treqx

Excellent review! I am based in Ottawa and I also am a fan of both Beckta and the Gastropub. Hopefully the success of the Gastropub will lead to more casual eateries with great food (Ottawa could use a Pied de Cochon ). The wonderful bread you had at both places is from Art-is-In, which I just refer to as the bread genius, . If I am not mistaken, they are now setup in the basement of the Ottawa Bagel Shop, right next door to the Gastropub. That neighborhood is called Westboro and has a very nice selection of shops and restaurants. The Ottawa culinary scene still has a long way to go but these two places are hopefully inspiring a renewal... Next time you are in town, you might want to check out Aroma, just across the street from Beckta, they serve greek meze, similar concept to tapas. I also enjoyed Ambiente on Beechwood, young team doing the right things. Cheers, Michel

Hi Brian, I was recently posted in Quebec City for several months and it's a really wonderful city. Here are some of my favorites, all of them offer some form of tasting menu: Le St-Amour Le Saint-Amour is definitely one of the best restaurants in Quebec, they have both a "table d'hote" which I think is about 5 services at around $45 and a larger tasting menu of about 10 services that is $80. The wine list is very comprehensive and well presented with a map of each wine region they offer. The restaurant is located in the heart of the Old city. Laurie-Raphael Le Laurie-Raphael is Daniel Vezina's restaurant. He is well known in Quebec having published two cookbooks and appeared on many TV shows. He is very innovative and a master at featuring local ingredients. A tasting menu paired with wines runs around $100 if I remember well. The Laurier-Raphael is located near the old Port. Voodoo Grill The Voodoo Grill is a bit less formal than the above two places with a hipper crowd but the food is fantastic. You can get Chef Murray's tasting menu at $12.50 a plate. This menu is different in that you do not know in advance what you will get, it is left to the chef's inspiration, and you can trust him! I've had this menu several times and it's never let me down. The Voodoo Grill is located in the Chez Maurice complex which includes another restaurant and two bars. On the Grande Allee. 47eme Parallele (could not find a web site) The 47eme Parallele is another innovative restaurant that was not that well known. The recently moved to a larger location near le Grand Theatre, I have only been at the smaller location in Old Quebec. Every month a new region of the world is featured and a tasting menu insipired from that region/country can be had for $47. There are many other places but these were my favorites, I am drooling just thinking about these places! Enjoy your stay! Michel

Hi, I would agree on visiting the Niagara peninsula for the wineries, there are new ones every year and it's beautiful out there. Some of my favorite restaurants in that area (all pretty much high-end though): On the Twenty Hillebrand's Vineyard Café Mark Picone at Vineland Estates Winery For other info on the region, be sure to check The Wines of Ontario website I am heading there myself next week and I'm really looking forward to it If you have some time to swing by Toronto, there are tons of great restaurants, many covered in this forum. Enjoy! treqx

Life Network here in Canada has a similar show called Opening Soon that's been picked up by Food TV Canada. It's actually quite interesting... http://www.foodtv.ca/tv/shows/titledetails...title_55202.asp http://www.lifenetwork.com/tv/shows/show_d...p?titleID=55202 treqx