Ottawa Foodies

Love the space. Attended a party there & had a blast.

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Then came the cheese course! I didn't even know there was such a thing as a cheese course but I love all imaginable types of cheese so I was very anxious as this was being served. The cheese was la grand chouffe from Belgium and served with Bruce's walnut cranberry bread and housemade mustard fruits. Stephen gave us the story on the cheese - he said that he'd had it some time ago and it was rather unremarkable. But when he went to The Cheese Boutique they'd had some in their affinage (cheese cellar) which they'd aged an extra 6 months. Stephen says it made a world of difference, and indeed what we were served was a pretty spectacular "stinky cheese" that was even quite palatable amongst those who did not normally like "stinky cheese". I really was in heaven!

By the time dessert rolled around I was full. Very, very full. But Bruce just had to taunt me with an inspirational gingerbread baked with beer in the batter, and served with a rye caramel and whipped cream. Incredible! However, I very reluctantly only managed to find room for about 3/4 before my stomach started to revolt just from sheer overstuffing. My mouth kept telling me "oh my gawd this is good - get more in there" but my stomach just kept saying "I'm going to explode! I'm going to explode!". In the end my stomach won.

Each course was paired with a specific beer by Stephen, and so the evening was spent sipping fine beer and enjoying Bruce Wood's inspirational creations!

As mentioned, I have a few concerns with the space at The Urban Element - but all-in-all it was a great evening and I'd love to go back again sometime. Chef Bruce Wood is a genius and I'd recommend you try his creations any chance you get!

I attended for Stephen Beaumont's event which was a 5 course meal with a different beer paired to each course.

The space at the Urban Element is pretty impressive. They had about 2/3 of the main floor of the old firehall. You enter into a long (50-70 foot), narrow (20-30 foot) room that is sparsely decorated in what I will probably incorrectly call 'neo-industrial' (dammit Jim, I'm a brewer, not an interior decorator!). The walls show off the old brick of which the firehall was built, and the floors are plain concrete.

As you get to the end of the long, narrow space you see that the room opens up into a much wider space which is the kitchen (shown). It is huge, and modern, and shiny! I have kitchen envy! The kitchen is the rear of the firehall and perhaps 30 x 50 feet. In the center is a countertop which forms a sqaure that traces the perimeter of the kitchen space, leaving ample room outside the counter to walk around it. The outside is also lined with bar stools for people to sit along the perimeter of the counter. Inside the square is a circa 15' x 20' space for the chefs.

The first thing I noticed when we were invited to take our seats was how tightly squeezed together they were. The table was long - their website says 20 feet - but still only took up some 2/3 of the long room so they could have easily lengthened it to give us more room. It sat 20 people with one at each end, so that tells me each person had just shy of 2'3" of space. At $110 a head I don't expect to be packed in like a sardine, especially when they clearly had the space to do it differently. The next thing I noticed was that the washroom door exited off this room about in the middle of the long table - a pretty major faux-pas in my opinion. Washroom doors should never exit off a main dining room like that. Ever. I have a buddy who is an architect who confirmed this for me. I am certain they could have done this differently.

But in general the space was extremely well layed out and decorated, and it made for a pleasant dining experience.

The meal itself was 5 course. Stephen explained beforehand that he and chef Bruce Wood had put the menu together over the telephone, in about 45 minutes of haggling back and forth. And as soon as the food starting coming to the table any concerns I had about the table or the space in general quickly vanished!

We started with bread and a simple pate as an appetizer. I was pretty hungry by this point from a long day, and it was an exceptionally tasty way to satiate my appetite. It did not take long for most people to gobble down their pate, and so soon came the 2nd course : Roasted squash soup. The squash was roasted with thyme, smoked paprika, garlic and seas salt. Finished with leeks, onions and chicken stock it was garnished with spiced pumpkin seeds. The spicing was fairly subtle here so you could still really taste the squash - which I happen to love. I wouldn't have it any other way.

Then we moved on to the main course - bison flank steak sauced with pearl onions, prunes, aged balsamic and Kozlik's triple crunch mustard. The sauce was also made with the same Corporal punishment beer from the Scotch Irish brewing company that was paired with this course. It was served with german spaetzle and sweet and sour red cabbage. Of course any meal served with spaetzle and red cabbage is automatically a huge hit for me as long as the spaetzle are done right - and Bruce's were as good or better than anything I've ever had in Germany. Each diner got a generous 4 or 5 strips of bison served over the spaetzle and cabbage. As Bruce noted the cut was actually somewhat tough which is why it needed to marinate overnight. It was still ever-so-slightly tough when served - I'd have preferred it a bit less so - but just the same this was absolutely to die for! I was savouring every mouthful