Girl About O-Town

Last night, this girlaboutOtown had the privilege of eating out, and these days this isn’t something I take for granted.

A few months back, the fella received a generous gift certificate for some fine dining at the Fraser Cafe, thanks to my bro and his lovely wife.  Because we’ve been so busy with business-related things, we just hadn’t made the time to make a reservation until yesterday.  Celebrating nothing in particular and everything we’ve experienced this past while, we headed out for a mid-winter culinary indulgence.

I do confess that foolishly, I forgot my camera, so there is no photographic evidence of the feast, but it was a very memorable meal none the less.

Beginning with a selection of cheese and charcuterie, we dove right in and devoured a series of divine Canadian cheese including Ciel de Charlevoix, PEI clothbound cheddar and Cape Vesey from the Fifth Town Artisan Cheese Co. in nearby Prince Edward County. 

Following these delicious prize winning cheeses (and our conclusion that loving cheese could quite conceivably be our new hobby), our much anticipated main dishes arrived at the table.

It was Braised Lamb and Beef Stew for the fella, complete with wide noodles and seasonal vegetables, and the Kitchen’s Choice for me.  “It’s melting in my mouth,” he said after his first bite, while I was slowly savouring the flavours of my mystery dish revealed.  The Roasted Duck on Mushroom Risotto was scrumptious and wonderful, and assembled with flare.  I learned a lot later from Chef Ross of the Fraser brothers two, who was kind enough to stop by and share a few secrets about what was involved in the evening’s prime plate.  In addition to a splash of cranberry sauce on the side, my risotto had been traced with a wee bit of truffle oil and the duck finished off to perfection with a soft-handed shake of sherry vinegar and honey.  Yum.

When we were done our dinners, the fella was “too full” for more and turned down desert, but this girlaboutOtown just could not resist.  Disappointed I wasn’t going to be able to try two sets of sweet treats, I opted for the Warm Doughnut with Caramel Apple Sauce over the Baked Brownie with Peanuts.  Imagine my delight when small tastes of both appeared, each served with ice cream beside!  Imagine also (if you can) my surprise when the fella somehow found his fork again…

Having not visited the Fraser Cafe in it’s new location, this girlaboutOtown had not yet experienced it’s expansion from somewhere kind of quaint but pretty great to real live restaurant heaven.  This dining destination has indeed stepped it up, with a sophisticated yet welcoming interior, a much bigger kitchen and touches of true personality peppered throughout.  The service we received was superb, and  parking wasn’t even a problem!

In the end, the fella and I found ourselves quite sufficiently sophonsified.  Anymore would have been superfluous to our capacity…

Fraser brothers photo by Darren Brown, via Ottawa At Home

Today, I was feeling a bit run down and kind of lazy about taking on anything overly ambitious, so I thought it might be a good day to finally finish updating my blogroll.  

For those of you who know, blogroll maintenance isn’t exactly rocket science, but it can take considerable time.  This is particularly true for me, since I so often get distracted by the content, but with tea in hand and some tunes in the background, I’m pleased to report that I did get right down to it. 

Long overdue for an overhaul, my All About O-Town section once again reflects what this girlaboutOtown is really reading!

Stay tuned for additions to the other sections soon, but in the meantime, here are a few Ottawa blogs well worth highlighting…

Coffee with Julie – Julie is an entrepreneur, I’ve recently become an entrepreneur.  Julie is a mom, I’m a mom.  Julie is 38, I’m 38.  Julie has a quirky seven year old daughter, I have a quirky seven year old daughter.  Julie writes an insightful, funny, personally reflective blog, I …read it!  You get the picture!

spacingottawa – This edgy “urban living” blog burst onto the Ottawa scene this past fall, but was well established in other big Canadian cities such as Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver.  Tackling the issues like transit, urban design and neighbourhood planning that affect us all, spacingottawa draws contributions from several local bloggers and adds one more voice to an increasingly important conversation about Ottawa’s future growth and development.

MediaStyle – Now that I’ve left the day-to-day cut and thrust of Ottawa’s gridlocked government scene behind, I can enjoy the progressive punditry of professional communicator Ian Capstick with a much healthier perspective.  Ian is Ottawa’s hardest working political blogger, and has rightfully been recognized as such.  He appears regularly on TV and radio as a commentator, and recently won a Canadian Blog Award in the Professional Life category.  This is one great way for me to get the real scoop and stay in the loop!

As for all of you foodies out there, if you haven’t already come across After the Harvest, then you are most definitely missing out.  Not only is Heather a fanatic food lover, she’s a thoughtful writer with an environmentally sensitive slant.  Since summer, this bold blogger has sought out some of Ottawa’s best chefs to profile, wandered through local gardens and served up a full selection of literary snacks.

Lastly, but not at all least, the cast of hilarious but anonymous characters writing An Equal Opportunity Kitchen have been amusing their audience since 2007.  I recently happened upon this crew, and am I ever glad I did.  Not only am I afforded many a culinary learning opportunity, I’m also provided hysterical insight into the interwoven lives of a fully functioning food-centred family! 

Enjoy…