 system last year, had to withdraw it from the market, then re-released it but has now run out of money. The company is laying off 60 employees, 70 per cent of the total. [Ottawa Citizen]

▪️ Citywide ban on fires begins today. The vegetation is too dry, says Ottawa Fire Services, banning camp fires, brush pile burning, and agricultural fires. The ban may be lifted when the new growth starts. BBQs are not included in the ban. [Ottawa Citizen]

▪️ Ottawa restauranteurs irked by patio ban. They notice that people can gather in parks and other public spaces legally but not at restaurants where staff actually monitor safety. [Ottawa Citizen]

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?️ Email [email protected] We read every single comment.