tasty travels

I'm not much of a globe trotter. I've only been on a plane once and that was just last year when my boyfriend and I took a week's vacation to Rome. I'd love to do more traveling but it's so easy for work and life to take priority. However, home offers so many of it's own adventures, especially when it comes to trying new food. So many people complain that there's "nothing to do in Ottawa" which causes me to get this overwhelming urge to smack 'em in the back of the head. Ottawa is a great city! Small enough that it's not intimidating, but for Ottawa's size it's oozing with culture, fashion conscious and excitement. And great food!

I LOVE going out for a meal. A quality meal. Now, I don't have endless funds to spend on ritzy dinning, so I'm pretty picky when deciding on where to eat as not to waste dough on bad dough, you know? (chuckle). I actually started a list of restaurants I want to try, most of which are those you just hear about through the grape-vine, and as I get to trying them out, they either get a "star" or "highlight" and "delete". Since I started my list though, I don't think I've encountered anything needing to be deleted.
Anywho, from time to time I'd like to post about the restaurants that deserve to be talked about. And Ottawa's got lots!



I think I should point out that when it comes to dinning out, I'm a little bias. Biased about breakfast. There's just something so comforting about waking up on a weekend morning, after a long night of dancing, and heading out for the day's first meal. Maybe it's the fact that it's someone else preparing it and taking care of the dishes? Or maybe because breakfast is less pretentious than his brothers - it's socially acceptable to enjoy this meal make-up free, in a cozy sweater with untamed hair.

The lovely vegetarian platter you see here is from my first brunch visit a little while back to Imperial Food and Beverages on Bank Street. I'd been wanting to try this place for some time and finally my boyfriend, sister and I gave it a go. And we were not disappointed. I had the vegetarian breakfast (sweet potato frittata), while the other two got the carnivorous breakfasts (2 eggs, double smoked bacon, grilled ham and house sausage); additionally, both meals are served with a roasted tomato Provencal, sauteed mushrooms, breakfast potatoes and buttered grilled baguette...they must have been out of baguette that day, but man oh man it was delish! I gave it a big "star".

What I love about Imperial is they use local and organic suppliers as much as possible and the coffee is fair-trade. There is also a vegan option which consists of blueberry pancakes with whipped banana coconut filling. I will be trying that on my next visit, sounds amazing! Oh and just so you know, they are also open for lunch and dinner.

Yummy!