The Tattoo Truck is inking memories at Ottawa Bluesfest
Article content
The year 2025 was also tattooed, with the twos backwards, because Kynlie, 9, sometime scribes them like that 'and we just left it.'
Article content
Article content
'Getting her name in her writing is something I always wanted to do, and, since they had the tattoo place here at Bluesfest, I decided to get 2025 as well,' Buzzie told the Ottawa Citizen as the tattoo was finishing up.
Article content
Article content
'It's just me and her here, so it's a father-daughter thing, so I thought it would be a good memory to have.'
Article content
The Tattoo Truck is in its second year at Bluesfest and the operation aims for 35-40 tattoos a night, Luke McCormick told the Citizen. Last year, there were 335 tattoos done in the truck during Bluesfest's run.
Article content
McCormick says the tattoo truck embodies the memories unexpected tattoos can bring to an event like Bluesfest, particularly with friends.
Article content
'It's the experience, it's spontaneous, the fun of getting a tattoo,' McCormick said. 'It's for the story.'
Article content
Article content
For Kathryn Green, one of the truck's three tattoo artists, her favourite tattoo she did at Bluesfest was last year. Two workers came in to have raccoons inked on them after a baby racoon was stuck in a popcorn machine, delaying the 5 p.m. opening.
Article content
'They came in and got raccoons on their legs,' Green said.
Article content
Article content
McCormick's wildest Bluesfest tattoo story was also from last year, when three guys came in and had flaming 8-ball tattoos placed on their butts: 'Three dudes dropped their drawers.'
Article content
Article content
Tattoos on average take around 15 minutes and cost $150. According to McCormick, it often takes longer to clean a station than to finish the tattoo.
Article content
For Luc Michaud, another tattoo artist at the truck, the work represents a fantastic marketing opportunity for his own practice.
Article content
'It's nice to interact, get out of the studio and interact with people face to face,' Michaud said. 'I find the old-school handshake is a good way to find new clients, and I got a lot of new clients from this festival last year.'
Article content
Article content
As for tips of Bluesfest attendee wanting tattoos, Michaud says it's best to avoid rib tattoos on the truck. There is limited space on the converted small bus and rib tattoos, which are already not a flat surface, become more difficult when the truck moves slightly.
Article content
McCormick said the truck also avoids neck and face tattoos.
Article content
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Ottawa Citizen
06-08-2025
- Ottawa Citizen
The Howard Stern Show, a radio fixture since the 1980s, is said to be ending soon
This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Howard Stern at a basketball game between the Miami Heat and the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden on Jan. 27, 2011. Photo by Chris Trotman / Getty The Howard Stern Show, which has been on the air now for more than 40 years, first on terrestrial radio and since 2005 on SiriusXM satellite radio, is said to be on the verge of ending. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Exclusive articles from Elizabeth Payne, David Pugliese, Andrew Duffy, Bruce Deachman and others. Plus, food reviews and event listings in the weekly newsletter, Ottawa, Out of Office. Unlimited online access to Ottawa Citizen and 15 news sites with one account. Ottawa Citizen ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on. Daily puzzles, including the New York Times Crossword. Support local journalism. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Exclusive articles from Elizabeth Payne, David Pugliese, Andrew Duffy, Bruce Deachman and others. Plus, food reviews and event listings in the weekly newsletter, Ottawa, Out of Office. Unlimited online access to Ottawa Citizen and 15 news sites with one account. Ottawa Citizen ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on. Daily puzzles, including the New York Times Crossword. Support local journalism. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Reports in Britain's tabloid The Sun and elsewhere say that the host's latest five-year contract expires in the fall, but that it won't be renewed. 'Stern's contract is up in the fall and while Sirius is planning to make him an offer, they don't intend for him to take it,' an unnamed insider told the paper. 'Sirius and Stern are never going to meet on the money he is going to want. It's no longer worth the investment.' The insider added that Sirius may strike a deal for Stern's library of content. 'But as far as him coming back to doing the show, there's no way they can keep paying his salary.' The Ottawa Citizen's best journalism, delivered directly to your inbox by 7 p.m. on weekdays. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again A separate source said Stern's political leanings may be a factor in the cancellation. 'If Sirius isn't going to give Stern a good offer, I don't think it would have anything to do with his ratings,' the source said. 