Hello Ottawa

WEDNESDAY DRINKING AND DINING UPDATE

• 🍌 In the Ottawa Citizen, Sofia Misenheimer likes the ‘decadent’ street food served up at That’s Bananas, Ottawa’s newest Brazilian café. The café goes through up to 150 cans of condensed milk per week.
  Also in the Citizen, Peter Hum wonders if his taste is just too spicy for the work-a-day Ottawa eater. Three times he’s been told by restaurants that the heat has been turned down due to customer demand. But while he does have sympathy with restauranteurs, ‘I can’t write restaurant reviews from the point of view of someone else’s palate’.

• 🦫 Beavertails have teamed up with the Kraft Dinner people to create two summer-only dishes: KD Takeover BeaverDog and the KD Takeover Poutine.

• If you have tried one of these - let’s call them food adjacent products - please email to us at hello@theottawan.com and tell us what they are like, and, further, what possessed you to purchase them.

• 🥕 The newest Farm Boy in Ottawa at 4828 Bank St in Findlay Creek, will open June 18 with a four day celebraion with live music, product samples, and giveaways. 

• ☕ Bad news if you are the proud owner of a Tim Horton’s credit card, the company is dumping the programme come October. The cards will still work but holders will not be able to get any more Reward Points when they put their double-double on at 20.99% interest.   

• 🥙 It’s an event that's tailor made for Ottawa: Shawarma Fest 2026 will see the city's best shawarma restaurants joining forces to attempt to crush the world record for the longest shawarma sandwich.  Sunday June 7.

• 💸 NarCity writer Alessa Hickman says that these are the ‘8 best cheap eats in the city’. Actually, she names seven: Father and Sons, Sí Señor, Kettlemans Bagel Co., Shanghai Wonton Noodle, Umbrella Burger, IKEA, and Sula Wok. The eighth is shawarma joints in general.

• 🦪 ByTowne Oyster Fest is back Sunday June 28 at Beyond the Pale Breewing Co (250 City Centre). Doors open at noon but the highly competitive Shucking Contest starts at 4:00 pm.  

  🍖 Create a meat-focused Father’s Day BBQ to remember with NeXT, whose menu includes Spiced Beef Larb Salad, Dry Rubbed Pork Ribs, Chorizo Spiced Shrimp, Balinese Bumbu Turmeric Spiced Chicken, and Thick Cut Striploin of P.E.I. Beef. This feast for four costs $175 plus tax and gratuity. 
   

It’s not too early to be thinking about what you’re going to eat on Canada Day. 

• 🍁 Savour a chocolate for each Province and Territory in the The Peace by Chocolate Canada Unity Box
• 🍁 Holding a July 1 gathering? Pass around a Purdys Canadian Maple Toffee or a Maple Sweet Georgia Browns pack to each guest as a party favour.
• 🍁 Pick a neighbourhood celebration (Stittsville, for example), and bring money for food trucks, or bring a blanket and a picnic.  

STATISTICS OTTAWA

NUMBER

• 20

• The number of years ago that local mom and pop business Shopify opened to the public. On Twitter today, founder Tobi Lutke posted this investor video from nine years ago, tracing the company’s path from startup to listing on the stock exchange.

• For what it is worth, if you had invested $1,000 in SHOP 11 years ago, you’d have $45,000 today.

• – Twitter

OTTAWAN OF THE DAY

• Janet Uren

• The New Edinburgher has written a new history of her neighbourhood in The Villagers: History of the People and life of New Edinburgh. Thirteen years of research went into covering 200 years of history of the viceroyal enclave. 

• – Word Image Pubications     h/t Laura Paquet in Ottawa Road Trips

QUOTE

“

• You can’t go to work worrying about mice droppings or bringing bedbugs home

– Mohammed Adam in the Ottawa Citizen criticizing the Federal government’s return-to-office policy for its lack of foresight.

‘If only the government listened to RTO4 concerns’

PLEASE SUPPORT THE OTTAWAN

WHAT’S GOING ON AT CITY HALL

WHAT OTTAWA IS TALKING ABOUT

THE DAILY POLL

Do you invest in any of these Ottawa-based companies?

🔘 Shopify

🔘 Kinaxis

🔘 Calian Group

🔘 Telesat

🔘 Beavertails, but not in stock purchases

• 
  Previously in OTTAWAN polls:

• What would you choose in a modern day ParticipACTION?

  • 5% Number of times making a plan to go out, then attempting to get out of it when the day arrives

  • 37% Minutes spent convincing the cat that you are in fact dead when it tries to wake you at dawn

  • 23% Length of a walk/hike/bike decided by the best restaurant/pub at the end of it

  • 22% The highest number of streaming episodes binged in one day

  • 13% Number of days of good heart health counted by glasses of red wine

  • 
    Commentary

▪️ “Tooth and Nail pub is just the right distance, and has a pup-friendly patio.”
▪️ “My kind of walking/hiking involves a coffee and a baked good at the end of it.”
▪️ “Year-round for extra points?”

HISTORIC OTTAWA LOGO T-SHIRTS

Ottawa Xpress T-Shirt The Ottawa Xpress was Ottawa’s beloved alternative weekly, published from 1993 – 2012. Help support the ottawan by buying one of our historic logo t-shirts. Shop for t-shirts

THE ROLLING THREE DAY CALENDAR

Is there an event we should know about?
Please use our easy event submission form

✳️ Means change from previous edition

WEDNESDAY

• ✳️ As Elevator Theatre Company prepares to relocate to Halifax (which is, as the theatre company states on its website, ‘a city known for collaboration, generosity, and a strong passion for the arts’), its final Ottawa-based production begins: the Tony award-winning musical Once. (Little Italy).  

