ottawa foodies

Hey all, sorry if this has been covered before but I was wondering if someone could list any fancy, expensive, special occasion type restaurants that have a decent selection of Vegetarian entrees? I'm looking for a nice restaurant to take my vegetarian girlfriend for our anniversary and it seems that most of the fancier places that you'd go to for special occasions have no more than one token veggie entree. Right now I'm leaning towards Mamma Teresas as I know the food is excellent and there will be at least a couple veggie pastas, but I'd welcome other suggestions as while the food is great the atmosphere is a bit conservative for my tastes.

zen kitchen is your best bet, though atelier will put together a vegetarian menu too.

I would second the recommendation for zen kitchen.

The food is absolutely lovely, as is the atmosphere - perfect for a nice meal out.

Another option is some fancy restaurants have a separate vegetarian menu, so that unless you ask for it it isn't obvious that there are any vegetarian dishes.

La Fougères in Chelsea (www.fougeres.ca) has a very nice vegetarian menu, separate from the main one. when I was there last year for my sister's birthday I ordered my appetizer (a very nice tomato soup) off it while having the duck for my main.

My memory is imperfect, but I vaguely remember Beckta's as having a separate vegetarian menu available on request - worth calling them and finding out.

I guess it depends on your definition of "Fancy" but whatever the local version of Satisfaction Feast is called (that is the name of the Halifax one, not the Ottawa one) would be a safe pick for me.

EDIT: Perfection-Satisfaction-Promise

And for the record I have never been to the Ottawa one :-)

I don't think many would classify PSP as fancy, though the food is good (at least, what I remember from my University days).

I'd second (or third) the Zen Kitchen & Atelier recommendations.

Definitely agree with Zen and Atelier, and if those don't work out, Napo usually has 2 or 3 apps and pastas (maybe mains too, I'm not sure) which are vegetarian. I would recommend calling them to confirm since they rely on seasonal ingredients.

You could also try Wellington Gastropub, their menu changes every day (for both lunch and dinner) but they always have one vegetarian entree (often salad, but very good ones!) and a main course. I go there for dinner often and love the food and atmosphere. There is usually always something veggie, often it's a risotto but they change it up every now and then and it's always delicious.

I've heard awesome things about Zen though, I really need to get there soon...

do it on the cheap and bring her to Govinda's

govinda's & perfection-satisfaction-promise are definitely not on the expensive or fancy scale.

if you want to get out of ottawa, go over to chelsea and try cafe soup'herbe
www.soupherbe.com/

it isn't fancy, but it is a nice drive out of ottawa and something a little different.

Fleur de sel in Gatineau has many vegetarian options (www.fleurdesel.ca), and also non-vegetarian options for you. Not really on my "special occasion" list, but its a very nice place, the food is good and it is quiet enough for a romantic meal.