ottawa foodies

I went into C.A. Paradis - Chef's Paradise last Saturday to find a 1M piping tip & bag...a duo I'd never used before.
I'm a low maintenance customer - I (usually) know what I need, find it on my own, and I just need staff there and ready to accept payment with as short a line as possible - thank you.

From previous visits though, I know this store has a knowledgeable and very helpful staff. It turns out there was a question as to what a 1M tip was exactly. I knew it was star-shaped but none of the many(!) they had were identified as such. A staff member asked if I needed assistance - she wasn't sure but discussed with other staff, they checked online and printed a photo out. I got some useful pointers and a quick demo on assembly.
It was very busy in the store and the service I received: superb.

They have a very wide selection of both the tips and the lined-canvas reusable bags. Total cost: about 9 bucks for the pair. Total time buttercream-icing the cake: about 6 minutes.
And just a heads-up - any cake anyone receives from me in the future will be covered with roses. :)

Idea: They should have sleepovers in the store for cooks like they do for kids with the dinosaurs at the Museum of Nature.

Knowledgeable staff, various items from mid to high end... (didn't know there could be 7 different types of french presses of the same brand!) have most of my basic cooking essentials from here.

Flyfish,
I will be going to Russell next week, so I can probably give you a few prices on things to compare to Paradis, Domus etc.

As far as basic info, they are on Preston, just up from Pub Italia. They serve restaurants mainly but cooking school students buy their stuff there too. Supposedly they don't sell to the general public but when I buy stuff there I've never had to prove where I work, I just give them the name to put on the bill, since we don't have an account there. They are not open weekends, and they close at 5, so that can be a hassle. They give a 5% discount on the bill and have a student discount also I believe. They have less of a selection for home cooks, but it's a good place to buy pastry brushes and bags, piping tips, offset spatulas, scrapers etc. I

I can't really give you much info on Jordash...I haven't been there in awhile and it's a little out of my way. They do have a website
www.jordash.com
I had a quick look through, some things seem pricey but there are some bargains too.

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Unfortunately, my trip to Russell got postponed last week when my wallet was stolen and I had to spend my time getting my bank/credit cards cancelled and replaced :(

Glad to be of service, Fresh Foodie!

Mousseline, can you provide info on Russell and Jordash?

Sometimes they have some amazing deals here, but in general, I like the prices at Russell better. C.A. Paradis does have a much bigger selection than Russell. Haven't been out to Jordash since they expanded their showroom (like 4 years ago) but they sell to the public. Anybody been there recently?

Thanks for mentioning the Riedel glasses in the description! We were in need of nice champagne glasses today and wifey was asking Blue Oasis and the Bay (who both carry Riedel) if they had them. Neither did, but thanks to your info we tried CA Paradis and were able to buy them. They're great! :-)

A foodie's paradise, they frequently have wonderful deals due to their special relationships with suppliers such as KitchenAid. I have spent a lot of money in this store in the past few years. It's usually quite busy but service is generally very good; the staff is knowledgeable (and multilingual). An excellent selection of top-end knives and professional-quality cookware and bakeware, they also specialize in stemware and wine paraphernalia. Parking can be a problem -- you can get blocked in with some of the spaces out front -- there is also a small parking lot in the back.