• Obey the impulse to catch one of Keith David's early performances in John Carpenter’s They Live, this month’s (Bad) Night at the Movies. (Downtown) 

• 🆓 Orkidstra’s Heron Gate Hub End-of-Year Concert is a family-friendly evening is relaxed and welcoming. No tickets necessary, just show up. Donations to support OrKidstra’s programs are welcomed. Free parking (Ellwood) 

• Parkdale Market stays open late every Wednesday night from today until October 7. Enjoy live music while you forage for something special for dinner. (Hintonburg) 

Cinema

• ByTowne Cinema: Backrooms, At the Place of Ghosts (Sk+te’kmujue’katik) Q&A, Staff Picks: Dope 

• Mayfair Theatre: I Swear, Holy Days, Chopping Mall 

Gigs

• Woods & Gummeson Trio ft. Alex Mastronardi. The Robo Lounge

• The Prime Rib Big Band. Irene’s Pub

• Dali Van Gogh, Motherland, Refuse. House of TARG

THURSDAY

• Franco-Ontarian singer songwriter Geneviève RB performs French-lanuage pop songs at the Jukebox Lunch Concert at the NAC. (Downtown) 

• Jazz vocalist Angela Verbrugge sings timeless songs at The Robo Lounge, accompanied by Ray Gallon on piano.(The Glebe)  

• The village of Manotick will take a step back in time with the Founders Table event this evening. Guests dressed in contemporary elegance or Bridgerton-inspired costume will be seated at a very long communal table in Dickinson Street in support of Watson’s Mill.

• 12 artists face off in three 20 minute rounds in Art Battle at Overflow Brewing. (Heron Gate)

• In pro basketball: Ottawa Blackjacks meet Winnipeg Sea Bears at TD Place. (The Glebe)  

Cinema

• ByTowne Cinema: Calle Málaga, The Green Bench, Backrooms 

• Mayfair Theatre: Holy Days, They Are Sacred  

Gigs

• Sundown Trio+. Night Oat

• Elizabeth Royall EP release with Corascene. LIVE on Elgin

• Kyle Jordan and Erik Johnson-Scherger. MacKay United Church 

• The Listros. The 27 Club

FRIDAY

• Manotick’s Dickinson Days is celebrating 50 years with a parade at 7:00 pm followed by police and fire demonstrations, a competitive basketball game, a nerf battle, and fireworks to top it all off at 9:00 pm. The festival continues over the weekend.  

• The line-up is all Canadian classic rock at Guitars & Gasoline Festival, tonight through tomorrow in Calabogie. Weekend passes and single tickets are available. 

• Performer, entrepreneur, and RuPaul’s Drag Race fan favourite Alyssa Edwards appears at Algonquin Commons Theatre for one night only. 

• Dance until midnight and meet artists on each floor of Canadian Museum of Nature at Nature Nocturne. 

• The Kickin’ It Country Barn Party Fundraiser for Eastern Ontario Resource Centre’s Emergency Food Cupboard is a great excuse to kick up your boots for some line dancing at the Just Food Farm Barn. Don't fret none if you don’t know the moves; the fun starts with a lesson on the dance floor. (Blackburn Hamlet) 

• Also in the Hamlet: community spirit and family fun are what the Blackburn Hamlet FunFair is all about (today through Sunday).  You'll be kept busy with inflatable rides, a wreck room, live music, a family movie night, and so much more. As for food, burgers, hotdogs and food trucks will ensure no one goes hungry. 

• With Saturday completely sold out and limited tickets remaining for today’s 4:00 pm to 11:00 pm session, the time is now to book your entry to Craft Beer Festival.

Cinema

• ByTowne Cinema: Do You Love Me, Dossier 137, Blue Heron  

• Mayfair Theatre: Little Lorraine, Silent Friend,  Jesus Christ Vampire Hunter: 25th Anniversary 

Gigs

• Jinjer. Bronson Centre

• Candy Says, Thee Soreheads, Static. Avant-Garde Bar

• Matt Falvai Duo. Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Ottawa

• Beats & Keys. The Robo Lounge

• Ed Lister Group. Night Oat

• Akeem Oh. National Arts Centre

JUST ANNOUNCED / NOW BOOKING

• Judging from this Instagram post, the next Wellington Record Club night at Wellington Gastropub will be all about 90s art rockers Pulp. 

DEALS OF THE DAY

Monkey Rock makes beautiful music for littles and grownups. Become a member of the Monkey Rock Fan Club to save 25% on Summer Classes.

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BUT, ONE MORE THING ...

The 10th Annual Uber Lost and Found Index has dropped – and Ottawa is one of Canada’s least forgetful cities. Number one is Saskatoon, number 10 is Kitchener-Waterloo. 

While the most forgotten items are phones, wallets, and keys as one would suspect, someone in Ottawa is missing a red bathing suit.

RAPID RESPONSE QUALITY CONTROL

THE END

THE OTTAWAN is written and edited every working weekday by Martha and Darren. Is there something that Ottawa should know about? Email to us at hello@theottawan.com. We read every single comment.