CheapEats Ottawa restaurant guide blog

Reservations 101

Reserved by Cafrine

There's a great article by Corey Mintz on the Toronto Star website about the business of reservations.

...the average Toronto restaurant is open for dinner between 5:30 and 10 p.m. Torontonians will not, by nature, eat before 6 unless they are going to a show, or after 10 unless they are Spanish.

With such a small window of operation, a restaurant needs to maximize that time period. Empty seats are holes in their gas tank, draining fuel. If a table is booked for 7:30, it's next to impossible to use that table earlier or later. This is called a single seating.

While the restaurateurs quoted are Toronto-based, on Friday and Saturday nights you know Ottawa's best tables are just as busy.  Corey goes on to explain and discuss that "space and time are perishable commodities" and how restaurants do their best to keep tables turning and get people in, fed and out for the next seating. 

Interesting, since I just got off the phone confirming my online reservations for tomorrow's 11am brunch which had somehow gotten "lost".  

Read the complete article here... and then come back and tell me what you thought.

[Thanks to Paul Lin for pointing me at the article]

National Pupusa Day - almost

As I was preparing a detailed and lengthy post for today's National Pupusa Day, I realized that it was not an annual El Salvadorian holiday on November 13th but actually an annual El Salvadorian holiday every second Sunday of November. Ack! 

So I wish you all a happy-belated Día Nacional de la Pupusa and encourage you all to go out and find yourself a pupusa to celebrate with.

I'm still fairly new to pupusa, having been introduced to them by Jeff during a food crawl of Toronto's Kensington. 

The only place I know of to get them in Ottawa is La Cabana on Merivale near Carling, where they sell them for $2.50 (but you need to get at least 3.)  Sometimes they are also available frozen for you to heat up at home.  I like to toss them on the BBQ and crack open a beer if I'm going that route.

I'm looking for more places to try this tasty treat, if you know of other spots in the area where they are available.   I have to find a couple of places to eat my shame away from missing Día Nacional de la Pupusa.

Tech Update

First of all,

Apology for those repetitive posts

I'd like to apologize for filling your RSS Readers with those "Quick  Notes".   My intent was to use LoudTwitter to share the CheapEats Ottawa twitter updates with you.

But what was initially a quick and easy way to share short notes turned into an RSS-clogging annoyance.  

So I've turned it off, and hopefully that's the last you'll be seeing of that.

Tech Update - @CEOT on twitter

However, we are doing occasional twitter updates which might be of interest to you.  If you are on twitter, you can follow @CEOT, send comments to @CEOT, or even tag your CheapEats tweets with #CETO.

If you aren't on twitter or if you want to track the whole CheapEats Toronto experience on twitter, check out http://twitter.zappos.com/ceot.  The guys at Zappos.com/Zappos.ca set this up for us and it's great! (Thanks Zappos!)

Tech Update - New Plethora Press Store for CheapEats

On a less frustrating note, we've successfully launched our new sales site for CheapEats - the Plethora Press Bookstore (Plethora Press is our publisher, who is also us.)

Thanks to everyone who helped get test it out.  Your books are in the mail.

Did you miss out?  Sale extended to May 19th!

If you missed out on the sale, the discount checkout code cheapeater has been extended until Monday May 19th and works for CheapEats Ottawa and the current edition of CheapEats Toronto (pub. 2006).

Thanks for your patience!

Technorati Tags: CheapEats Ottawa, CheapEats Toronto, books, bookstores, Plethora Press, twitter, ceto, zappos.com, quick notes, apology

Red Pen Update

Yes, it's time to grab your red pen and make those first couple of marks in your brand new copy of CheapEats Ottawa v2.

It happens every single time we launch a new book, one CheapEat restaurant closes before the book hits bookstore shelves. Though this time, there were 2 casualties.   It's always a surprise, especially since we've been on the phone with the restaurant immediately before going to print, but it still happens every time. 

First and pretty surprisingly, Cam Kong is gone.  We dropped in for lunch the day after the launch and found that 726 Somerset is now Fuschian. Thanks to Peter Bowen for the heads up and feedback on the new location - his comment here. 

Red Pen: pg. 37 of CheapEats Ottawa v2, Cam Kong - closed.  (pg. 23 if you're still working from the first edition.)

Secondly, as we were about to drop off their "Yay, you're in CheapEats" letter, we found that Shawarma King on Elgin is now Mr. Pho Fusion serving "Noodle Soup - Pad Thai - Shawarma".  Yes, you read that right.  Not sure if the ownership has changed since the phone number on the sign is the same.  Which do you think would be more interesting - Vietnamese Shawarma or Middle Eastern Pho?

Red Pen: pg. 89 of CheapEats Ottawa v2, Shawarma King on Elgin - closed or at least changed drastically. 

Let us know here if you've found any Red Pen Updates.

