There are various restaurant hubs in Ottawa: Byward Market, Elgin St., Richmond Rd. (Westboro), Preston St. (Little Italy), Somerset St. (China Town), Bank St. (The Glebe), just to name a few. Recently I decided to visit the Westboro area. Fratelli’s was the restaurant of choice for this particular outing.

Ottawa’s luminaries came out in force last night at the National Arts Centre for some competitive eating at this year’s Gold Medal Plates culinary competition held to raise funds for Canada’s Olympic athletes. The three day event involves the top chefs in nine major Canadian cities preparing samples of their best main meals along with wine accompaniment to compete for the title of Canada’s best chef.

An eclectic fusion of locally organic food fare with big city edge, Ottawa’s Zen Kitchen serves perfect gourmet portions of the freshest ingredients accompanied with an environmental consciousness.

Little Italy is surely becoming the culinary heart of Ottawa. One walk on Preston street will take you on a gastronomical journey of the world. Sure, Italian restaurants and pizza are well represented and one would be hard-pressed to find a more delicious pizza than the crispy, thin pizza at La Favorita.

Today you and I embark on a new adventure together … we are going to explore the world of wine (and sometimes other beverage alcohol), together, which in my opinion is the best way TO drink, with friends.

Aiming to be a classy Caribbean style restaurant, co-owners and brothers Devin and Dylan McLeod opened the doors of Giggling Jerks in August 2010, with the help of restaurant consultant and celebrity chef David Adjey.

When referring to Asian food, more often than not, images of neatly manicured sushi plates, wherein the individual pieces and condiments fit together with the exactness of a jigsaw puzzle and beg the same type of wonder as a perfectly folded fitted sheet, come to mind.