ottawa foodies

I was at The Village Quire (stationery store) on Richmond the other day, was talking with the owner of the store. Her landlord is trying to sell the building for more than it's worth, primarily because it's Westboro. Anyway, one of the interested buyers was Fratelli's, even though they have their restaurant just a few doors down, and their current building is a fair bit larger.

We got talking about local vendors that have slowly developed into commercial chains and which ones have managed this feat with grace and which ones aren't doing so hot.

Fratelli is sort of right on the border with me--they maintained a good, local feel in my mind until they moved out to Kanata and then Barrhaven.

Other ones that come to mind are The Works, Bridgehead and the Nicastro family's slew of stores (even if they're all owned by different cousins, etc.)

Can anyone think of any others? Or others that are nearing this sort of concentration level (ie. Kettleman's)

Broadyway Bar and Grill? Last I heard there are about 10 of these around... Royal Oak... lost count a while ago... Gabriel's... must be nearly 20 or 30...

That's all I can think of off the top of my head.

if the owners are local and the shops are local, i have no problem with their success and their expansion within the ottawa/ottawa valley area. i don't punish someone for having a successful venture. it is unfortunate when rapid growth affects the product, or forces the price of the product up.

is pascal's ice cream less local as the owner rapidly expands in stores around ottawa? at this point she is mass producing her product to meet the demand, but she is still local in my mind.

white mountain ice cream was in ottawa, then they expanded to kingston and westport. i don't think of them as commercial, but i also don't think of them as local, more eastern ontario.

what are you defining as a commercial chain? having more than a few locations? this seems unfair to me.

pascale's is still small-scale to me, because she still makes her ice cream on-site, and does small scale batches. she's not expanding in stores, she just reselling her product.

i don't judge someone for having a successful venture either, until that level of success (measured by a variety of different things, not limited by the number of locations) affects the product and/or service that they first set out to deliver in a negative way.

a commercial chain can still be successful, for example bridgehead. they have expanded to meet customer needs, but have not compromised their product in the process. on the other hand, fratelli's is now up to 5 locations and advertises on a mass scale and does large sponsorships. same with gabriels to a large extent. i was merely questioning whether ottawa foodies have noticed a decline in product or service of places that are moving to a larger scale system. judging by some of the recent comments about fratelli's and the works, i would say that this is a reasonable observation.

IMO, expanding restaurants is very hard. If you are thinking about chain restaurants as opposed to restaurants operating under the same flag then things become even more difficult. In chain restaurants, like a Fratelli's, then people are expecting the same thing at different restaurants. They want the same Marsala sauce if they are on Bank St. or if they are in Kanata. This would mean that lots of training would have to be involved. Before any expansion could happen, the chef would have to be trained at the original restaurant and work until he could duplicate exactly what was expected. This has not happened. So what has happened in a lot of these cases, is there has been a dilutio of knowledge and talent. I do not believe that the Fratelli cooks have been trained in the kitchens of Mama Fratelli. This is not meant to be an attack at the Fratelli's but they happen to be the beating horse of the week.

On the other hand, if we look at Beckta and Play, then we can see things happening a little differently. You don't get the same food at both restaurants. Thus, you aren't expecting the same and variations in dishes that may be similar are then results of chef differences rather than lack of training.

Just my 2 cents.

"Royal Oak... lost count a while ago"

I remember when they used to serve peas with their fish and chips. :(

And along those lines, how can a pub be considered local when it doesn't even serve any local beer? I'm looking at you Heart & Crown!!

LWB - If one is "franchising" then one is definately grown... although there are several examples of those here in Ottawa (who stay in Ottawa) that have done that successfully:

Nicastros, Heart & Crown, The Royal Oak, The Works, Broadway Bar & Grill, Johnny Canucks, Fratelli's, Bridgehead, Gabriels, Milanos, etc.

Sadly, franchising and maintaining enough "control" so that product is virtually the same across the board is extremely difficult.

I still think that two that have got the forumula right are:

Beavertails (Ottawa) and Farm Boy (Cornwall) which in both case their Management is able to maintain Quality Control and Consistency pretty much wherever they set up.

I might be out of date, but I don't believe that Bridgehead does any franchising. I believe all the stores are corporately owned.

Not out of date, Inkling. I think F&T was trying to compile a list of companies that she thinks has transitioned well into mass production.

I think that BH has gotten the formula right for expansion, but that they need be careful about expanding too much in too small a space.

I also don't see Nicastro's as being commercial, because they're all individually owned (except Merivale and...is it Bank? I can never remember...two of the four are connected)

The Works, I think, has not done a good job at expanding b/c their product/service have deteriorated. Same goes for the Oak.

It's not to say I don't wish them well in their success or that I won't eat there, but that I realize that this comes with the territory

LWB - You were spot on... I of course was using the term "franchising" loosely... indeed some have gone that specific route, while others have just found investors to help in their expansion / growth. Although even then sometimes things don't always work out as hoped, with the "original" being much better than the "new ones" (although at least in one case, I know the opposite to be true...).

Once a company gets to expanding into 3 or 4 or more locations, they definitely come more commercial and less local in my mind... however, I do try to support them over a similar product provided just down the street (say Bridgehead vs Starbucks OR Gabriels / Milanos vs Pizza Pizza / Dominos) because I ultimately believe that they started out local, so they belong to the community (call it community pride on my part).

Local heroes comes to mind. I have only been at the kanata and Stittsville locations recently and the food was ok each time--but nothing i wrote about! Remember 10 years ago...Having said that, my son and his soccer team still like the wings at Local Heroes Stittsville. (could it be that they know the waiters...)

With regards to Fratelli in Kanata, unless you wish to dine at a big box place it is one of the few options (if you don't want asian or fried!) I often dine there at lunch; dinner is crazy but the food is almost always good and the service is friendly.

WC - I totally forgot about Local Heroes... they used to be one of those "go to" spots about 10 years ago, one doesn't hear about them as much anymore... wonder why. I assume they still have those Giant Chicken Wings?

As for Fratelli's I find the food good, just that it seems to me anyways, that all their locations have noise issues. Because of that, I now visit them mid-week rather than on the weekends, when you otherwise find yourself shouting across the table to your companions.