'It's more likely everything to do with the political climate.' The source added: 'After you saw what happened with Stephen Colbert, it's like they just can't afford to keep him going.' The comparison is an apt one. Colbert, host of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, was told last month that the show would end in May 2026. It was a move that many — not least Donald Trump himself — suggested was influenced by Colbert's criticism of the now U.S. president over the years. Similarly, Stern has in recent years become openly critical of Trump. In 2020 he called on Trump to resign from his first term as president for his response to the COVID-19 pandemic. When Trump's son Donald Trump Jr. mocked him, he sarcastically referred to the the younger Trump as a 'wit' and a 'genius.' And in 2023, Trump posted on social media that 'The real Howard Stern is a weak, pathetic, and disloyal guy, who lost his friends and MUCH of his audience.' He added: 'I did his show many times in the good old days, and then he went Woke, and nobody cares about him any longer.' Stern's radio persona has evolved over the decades. Originally known as a 'shock jock' broadcaster — his move to SiriusXM was in part a way to get away from the censorship regulations of terrestrial radio — he gradually became a more serious and politically savvy interviewer. This advertisement has not loaded yet. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Guests on his show have included U.S. President Joe Biden, who gave his first on-air interview while in office to Stern in April 2024, and U.S. Vice-President Kamala Harris, who spoke to him last October, just weeks before the nation went to the polls. Stern, 71, got his start on radio in the late 1970s, with The Howard Stern Show beginning in 1981 on WWDC, a radio station near Washington, D.C. It moved to WNBC in New York the following year, and in 1985 landed at WXRK, where it stayed until its move to SiriusXM in 2005. Stern signed a US$500-million contract with Sirius the following year, and his contracts with the platform over the last two decades are estimated to be between US$80 million and US$100 million a year. Amid all the rumours, Stern made a surprise appearance (the show was on summer hiatus) on Wednesday to talk to Lars Ulrich of Metallica about the death of Ozzy Osbourne, and a new Metallica channel on SiriusXM. The topic of cancellation did not arise. Our website is the place for the latest breaking news, exclusive scoops, longreads and provocative commentary. Please bookmark and sign up for our newsletters here.
Ottawa Citizen
03-08-2025
- Ottawa Citizen
Jim Watson: This is the summer to spend your tourist dollars in Canada, eh?
Many Canadians prefer Anne of Green Gables to Donald Trump's America, when it comes to travel. Photo by TIMES & TRANSCRIPT I recently returned home from a wonderful and refreshing week in Canada's smallest province, Prince Edward Island. Everything in this beautiful part of our country is best described as quaint. From lobster dinners in church basements, to the red sandy beaches and rediscovering Anne of Green Gables, you would be hard-pressed to find a better place to visit as a tourist. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Exclusive articles from Elizabeth Payne, David Pugliese, Andrew Duffy, Bruce Deachman and others. Plus, food reviews and event listings in the weekly newsletter, Ottawa, Out of Office. Unlimited online access to Ottawa Citizen and 15 news sites with one account. Ottawa Citizen ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on. Daily puzzles, including the New York Times Crossword. Support local journalism. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Exclusive articles from Elizabeth Payne, David Pugliese, Andrew Duffy, Bruce Deachman and others. Plus, food reviews and event listings in the weekly newsletter, Ottawa, Out of Office. Unlimited online access to Ottawa Citizen and 15 news sites with one account. Ottawa Citizen ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on. Daily puzzles, including the New York Times Crossword. Support local journalism. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Just like Charlottetown depends on visitors and tour groups to sustain its economy, so too, does Ottawa. It is estimated that tourism is the third-largest employer here (government and Crown corporations, followed by the tech community, come in first and second). In 2023, visitors to Ottawa contributed $1.5 billion to our city's GDP. That works out to 24,570 jobs created thanks to visitors who travel here to see everything from the Parliament Buildings to our world-class festivals, to our amazing museums, galleries, restaurants, attractions and sport and cultural events. Ottawa offers something for every age and demographic. Unfortunately, more Canadians have been to Disney World than to Yukon or Nova Scotia or even our own backyard: Eastern Ontario and West Quebec. There are lots of reasons for that and some have to do with high travel costs to fly from one part of Canada to another. The United States also outspends us significantly in marketing their destinations. When I was president of the Canadian Tourism Commission (CTC), now called Destination Canada, the City of Chicago spent more on marketing than the government of Canada through the CTC. The current trade war with our biggest external tourist customer is frustrating and unfair. But we can all play a small role to fight back and we can start by choosing to see our own country and its many marvels. The current trade war with our biggest external tourist customer is frustrating and unfair. I know our weather will be a challenge for those of us who want to escape February and its frigid climate. We are about halfway through our summer and there is still time to book a Canadian holiday either near or far. Day trips to beautiful spots in and beyond the borders of Ottawa are plentiful: the villages of Manotick or Cumberland or Merrickville or Westport, for instance. The list is endless and you'll experience small-town charm while helping the local economy. I give credit to Prime Minister Mark Carney for introducing the Canada Strong pass that offers free VIA train travel for children, deep discounts to older children and free admission to national museums and parks, among other significant discounts, making it more attractive and affordable for individuals or families to discover the beauty of our home and native land.
