ottawa foodies

See article: eater.com

Discuss.

I don't normally care what the place looks like inside, as long as I'm comfortable... so I'll agree with the no-stools comment (unless you're sitting at a bar), because ridiculously high tables for two are... ridiculous (Allium used to have them)!

Chimi, I think that restauranteurs need to take know of what makes one "comfortable". Atelier is one of the most comfortable restaurants that I've ever been to...I think it is partly because they're very minimalist in their decor and their chairs are comfortable, but have a structure to them.

I disagree that chalkboard menus need to go, especially for the specials. I will grant you that the one at Carmen's Verandah s particularly hard to read, but at other restaurants, the chalkboard specials menu is a nice touch.

I like water and soft drinks in mason jars. But I might be alone in that.

i hate stools! moonroom is super uncomfortable because of their mile high tables and stools. no where to put your dangling feets!

mason jars - i like. i also drink fast enough my drinks don't get too warm ;)
chalk board menus - dislike. unless they are done well. again a moonroom fail, everything is crammed on and sloppily written. at least take the board down and write clearly on it. irene's chalkboard is often really good.

mirrors - i find a huge distraction if i am facing one.

Mason jars for water and soft drinks are great.

Mason jars for wine is not my kind of thing: if I wanted a gulpable wine out of a tumbler I'd probably be alone in my apartment crying, not out on the town. Luckily I've never run into this in Ottawa.

I got rid of all my drinking glasses at home and replaced them with mason jars. Tougher and can handle heat, and I find they look cool.

I think what bugs me the most is when a place is ALL about design and the food is sort of second or third on the restaurants priority. I like a place that is comfortable and i don't feel like I'm packed in like a sardine. Candles, still romantic. Mirrors, cheesy.

the best kind of design is the one that you aren't overly sensitive to amd don't notice whether its good or bad...everything flows and blends in...sounds simple, try it!

Chopper. I'm glad I'm not the only one hoarding mason jars. Though, I need to be better at telling my husband that no, this is not silly.

LWB are you kidding me? they are the best!

My husband has expensive taste about glasses, come to think of it. (We have crystal highball glasses that were a wedding gift...his idea) I might just hoard them in the pantry, unsuspectingly.

;-)

"Mason jars for wine is not my kind of thing: if I wanted a gulpable wine out of a tumbler I'd probably be alone in my apartment crying, not out on the town."

Momomoto, good one, very funny!

Here's what really needs to go: grumpy random lists of petty pet peeves.

brb, popping popcorn

Elaborate plastic mouldings annoy me. Oh, sorry. Too petty? OK, then I really hate those little pepper shakers whose holes are so small you have to screw off the cap to actually get a significant amount out of.

I wouldn't call design flaws pet peeves. I would say that these are things which effect our dining experience, the mason jars perhaps less than the chalkboard menus and stools.

This is more of a pet peeve then a design flaw. There are still many restaurants out there that bring that ridiculously big pepper mill to your table and grinds the pepper for you. Please! Give me my own friggin pepper mill! I am old enough to do it myself and I would like to control the amount and WHERE it goes on my plate! This practice annoys me to no end.

i'm with you poutine! my dad has always asked for control over the pepper mill, sometimes he will ask them to leave it behind. wait staff generally seem surprised by this. why aren't we allowed to have our own table top pepper mill? why do i have to scan the crowd to find the pepper person if i want a top up of pepper? does anyone like using that pre-ground stale (and questionable) pepper powder?

as for mason jars, i could never get on board with any group that demands specific cups for specific drinks. i've always been a lone ranger though ;)

i have to say i HATE the measuring cups the works uses. just try getting a toddler to understand how to drink from a measuring cup when they don't know how to use a straw yet. i have asked for a normal cup for my kid, but they just bring smaller size measuring cups.

At least they don't serve the wine in those, HFF.

I never thought about the pepper mill as anything more than an opportunity for my dad to ask, "is that a Peugeot?" It was a running joke in my family for years, everytime we went for dinner.

true, lwb. the thought of drinking wine out of a measuring cup makes me shudder, i guess that is how others feel about mason jars.

I have asked to move to a table rather than being seated at a stool and high table on many occasions. Some times this is met with attitude. I am 5 foot 1 inch tall and most of the time I can't even reach the support rungs. Dangling for more than 15 minutes can be very uncomfortable. On rare occasions I'll bear it and perch, with my ankles wrapped around one of the legs for support. For the most part I want to be able to relax and not have my limbs go numb. I have actually left restaurants because of the lack of a viable seating option.

Not a fan of the measuring cups but I'll deal.

Be it food trap or dust trap, I have a dislike of anything decor wise that is difficult to clean OR looks like it hasn't been. Skip the chatchkis go for clean both in line/aesthetic and actual cleanliness.

The black flaky crap in containers on the tables should go too. More often than not it looks like its been there for years. No smell, no flavour, just black flakes in a bottle taking up real estate on the table. I feel similarly to fake flowers on a table especially if they're dusty.