Eating Vegan and Happy in Ottawa: ZenKitchen

I have to send thanks out, once again, to Vegan Momma Chef (and her partner in grand-parenting, the bear's beloved grandpapa) for a weekend vacation that really hit the spot. Roger and I dropped the bear off for a weekend adventure involving stomping in rain puddles, hitting the mall, and eating sand pancakes, and then continued on to a fancy hotel in sunny (ok, rainy) Ottawa. It was one of those vacations where everything somehow goes well (except for the weather!). The hotel was great, including its complimentary breakfast which offered yummy vegan options like toast (of course), fresh fruit, hash browns, and stewed tomatoes and mushrooms, my favourite stores had great sales, we were both able to take delicious daytime naps, and our spirits were high. The only damper on the whole weekend was the Habs' heartbreaking loss... but such is life, right?

Our trip started on a teriffic note with a late-night dinner at ZenKitchen, the kind of vegan restaurant we all dream of running some day.

I stole this image straight off the restaurant's website, but I doubt that Caroline & Dave will mind. Their hospitality and passion for the restaurant business was evident from the moment we walked in. The atmosphere is classy and hip, if a bit noisy, and the service is dynamite.

As usual, the experience of knowing that I can order anything I want off the menu without double-checking the ingredients or defining 'dairy' for confused servers and chefs was liberating in itself. Also as usual, I found it very hard to decide what I wanted to order, because everything sounded delicious. In the end, Roger and I decided to go all out, throw caution to the wind, and order the 4-course tasting menu, with a wine pairing for each course, to boot!

Dave, the co-owner, manager, and sommelier, started us off with a Caiparinha cocktail made with Brazil's version of rum, Cachaca (a double, by the way... he must have recognized our boozy nature when we walked in the door!), lime, sugar, and crushed ice. It had been years since I'd had one of these cocktails, and it made me question why I'd waited so long! This was accompanied by a lotus chip amuse-bouche. All I remember about it was that it was tasty, lime-y, and avocado-y, and started the meal off on a great note. (I almost feel bad for posting these pictures, because I feel the quality of the pictures doesn't do the food justice. Apologies to all!!)

Course #1: Microgreens with jicama and a light vinaigrette. I don't have too much to say about this dish, except that it was yummy and refreshing! Roger really loved the jicama. This app was paired with Angels Gate Sparkling Rosé VQA, Niagara. I'm not generally a fan of sparkling wines, but this one was surprisingly good - not too tangy or sweet, and played off the fruitiness of the salad really well.

Course #2: A crispy tortilla filled with chipotle sweet potato and served with papaya mango salsa and a creamy avocado sauce. I loved, loved, loved the flavour of this dish. The salsa added a nice fruity contrast to the kick of the chipotle, and avocado, in my opinion, makes every dish better. My only complaint is that the tortilla could've been a bit crispier; Roger thought it could be a bit softer, so it sounds like a matter of taste! The wine for this course was Vineland Estates Sauvignon Blanc 2008, Niagara. I freely admit that although I am a vigorous wine consumer, I'm not much of a connoisseur. Overall, I enjoyed all the wines that Dave picked for our meal - I enjoyed even more his description of all of them! We got to learn quite a bit about what he thought was special about each wine that he chose. Lots of fun, and lots of yumminess!

Course #3: The Main. This dish convinced me that it's time for me to learn how to make my own seitan. We were served some very tasty braised seitan with a chimichurri sauce, red & black quinoa, and some grilled swiss chard, which was Roger's absolute favourite. I really enjoyed everything about this dish. The seitan was salty, in the best way possible, and the quinoa had substance. I wish there could have been a bit more chimchurri to drizzle around, because it was really yummy. Roger swore up and down that the swiss chard tasted like steak, and bought some to bbq, according to Head Chef & co-owner Caroline's friendly instructions, as soon as we got home! We had a very delicious red wine to drink with this meal: Emiliana "Novas" Carmenere-Cabernet Sauvignon, 2007, Chile. Dynamite.

As every vegan will tell you: the two toughest items to enjoy when eating at a restaurant are breakfast and dessert. That's why the fourth course was definitely my favourite. Here goes: Roasted banana chocolate parfait on a shortbread cookie with crispy cinnamon doughnuts and a blueberry crème anglaise coulis. Need I say more? This was very rich, very satisfying, and made my whole weekend that much better. All I wished for was more roasted banana! Roger and I both cleaned our plates, and washed it down with a yummy glass of Featherstone Late Harvest Cabernet Franc, VQA, 2008, Niagara.

I simply cannot say enough great things about ZenKitchen. The food (you`ll notice that pretty much all my complaints were related to wanting more!), service, and atmosphere were just right. This is what people mean when they talk about a great dining experience. And as I heard another patron say to her companion, "it's not great vegan food - it's just great food". This is the type of reaction we want to vegan restaurants! Great food is great food, and it's even better when it's cruelty-free. Here's hoping Vegan Momma Chef keeps volunteering for bear-care weekends, so we can head to Ottawa a bit more often!