21 in Ottawa... FOREVER!

Here ye, here ye!

It is with great excitement that I announce to you all that a "Forever 21" is coming to a Rideau Centre near you!

Basically they are closing down the small food court (Timy's, Burger King and some Shawarma place). The F21 will replace the BK and have its own entrance on Rideau Street! How exciting!

Here is a more detailed blog post about the entire story!

This amazing store has clothing for men, women, young girls, maternity and even a plus size women! This is great for just about anyone! I really hope the Ottawa store carries all of these selections.

They not only sell affordable and trendy clothing, but shoes, purses and loads of costume jewellery and accessories!

There truly is something for everyone.

I will do my best to keep you all in the loop!

Winterlude- give it a taste!

What I love most about Ottawa in the new year is looking forward to all the winter activities that I am supposed to be partaking in... if I can leave my warm cozy house.

My favourite thing in particular is the "Taste of Winterlude"

The Taste of Winterlude festivities begin Jan 27 to Feb 21 2011. Choose from a selection of top restos in Ottawa, and sample a featured menu for a great price! Looks like there are booking up fast, so step on it!

Taste of Winterlude features exclusive culinary events that highlight local chefs, sommeliers, winemakers and Canadian products.

I just came across their site today through a facebook ad... possibly the most effective ad for me yet!

I usually grab the TOW booklet from a participating restaurant and use it as "Checklist" of places I need to try. I also love using my Urbanspoon account that automatically keeps track of this for me :)

I haven't booked a restaurant yet, but I am looking at Murray Street as a possible option.

Let me know where you would like to go or if you have any recommendations!

Bon Appétit!

shopping in the o'

I was in the Market resently and discovered that maybe the shopping scene is getting a bit better. I mean, it's nothing comaparable to Montreal or Toronto, but I think with time, we will be pleasantly surprised. Here is a list of my top favorite stores and boutiques. This post was inspired by a one page flyer that I took from a store that I just discovered (Roadtrip... younger sister to
Trustfund, which I am familiar with) Lots of cities have these types of maps that are available to tourists (heck, or even locals!) to help them find like-minded business :)

1. Trustfund- trendy clothes with higher end labels ... "it's more for investment peices..."
2. Roadtrip- Trustfund's younger sister. Great labels, but way more affordable.
3. Schad- very expensive wishful shopping
4. Urban Outfitters! Finally open.
5. Frou Frou- for the wilder/unique side of your look
6. Milk (this blog needs some work)
7. Workshop- hand crafted clothing by local designers, very orginal stuff
8. Victoire- very cute trendy stuff
9. Zara
10. Aritzia

Please feel free to share your experiences or let me know if there are any stores that I have missed in the market!

Ottawa Fashion Week!

Hello my O'valleyers,

I know you are all busy this weekend between Halloween parties, trick-or-treating and just plain old looking forward to dressing up at work... but it's OTTAWA FASHION WEEK starting on Friday October 29 2010 to Sunday October 31 2010!

Check the site for more details of the schedules and locations.

Hope to see you there!

domus in latin is house or home

I had the pleasure of finally making it to Domus, I called up some friends for my birthday and made the dinner plans. They were very accomodating and were able to set up a nice spot for us, even though the restaurant wasn't that huge.

The service was a little slow, but in their defense our group didn't show up at the same time so we heard the special of the day about four times!
I really like it when the servers know their wine and can recommend something that pairs well with your meal. I went for a Pinot Grigio, though he recommended the Pino Gris. I had the tuna staek with wild mushrooms, it was a bit sweet, but very good. I like the green couli it was served with, it added a nice freshness to it (I didn't ask what it was :()

My friends had the steak and elk steak and everyone really enjoyed it. For desert I had creme brulé, it was tasty but a little runny. Maybe it wasn't chilled enough.

Someone at my table ended up returning their steak which was over done. The server took it back without any hesitation and replaced it. Unfortunately our table didn't eat at the same time, but this didn't ruin our night.

Since this is quite an expensive place, I don't think I will eat here again, but I would recommend you try it.

Elk steak

Tuna steak

Steak

sushi is delish

So, I googled "Sushi Takeout Ottawa" and came accross Sushi 88 on Somerset, which is right in the heart of China Town! At first I thought they delivered... but note to self, take out doesn't mean delivery!! Duh!

We ended up eating our sushi there instead of picking it up. I had platter J6 which is called "Surprise me!" Boy oh boy, was I surprised to see a sea creature on my plate! I think it was octopus. It was light purple and had waves and what looked like tenticle. I only took the picture of my platter after I ate this mysterious creature... sorry. I recommend this platter, only if you are very adventurous, but the sushi was good and priced well.