Technorati Tags: ottawa, restaurants, cheapeats ottawa, ceotv2, ceot, closures, red pen updates, cam kong, shawarma king

Book Launch Round-up

Here are some posts from other attendees (and contributors) at the launch:

My Cheapeats is in my hands
By aandjblog
And.. of course the best part of the evening was getting a copy of CheapEats Ottawa. Oh! I am still reading it page by page as we speak. The highlights for me in the book, was to have Sammy’s Pizzeria mentioned in the book. ...
- http://pleasepickupyoursocks.wordpress.com

Red
By Vicki Thomas
Lex is the publisher, editor, and brain behind the CheapEats books. The CheapEats Ottawa book was launched yesterday. A very handy guide to eating well and eating cheap in this city of ours. Check it out. You won't be disappointed. ...
Victoria's Island - http://victoriasisland.typepad.com/vickith/

Cheap Eats Ottawa - Version 2!
By Lana
Last night was the book launch for the new version of Cheap Eats Ottawa. The new version has lots of familiar Ottawa foodie institutions and plenty of new reviews. Like pho. Seriously, there are a lot of pho places around these days. ...
Boyfriendly Cooking - http://www.boyfriendlycooking.com

44.365 Delicious!
By robyn
Eat good food. And read about places recommended by me! (along with a ton of other lovely people with equally as awesome opinions on where to eat in our fair city). Good times were had by all at tonight’s CheapEats Ottawa Launch. ...
mintyfresh - http://mintyfresh.ca

 

Just a quick note, the "bartender" at the event was actually Beau's founder Steve Beauchesne.  (Guess you should have worn that silly nametag after all ;->)

Book Launch Day!

This morning I'm up early, way too early, so I don't sleep through my interview with tic on CKCU - listen live around 8am.

Today is busy, we're talking to media and building some buzz... I spoke with Ron Eade from the Citizen last week, I'm doing another interview at the launch, and yesterday I visited with Gay Cook who writes the food column in the Citizen.

We're delivering books to Perfect Books, Collected Works, Books on Beechwood, Singing Pebble Books, La Bottega and Harry's Deli.

Not to mention, getting ready for tonight's party... er... I mean Book Launch.  I can't wait and hope to see you there!

I mean: beer, food, books... what more could you ask for?

CheapEats Ottawa Book Launch.
Wednesday February 13th, 7-9pm
East African Restaurant

If you haven't had a chance to RSVP, please let us know you are coming so we get you on the guest list.

 

Hosted by East African Restaurant  and Sponsored by Beau's All Natural Brewing Company

Romance CheapEats Style

Keith asked: Is it really possible to have a quality or romantic experience inexpensively?

Certainly!  

There are plenty of romantic and interesting spots in most large cities, where with a little planning or attention to ordering, you can have a great romantic experience with good service and ambiance without breaking the bank. 

Some Quick Tips?

• Cocktails at home - markups are big on booze, so keep your restaurant drinking to a minimum.  Have a cocktail or a glass of wine at home before heading out.  Even better, setup an intimate corner at home to have your dessert & liqueurs and let the evening progress from there. 
• Share your food - appetizers and desserts are perfect sharing courses and sharing is always a great way to get close and isn't getting close the main objective of romance. 
• Show some flair – know a quiet but not so fancy spot with great food… bring your own candles and linen. Hey, the restaurant might even let you set it up in advance if you are really going all out. I have a friend who proposed in a burger joint.
• Get into the mood – cluttered chic and twinkle lights may not be your idea of classy, but boho  spots can be a lot of fun if you relax and embrace the environment. Cuddle in to avoid that spring poking out of the couch and enjoy your calamari.

I polled the rest of the CheapEats team for more tips on how they do romance on the cheap...

Blogger & Media Resources

Since we've noticed people have started to blog about the new edition and the upcoming launch party, but are showing great restraint and respect for copyright, we wanted to make some resources available to you to make it a little easier to show while you tell.

Here are the categories of resources you'll find on the Blogger & Media Resources Page:

• Covers & Logos
• Photos 
• Suggested Tags
• Links
• Quotes
• Media

We will get back to talking about food again very soon, I promise. 

In the meantime, if we've missed something you'd like to see on the Blogger & Media Resources Page, please let us know.

Technorati Tags: blogger resources, media resources, logos, copyright, links, media, bloggers, photos, tags

You Are Invited!

Finally, the books are here and we're having a party! 

Join us at East African Restaurant on Wed. Feb. 13th and help us celebrate the latest edition of CheapEats Ottawa.  Talk about restaurants, food and Ottawa while you sample some of East African's great appetizers and sip Beau's with our contributors, celebrities, friends and restaurateurs. 

It's going to be a blast, and you're invited. So come!

 

CheapEats Ottawa Has Arrived

  CheapEats Ottawa Has Arrived

Just as I was about to announce that you could pre-order CheapEats Ottawa, I got a phone call from the printer to let me know they'd be delivering the books TODAY!

So now I have 4000 copies of CheapEats Ottawa fresh from the presses.  Complete with 2 new sections - a Food Glossary & 100 CheapEats Check Marks.

So, now you can buy your own copy of CheapEats Ottawa and we'll pack it up and ship it off to you immediately. 

Shipping within Canada is on us until Feb 13th (when the book will be available at the book launch and in bookstores)

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Links to the Photos above: 1. New Section - Food Glossary!, 2. Look What's Inside, 3. CheapEats Ottawa, 4. New Section - 100 CheapEats Check Marks