Ottawa Foodies

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I had the pleasure of speaking with the co-owner of PGI (Joe Calabro) today after sampling their Cannoli, and his enthusiasm for his shop and its products is contagious, so forgive me if I gush a little.

Everything (excepting a shelf of good local jams and chocolates) is made in-house -- gelato, pastries, and chocolates! PGI was the very first place in Ottawa to sell Gelato back in 1979, and they still make it themselves. I found the hazelnut gelato to be particularly awesome and I'll be back for more.

Joe, who is an award-winning pasty chef and chocolatier, is interested in hosting cooking classes for things like chocolate making. Something to watch for.

It is truly great to see food establishments with owners as involved and proud as this one! They are the gems that make Ottawa such a playground for foodies.

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Owners vow to rebuild after devastating fire :-(

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I tried the florentine cookie. Not a real florentine, in my oppinion, and a bit dissapointing. Florentine's should be thin, lacy, caramalized sugar with nuts and chocolate and very little flour. They should be a bit toothsome to start and have a nice crisp at the end. These were about a half-inch thick, which made it 1) way too rich 2) very hard to chew.

I will come back to try the connoli, however, since they're mader to order and that's pretty much my number 1 requirement.

The girl at the counter was very helpful, and happy to explain to me how they make their cannoli.

i really wanted to like this place.

i try to support preston st. businesses as often as i can during the perpetual construction, but sometimes it just gets too difficult. for example,
(we) had an americano + espresso con panna, while i had to instruct the barista what "con panna" means; this was after a 20min wait between the orders because she got immersed in someone else's ticket before finishing mine.

i think that particular lady might not be around anymore, as i felt from others around me the place really suffered that day.

the breakfasts (they serve food!) are rather overpriced for what they are (greasy diner-style eggs, bacon, toast, potato). the arancini was a sad texture (microwaved?).

the desserts i haven't had yet, perhaps they are better (or not, judging from below). but there's alot of better places in the area to spend my money at.

I tried their mini pastries twice. When I first tried their cakes (mini ones), I found them too sweet. The second time, my son's friend brought half dozen of mini pastries for me to try out. I like the chocolate ones (very rich) and the fruit tarts. The cheese cakes are too sweet for my taste.

Tried a slice of white layer cake and a hazelnut macaroon at this very busy coffee/pastry shop. The cake was just sweet and very mild, but the hazelnut macaroon was really delicious, and at $0.85 per, I was very tempted to get a half dozen to go on the way out! ;-)

I'm happy to report that my complaint about crunchiness from almost two years ago is no longer applicable! The pastry is now more more yielding and flaky (but still harder than a pie crust). For my taste it is perfect.

The filling is simultaneously light and rich, with the nicely tangy but round-flavoured ricotta and lemon filling making it like cheesecake but better!

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I enjoyed a Cannolo here with an espresso this afternoon. The Cannoli are filled on demand, meaning the pastry is nice and crisp when you get it, although I found it to be more crunchy than delicate. The filling was quite nice -- a little more dense than I recall having in Boston, but with a pleasant ricotta flavour.

All in all, very good. $2.75 for the large specimen shown here. I can't compare it to other Ottawa Cannoli, but I can say that this one is good enough to fullfil a hankering!

It being the first time I've tried macaroons, I can't comment on how authentic they are. I sampled the white chocolate, pistachio, caramel, chocolate, and pumpkin spice flavors.

Incredibly tasty (although the caramel was not to my liking, the filling was almost as thick as the batter) with rich creamy filling and crispy exterior. A bit stale, but we got there later in the day and there were only a few remaining. I can only imagine how they'd taste fresh!

We also picked up a fruit tart and a mini cake, which will be sampled after supper. If they are half as tasty as they look, they'll be incredible.

Edit: I've gone back a few times, and I have to say, their pumpkin spice macaroons are definitely their best!

I liked the macarons here. They had an airy texture and perfect tender ganache inside.

I ordered white chocolate, pistachio, banana, orange, strawberry, blueberry and mocha. My favourites were the white chocolate and strawberry.

i'm sadly disappointed!

i had the chocolate and pistachio;
the ratio of biscuit to filling was rather low, the batter was lumpy, and the texture was -very- chewy.

the pistachio had slightly more crisp, but i think only because of an air pocket. less chewy.

i don't mean to be a macaron snob, but it's just all wrong.

1.45$ + tax, each