The service was nice and the location was perfectly in front of the new Asian Arch they are buidling! The decor is very nice inside too... if this is important to you. Read about my asian arch post here.

This is the new arch that is being built on Somerset close to Bronson.

mangia! mangia!

If you are downtown in Ottawa and looking for really good Italian food, made simple and delicious, I highly recommend Tosca. I discovered this place online when I was looking for a nice restaurant to take my frind out for her birthday last year. We returned again almost one year later and had a great time, as usual!

The prices are not very cheap, but well worth the portions, the food and the experience.

I usually know right away that I am going to have a great time when the waiter brings bread and water when you first arrive. In this case we were brought some bread with oil and balsamic dipper, black baby olives and pickled hot peppers (my fave!).

We started munching on this stuff and enjoyed a much needed cocktail. I think that was the pupose of our visit in the first place.

I had the grill calamary (NOT FRIED NOR BATTERED!!), it comes with a spicy tomato paste. DELICIOUS! It's always cooked to perfection, and the texture is not rubbery at all, it just slices perfectly in your mouth.

For my main course I had the Fettuccini domenico, which in hind site was allot to have with the calamary, but it made a nice lunch at work the next day! The fettuccini tasted really fresh, and maybe even home made. I asked them to serve it with rose sauce and they were more than happy to do that for me! They said, anything you want can be made rose!

My friend ordered the mussels, which were good. I am not a huge fan of them, but they were tasty and the portions were very generous!

Although I saved my leftovers, I WAS STUFFED! I hate and love that feeling both at the same time.

The service is really great. They were very patient with us and helpful to make our selection.

I really hope you get to try this one out!

F.Y.I. I was looking into their space for a function last year and noticed that they have a cute little private room available. I know they also book parties there too.

I appologize I did not have my camera with me, so I borrowed some pics from their website :)

a social place

Last night I had a reservation at Social. I had never been before and wanted to try it out. They have a birthday coupon emailing list that you can subscribe to on their site. So it was a perfect opportunity to redeem my free desert coupon and try a new place!

The buidling and decor are spectacular! Beautiful art hanging on old brick walls, chandeliers and drapery hanging everywhere. Chandeliers are like jewellery for decor. I mean you can wear a nice dress and have makeup on, but your jewellery is what makes you sparkle!

We were greated by a very handsome waiter at our table, which is always nice:)

We both started off with a glass of Rosé (Domaine Roncée, Chinon AOC, 2009). It was very fresh and so perfect for the hot weather. We aslo tried a delicious peice of multigrain bread and butter.

The menu is simple and straight to the point. They offer you minimal selection but using a distinct variety of proteins for each dish. I had the duck confit with green mango salad and my friend had the pan roasted salmon with quinoa and greens. My duck was very well flavoured and very well cooked. The mango salad was fresh and herbal and the cashews gave it a nice crunch! The jus poured on my duck had an orange essence to it which was tart and fresh, it paired well with the dark meat.

The salmon was cooked to perfection and had a nice crispy skin which was not wet on the plate.

It was cooked medium rare (their recommendation).

And for desert, I had my favorite... Crème Brulée, and my frind had the chocolate desert. This is definately one of my top best crème brulée's that I have had. I love it when the vanilla beans are all sunken at the bottom of the ramekin. The sugar crust was crunchy and hard, which is perfect! And the texture of the cream was soft and creamy.

We were there on a Tuesday night, and it was PACKED! Which is a sign of a very good place. They aren't even affected by the construction on Sussex! The food was really tasty and the portions of meat were enormous. Definately a place to make your man happy if you are going out for a night on the town. I wish I was more dressed up, but we went right after work, so I tied my hair differently and slapped on some lipstick.

I will definately go back or recommend it for a function. They have lots of different private spaces that have a unique decor to them and that can accomodate different parties.

I hope I haven't made you too hungry :)

Bon appétit!

Urban Outfittawa

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls... I am proud to announce that Ottawa will be getting it's very own URBAN OUTFITTERS!

Let me tell you... it's about time!

Not only did they get here before H&M, but they are starting a new revolution, risking everything they have. They are the pioneers of RIDEAU STREET!!!

How daring of them. They will start the clean up of the much anticipated shopping strip which Ottawa is in dire need of.

I can't wait to see when H&M and maybe Forever 21 follow. I just can't wait to be able to buy something nice without traveling to Toronto, Montreal or NYC!

Here are some pics that I got of the store being built. Looks like they are hiring too :)

I just can't wait for the housewares stuff... maybe they will open an Anthropologie too, Urban's chique big sister??....

Let's not get ahead of ourselves :S