| After our arrival in Ottawa this afternoon and a very | | | | baby greens with goat cheese and a citrus vinaigrette. |
| brief rest at our hotel, we went out in search of a | | | | Manny came over and persuaded us to try the Pacific |
| satisfying dinner. The Lord Elgin Hotel is just about 15 | | | | rim seared tuna with a pepper crust in a sweet teriyaki |
| minutes walk away from the Historic ByWard Market | | | | sauce, accompanied by shaved ginger and a wasabi |
| area, which is one of Ottawa's main entertainment | | | | mayonnaise. A delicate and tasty treat. |
| areas. | | | | We even had a chance to meet the chef himself. |
| Winterlude is a great time because during this winter | | | | Executive chef Neil Baker told us about himself and |
| festival, many of Ottawa's restaurants offer | | | | we found out that we had a true cosmopolitan world |
| entertainment and special events. Our destination was | | | | traveler in front of us. |
| Fat Tuesday's, a New Orleans-style restaurant that is | | | | As the child of diplomatic parents, Neil was born in |
| known for its Cajun Creole cuisine and its | | | | Singapore and has also lived in Barbados, Kenya and |
| contemporary dishes. | | | | Thailand. He's run restaurants in Toronto, Vancouver, |
| After we refreshed ourselves and got organized, we | | | | Los Angeles, New York City and now Ottawa. |
| headed off at about 6:45 and started our walk toward | | | | Needless to say, Neil is going to be my next contact |
| the ByWard Market, Ottawa's prime entertainment | | | | for an interview about this international lifestyle. |
| area. We crossed the Laurier Bridge, which is the | | | | Neil also made a couple of interesting comments about |
| setting of quite a few of my husband's anecdotes | | | | global cuisine. He mentioned that the same culinary |
| about Ottawa's winter cold which he got to | | | | themes reappear across the globe. Chinese fried rice |
| experience in full force during his time at the University | | | | is essentially the same as Jambalaya which is |
| of Ottawa in the early 1980s. | | | | essentially the same as Biryani, with a slightly different |
| We too noticed that there was a stiff fresh breeze | | | | mix of spices thrown in. And the world's most popular |
| coming off the Rideau Canal and by pure coincidence | | | | cuisines are those based on the dishes of poor people. |
| we did a smart thing: we headed into the Rideau | | | | Neil insisted that we have dessert and we had |
| Centre, Ottawa's largest shopping centre. For about 15 | | | | Bananas Foster, which is a mouthwatering concoction |
| minutes we got to walk inside past all the retail stores, | | | | of flambéed bananas with caramelized sugar |
| totally sheltered from the biting wintery wind. | | | | and rum and some vanilla icecream thrown in with a |
| Well, it didn't take us long at all to get to the heart of | | | | twist of cinnamon on top. I was going to stay away |
| the ByWard Market, and a friendly guy at a Beavertail | | | | from dessert, but Bananas Foster totally corrupted me. |
| sales booth (Beavertails are Ottawa's famous | | | | I wasn't going to worry about the extra calories since |
| trademark pastry) gave us directions to Fat Tuesday's, | | | | we are going to go skating on the Rideau Canal |
| home of Ottawa's Mardi Gras experience. | | | | tomorrow anyways. |
| Once inside this stylish yet cozy bar/restaurant we | | | | At 10:30 every Friday and Saturday night Fat |
| had a chance to get a lay of the land from Manny | | | | Tuesdays serves up the dueling pianos, a live show |
| Garcia who's the general manager and one of the | | | | where the audience can request their favourite songs |
| co-owners. He told us that Fat Tuesday's was | | | | from two piano players. Today unfortunately the |
| created about 4 years ago and is an independently | | | | second piano player was significantly delayed, and |
| owned restaurant (not part of any restaurant chain). | | | | given our packed schedule for Saturday, we were |
| Fat Tuesday's combines an upscale Cajun/Creole | | | | unable to stick around for the second piano player to |
| kitchen with live entertainment and great friendly | | | | show up. But virtuoso no. 1 played his heart out and |
| service, and it's a place where people of all ages | | | | really got the crowd going. The place was packed and |
| congregate. | | | | everybody was in a great mood. |
| When we were there the place was packed and the | | | | So, it's just past midnight now and I am looking forward |
| waitresses were dressed up in bustiers and some | | | | to another action-packed day tomorrow: some skating |
| were wearing face masks in keeping with the Mardi | | | | on the Rideau Canal (to work off that delicious banana |
| Gras theme. The staff seemed to have a lot of fun | | | | dessert), watching the famous Bedzzz Races on |
| and they enjoyed interacting with the customers. | | | | Dow's Lake and then the Fire and Ice Culinary |
| Our appetite had been building up appropriately and for | | | | demonstrations at Confederation Park right across |
| me, the escargots in a garlic-white wine sauce were | | | | from our hotel. |
| just the thing to warm up the palate. After this tasty | | | | It is definitely time to get some rest for a big day and |
| appetizer I followed up with a Mediterranean salad of | | | | hit the hay...... |