Ottawa Foodies

The first course was exotic local mushrooms wrapped in wholewheat phyllo with a porcini wine reduction and truffle oil. Paired with a Modavi Coastal Pinot Noir from California. I'd never tried wholewheat phyllo before and was pleasantly surprised. Overall, the dish was very nice. I'm not keen on Mondavi wines, but my companions quite liked it.

Next was a salad -- greens with heirloom rainbow radishes, smoked tempeh bacon, spiced croutond and a garlic scape dressing. Paired with a Rabl "Vinum Optimal" Gruner Veltliner 2006 from Austria. None of us had tried an Austrian wine before so it was great to get exposed to a whole new country's vinescape.

Moving on, we had hand-cut agnolotti filled with mizuna pesto in an alfresco tomato sauce with seasonal local vegetables. Paired with Ruffino Chianti Classico RSV Ducale 2005 from Italy and Hope "Ripper" Shiraz 2005 from Australia. The agnolotti was lovely but the local vegetables were missing something...even just an extra squeeze of lemon or clove of garlic might have done the trick. The Chianti didn't do much for us, but the Shiraz was quite nice.

And lastly...the chocolate mousse torte with berry-orange coulis, vanilla cream and strawberries. Paired with Odysseus Banyuls Grand Cru 1996 from France. The torte was an absolute triumph, which I realize is a highly pretentious way of saying that we loved it. But it was such a creative and yummy dish, and one I'd love to be able to spring on the friends who mocked us (ever-so-gently, of course) for signing up for a gourmet vegan dinner in the first place.

Chef Caroline came out afterwards to talk about
the dishes and answer any questions. Her passion was clearly evident, and she was very generous with tips about where to get some of the ingredients she used. Was also really great that she was in no way "precious" about food but rather spoke in a really down-to-earth way.

All in all, a great experience and all of us said that we'd go again. The next dinners are on Sept 27, October 18, November 29 and December 20. You can check out the themes for these gourmet vegan dinners at the ZenKitchen website: www.zenkitchen.ca

A couple of friends and I went to the gourmet dinner at ZenKitchen on June 28. ZenKitchen has been written about here before -- for those who don't know, the company is owned by chef Caroline Ishii and focuses on vegan dishes made with organic and locally-sourced ingredients, as much as possible. The friends I was with are vegetarian and were delighted at the prospect of a dinner where they wouldn't have to question what went into everything...no worries about veggie food made with chicken broth here. I'm not a veggie, but I try to be thoughtful about what I consume so was pretty happy to check this out myself.

Before I get into the course-by-course account, I'd just say that I would definitely recommend ZenKitchen as a fun night out. We paid $45 for the dinner, plus $25 for the optional wine pairing -- superb value. Their prices are going up slightly in the Fall, but will still be more than worth it. Was also really fun to get a peek inside the Chelsea Club.

Subtlety seemed to be the overall flavour theme of the meal. Definitely a meal where the original taste of the ingredients was allowed to come through. To be really honest, every so often I might have wanted a stronger kick of something, anything -- maybe being raised South Asian has burned off the ability of my taste buds to appreciate more gentle flavours. But my companions thoroughly enjoyed their meals, and we all thought that this was a meal that set up the dessert, a chocolate mousse torte, beautifully. Now THAT was incredibly tasty, and the lightness of the preceding courses allowed one to do full justice to the dessert.

The wine pairing was...fun, but in some ways felt less like a "pairing" than a simultaneous wine tasting. Didn't necessarily feel like the wines and the food did much to enhance each other, but neither did they take away from one another. And the sommelier, Joe Hatz, was very keen to take questions and discuss the wines so added a really lovely component to the experience that way.

One last overall observation -- depending on the size of your party, you could be placed at a communal dining table. Which makes this a great event for people who are new to and/or alone in Ottawa to get out and meet people. I moved here 3 years ago and found Ottawa a tough town to crack at first. People are friendly but not necessarily welcoming. Esp for people coming from the west (or the east, I guess), Ottawa can feel very socially conservative. I'd recommend ZenKitchen as a great social foray for newbies.

So to begin...we had assorted hors d'oevres, followed by "Mediterranean Amuse" (olives, pickles, fresh bread, a carrot dip added at the last moment after some improvisation), paired with a Segura Viudas Brut NV from Spain. Two of us are keen on sparkling wine and enjoyed our glasses, but the other isn't and says this didn't necessarily convert her. Lovely way to start the meal.

Hors d'oeuvres: Hot-smoked shoyu-maple almonds

Sorry if this is inappropriate, but I don't know how to add more than one photo per post!

This is Creamy Wild Mushroom Soup.

The ZenKitchen dinners, being held at the Chelsea Club, are a vegan's dream. The chef, Caroline Ishii, focuses on local, organic foods to create amazing dishes. My meat-eating partner loves these events as the food is so heavenly and creative.

My only complaint is that the Chelsea Club's dining area is a bit cramped: the waiting staff seem to have a difficult time navigating between the tables to serve the courses.

If you feel like a food adventure, visit the ZenKitchen website and sign up for an evening.