Helping out Vittoria Trattoria

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On Friday, April 12th, Vittoria Trattoria in the Byward Market was victim of a devastating fire.

Opened in 1996, this Ottawa institution has branched out to two more locations, Riverside Drive and on Richmond Road.

Partners Domenic Santaguida, Stacey Santaguida and Harjeet Singh plan on rebuilding the Byward Market location. That is good news.

However, it is small comfort for over 50 employees who are now without work for the immediate future.The owners are thinking about opening “pop up” locations in the ByWard Market, renting space here and there to serve their delicious italian fare.

This could help provide some work for the VT staff during the rebuilding, which is optimistically estimated to take eight to twelve months.

Losing your only source of income and facing the unknown is no doubt devastating.

So to help offset some expenses for those affected by this unfortunate event, the Senate Tavern is hosting a staff benefit, with all proceeds going directly to the Vittoria Trattoria staff.

Good on them for stepping up.

The benefit will take place at The Senate Tavern, located at 33 Clarence, on Wednesday April 24th at 7pm.

Advance tickets are sold here for $10. Tickets will also be available at the door for $15.

If you cannot make it or would like to donate in advance, you can do so by dropping by either Senate Tavern, on Bank or Clarence Street.

A sandwich on the beach

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So here I am in Bermuda, attending a conference. Having just landed and arrived at the hotel, I figured going to down to the beach was the first order of business.

Especially since I hadn’t had lunch.

Lunch on the beach!

So I headed down to Fairmont Southampton’s private beach, using the trolley made at our disposal to make the trek.

The Cabana Bar & Grill was not really busy – it was getting close to 2 PM already. It was sunny but fresh and windy.

Nevertheless, a few patrons were enjoying cocktails on the terrace.

The menu was beachy, of course. Interesting items included Shrimp & Avocado Toast, the Beach Burger, the Cajun Shrimp Sandwich.

Strangely, there was a Mediterenean creeping influence, with Mezza and
Chicken Gyro as options.

I zeroed in on the Bermuda Fish Sandwich (20 BD$).

While the cocktail list was inspiring, with names such as the Cabana Ocean
Colada, the Bermuda Sunset, the Carribean Cruise, the Cabana Beach Runner and of course the classic Dark N’ Stormy.

I elected to keep it simple and ordered an On The Rock IPA.

After a few minutes, the sandwich was ready and I brought it on the beach
to enjoy.

Here we had big piece of Fried Wahoo, served on a Brioche Bun and garnished with a Pineapple Coleslaw, Tartar Sauce, lettuce and tomatoes.

It was served with either french fries or mixed salad, but I thought the windy beach didn’t call for salad. The french fries were good enough.

The bun was fresh and nicely toasted, a nice vehicle for the sandwich. The Pineapple slaw was not convincing. I would have skipped the lettuce and tomatoes and added more zing to the sandwich. The Tartar sauce was nice but subtle. The star of the dish was the fish.

A thick, firm but tender piece of fried fish, with a crispy batter, holding together nicely. The flavour was mild and delicate, buttery.

A beer, a diet coke and a fish sandwich set me back 45 $BD. Which is on par with the US dollar.

But the view was superb.

NYF March Madness: The Works edition

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The Waffle’s first foray in NYF’s March Madness happened at the Carlingwood Mall location.

Feeling edgy, The Waffle ordered The Works ($7.25).

Now, despite the name, The Works is not quite the works.

They topped their French Fries with their beef chili, add cheese sauce,
topped with real sour cream, and garnish with bacon and green onions.

No cheese curds (although they offered me as an extra) and no gravy.

NYF’s The Works is a pretty good concoction. Does it qualify as a poutine, though? Kind of, I guess.

Today, the fries were freshly made to order, coming out piping hot and nicely crispy. There was a healthy amount of every toppings.

I got four laddles of beef chili. It is not very spicy, but still pretty good, a hearthy meat vs red beans ratio.

A couple of squeezes of cheese sauce, which is trans fat free. So there is that. It is close to flavour free, too! Mostly, it seems to be there for texture, adding some gooeyness to the dish.

There was plenty of sour cream, lots of bacon and a ton of green onions – perhaps it was a little too much, in fact.

Certainly, there was enough garnish to go through the dish without having to eat naked fries, which would help no one.

New York Fries Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

Closing Time (II)

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In April 2012, The Waffle wrote about the impending closure of an Ottawa institution: the Glue Pot Pub.

The closure was short lived, as The Waffle reported in an update.

But since then, rumours of the Glue Pot’s demise have been popping up regularly. But they were only rumours. Until now.

There you have it, folks. The Glue Pot Pub is closing for good on Friday, March 22nd.

No doubt, the mess that was created by the LRT project on Queen street over the past few months put a dent in the clientele. And Claridge is moving ahead with a three-tower project at that location.

It is the end of an era. I started going to the Glue Pot in 1997. For a while, I was a regular, dropping by most Fridays after work. I was less regular for the past few years, going a couple of times a year only.

I will remember the spot with fondness.
I hope to get there for one last Quart of Ex before it closes for good.

The Glue Pot Pub Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

It’s March Madness at New York Fries!

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It’s March Madness at New York Fries for Fry Society Members!

You won’t be surprised to find out that The Waffle is a proud member of said Fry Society.

Long story short, you spend money at New York Fries, you get points, and in March, you can multiply your points per visit, getting you closer to free food every time.

Waffle readers will be pleased to read the Waffle’s adventures as he explore the New York Fries’ poutine menu this month.