Soup for the Community

Whenever I go to a restaurant I never think to order soup. I always want to get something that I can’t make at home, either because I don’t know where to get the ingredients or because I don’t have the skill to create the dish. After trying five soups from some of Ottawa’s top restaurants, I will be ordering soup a lot more often. This weekend was the annual Great Bowls of Fire event, hosted by the Ottawa Guild of Potters. This is the third time I’ve been to Great Bowls of Fire, 2010, 2012 and 2014. You can find my pervious posts about the event HERE and HERE.

My new bowl!

Great Bowls of Fire is a unique event here in Ottawa. For the price of your ticket, $45 this year, you get to choose a handcrafted bowl and then enjoy soup from some of Ottawa’s top restaurants. Held in the Glebe Community Centre, the atmosphere of the event is warm and inviting. Hundreds of people fill the main hall and eat family style, so you get to meet new friends and run into old friends every year. This year there were ten restaurants showcasing some of the best soup I’ve ever had. What really makes the night for me, other than the soup, is knowing that the event is raising money for the Ottawa Food Bank.

It’s great to see local restaurants supporting the community. Great Bowls of Fire is only one example of restaurants making a difference in the community. There are lots unsung heroes in the Ottawa’s culinary world. Restaurants in Ottawa are selling t-shirts to raise money for local charities, hosting their own events where proceeds go back to the community, providing food to fundraising events and are even helping teach people how to cook. If you see a restaurant at the next fundraising event you’re at, make sure to take note and think about supporting them the next time you’re going out.

I want to give a huge shout out to all the amazing restaurants that took part in this year’s Great Bowls of Fire. Thanks for the awesome soup and I can’t wait to visit your restaurant!

•  Absinthe
• town
• The Wellington Gastropub
• Stone Soup Foodworks
• The Joy of Gluten Free
• Stoneface Dolly’s
• Il Primo
• Thyme and Again
• Lazy Pickle
• SIDEDOOR

If you’re inspired to give back to the community after reading this post think about giving to the Ottawa Food Bank, you can get more information HERE. Or help me raise money for Right to Play, you can read more about my efforts HERE.

Dine Out for a Cause!

Go out to eat a lot? Have some restaurants you’ve been dying to try? Just want a night out? Then dine out on Wednesday October 24^th and take part in the Ottawa Food Bank’s Capital Dishes. It’s easy to participate! Pick one of your favourite restaurants (list of participating restaurants below) and go have an awesome dinner! Participating restaurants will be donating 10% of their sales from the night to the Ottawa Food Bank. Everyone wins! You get a good meal, the restaurant gets your business and the Food Bank receives much needed funds!

Participating Restaurants

• ZaZaZa Pizza with Pizazz
• Union Local 613 Restaurant
• Fresco Bistro
• Hintonburg Public House
• Zolas Restaurant – Live Jazz night!
• Burnt Butter Italian Kitchen
• Fraser Café
• Hintonburger
• Maxwell’s Bistro
• Izakaya Asian Kitchen & Bar
• 222 Lyon Tapas Bar
• Grill 41 – a portion of sales from their Chef Michael Smith’s Favourite Flavours section of the menu will go to the Ottawa Food Bank

When you’re making a donation to the Ottawa Food Bank, you’re helping them provide food to on average 45,000 people per month. Out of that 45,000 – 37% are children. Ottawa is an amazingly generous city. Without the support of local business and individuals, these people wouldn’t have enough food. Sp keep up the great support and take part in Capital Dishes!

Yummy Yummy Soup!

The first weekend in March one of my favourite events takes place, Great Bowls of Fire. Great Bowls of Fire is an event put on by the Ottawa Guild of Potters in support of the Ottawa Food Bank. Each year more than 300 soup connoisseurs and pottery lovers fill the Glebe Community Centre to enjoy soup from some of the best restaurants in Ottawa, in bowls made by some of the best potters in Ottawa.

My new bowl!

This year my friends and I decided to get there early to make sure that we could get seats together, it’s a good thing that we did! Not long after we got in line, people were lined up around the block! Once you’re allowed in, you go and pick out your bowl. This is no easy choice! All of the bowls have a unique look and are made by some extremely talented Ottawa potters. My strategy when picking out a bowl is first to look for size and then for colour and design. I want to make sure to have a big enough bowl to hold all of the yummy soup. Next you go and find a seat, instead of small tables, everyone sits family style around long tables. This lets you meet some new friends. The next step of the evening is to go around and scope out all of the soups. This is hard because there are about 12 restaurants each serving one soup. Picking the ones you want to try is next to impossible; sometimes I just pick them at random. If you want to know what kinds of soups are available here is a list of what was there this year.

• Restaurant 18 – Chicken and mushroom with galangal, coconut milk, lime and red chili
• Domus Café – Canadian “Ribollita”
• Fraser Café – Thai sweet potato soup

• Town – Tuscan white bean soup
• Wellington Gastropub – Hot and sour duck broth

• Il Piccolino Ristorante – Potato, leek and fennel soup with crispy pancetta
• Il Primo Ristorante – Curried lamb with cilantro and crème fraiche

• Thyme & Again – South west corn soup with cilantro oil
• Stone Soup Foodworks – Winter root vegetable and beer bisque

• Allium – Smoked chicken and cauliflower soup
• Absinthe – Mushroom veloute with tarragon truffle crème fraiche
• Canvas Restro-Bar – Black bean chipotle puree

I had 3 of the soups and Sarah had 4 soups, so in total I got to try 7 of the 12. It’s ridiculously hard to choose just one favourite soup, two of them are tied for me in the number one spot. The curried lamb with cilantro and crème fraiche and the smoked chicken and cauliflower soups were my favourites. The curried lamb soup was really hearty and had a really nice spicy kick to it. The smoked chicken and cauliflower soup had amazing deep rich flavours and was a soup you could just eat forever.

This amazing event not only showcases the talents of Ottawa’s potters and top restaurants, it also supports an amazing cause. Next time you’re getting your groceries, think about picking up something extra to donate to the Ottawa Food Bank.

More info on Great Bowls of Fire

Check out the Ottawa Food Bank website  – ottawafoodbank.ca