As the capital of Canada, Ottawa is beautiful. It has natural beauty--it sits at the confluence of two rivers, Ottawa and Rideau--and magnificient architecture in the neo-Gothic Parliament buildings. It is a friendly city to walkers, and walking is the best way to see Ottawa.
The demand of an international and political clientele, along with the already bilingual nature of the city, means that Ottawa has to satisfy the enormous demand for ethnic food. The city acquits itself well in several neighborhoods, but most notably Elgin Street, which when I visited last year, was the most trendy spot in Ottawa. It can be reached from Wellington Street which runs in front of the Parliament Buildings.
Except for a couple of large steak restaurants, the restaurants on Elgin Street offering fares from Japan and much of Asia to South America to Europe all share one characteristic. They are very cozy, and therefore very homey. In this crowd, Fresco, a cozy Italian restaurant, stands out because of the large mural of Tuscan mountains in the back wall, which I swear draws in passerbys, who then forms the line outside the restaurant. The first night I walked by, the restaurant was full, so I put my name on the list for the next night. The atmosphere inside the restaurant lives up to the promise of the mural--it is lively, and the waitstaff is very attentive, and knowledgeable about the dizzying choices of pasta sauces. The veal is excellent, and be sure to ask the waitstaff to recommend a choice of wine. The one our waitress chose for us went extremely well with our dishes.
I was drawn to Byward Market with the promise of french pastries. Having lived in France for a year, I miss the pastries, and search for them in all of my travels. Though it feels a bit like betrayal, I have to admit that I have not found an authentic éclair in the states. Which is a shame because as we become more cosmopolitan, it is just expected that any large city would offer good eclairs.
Anyway, so Ottawa, with a more French influence than British Columbia, would seem like a logical place to search for eclairs. And I have to admit it did not disappoint. A concierge at Chateau Laurier pointed me in the direction of Byward market, promising that I will be able to find anything. And that was true--even on the weekdays, the stalls at the middle of Byward offered up excellent fresh produce and maple products that you can take home for souvenirs. Surrounding Byward are permanent specialty food shops, as well as cafes and boutiques. It is among these that I found a French café where I gobbled up on éclair, napoleons, choux crème, and fruit tarts, all in the space of two hours. And I even bought more to go. But what is even more attractive about Byward is its restaurant offerings--all within several blocks, you have choices of any type of food you are in the mood for, from Canadian to Chinese to Thai to Mexican, Brazilian, and other African choices. And that's not all. Byward is also home of other retail goods--you can find Cuban cigars, designer clothing, and unique art works in the market as well.