Vancouver Sun
24-07-2025
- Vancouver Sun
13 top restaurants join new Ottawa Citizen food event in support of food bank
As much as I've tried for more than a dozen years to document objectively the highs and lows and ups and downs of Ottawa's restaurants, by now I'm also an advocate for the city's best eateries and shops, which stand out thanks to the deliciousness and distinctiveness of their work. If you email me asking for a recommendation, I'll write you back. (Although to the frequently asked query, 'What's the best restaurant in the city?' I usually fire back, 'It depends on what you like.') For more than a few years, I've contributed my ballot to the compilers of the annual Canada's 100 Best Restaurants list, and Ottawa eateries always rank among my top 10, no matter how well I've eaten in Montreal, Toronto or Vancouver. While Michelin Guide inspectors don't visit Ottawa as they do those three Canadian metropolises, I've chimed in and written about the local restaurants that I think are Michelin-worthy . Discover the best of B.C.'s recipes, restaurants and wine. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder. The next issue of West Coast Table will soon be in your inbox. Please try again Interested in more newsletters? Browse here. All that to say, celebrating eating well in Ottawa is part of my job. Given that, I'm glad that the Ottawa Citizen is putting its corporate weight behind an event this fall with the same goal: to fete some of the national capital region's top chefs and restaurants, as well as a culinary scene that I think is underestimated in the country. After bolstering our local food and drink coverage to help you find the best ice cream shops , cocktail bars , pizzerias, most iconic Ottawa dishes and more, the newspaper's logical next step is to bring together a baker's dozen of leading restaurant and food shop chefs for a celebratory evening. 'For more than a decade, Peter Hum's work covering the Ottawa food scene has been unmatched,' said Ottawa Citizen editor-in-chief Nicole Feriancek. 'His reviews are conversational, unscrupulously fair and above all honest with readers about where to find a truly special meal in our city. 'I'm so thrilled the Citizen is launching an event that celebrates the best Ottawa chefs — and is also guided by Peter's expert palate.' The Ottawa Citizen's inaugural Best Restaurants 2025 is set to happen Oct. 6 at the Canadian Museum of Nature from 5:30 to 9:30 p.m., with the Ottawa Food Bank as the event's charitable partner. More information is available here as well as early-bird tickets, priced at $135.60 including HST. After Sept. 8, the price rises to $146.90, and after Oct. 1, to $169.50. Which 13 vendors will offer their tasty treats to event-goers? Read on. 1 Elgin St., inside the National Arts Centre; Best known for its pre-show dinners, attractive canal-side patio and take-home holiday feasts, the National Arts Centre's restaurant 1 Elgin has also commendably strutted its stuff at past Ottawa culinary events such as A Taste For Hope, among others. NAC executive chef Kenton Leier usually shares the limelight at the NAC's Chef's Table nights with resident chefs who come from across the country to have their profiles raised nationally. At the Citizen's 2025 Best Restaurants event, he'll be in the limelight by himself, or at least, with members of the NAC team. If you attend A Taste of the Capital and haven't done so already, you can congratulate Leier for his recovery following his 2022 brush with death after dealing with a workplace emergency . 50 O'Connor St., Aiana, the posh restaurant in the Sun Life Financial Centre, celebrates its fifth anniversary on Aug. 7, marking its splashy entry on Ottawa's restaurant scene despite the distresses and uncertainties of the full throes of the COVID-19 pandemic. Nonetheless, chef Raghav Chaudhary has ambitiously asserted himself with lunch and dinner menus (both a la carte and tasting) that nod to fine Canadian ingredients and rigorous technique. Chaudhary, a Canadian who graduated from the Culinary Institute of America and has worked in acclaimed restaurants in Sweden and San Francisco, represented Ottawa at the 2024 Canadian Culinary Championship. Chaudhary, who also happens to have the name of his restaurant tattooed on his forearm, is to release his first cookbook, entitled Gather, Savor, Share, this fall. Peter Hum's November 2020 review of Aiana 340 Somerset St. W., Opened during the first pandemic summer in 2020, Arlo Wine and Restaurant defied the headwinds by offering restaurant-goers a trifecta of attractions. Chef and co-owner Jamie Stunt, who won silver at the 2013 Canadian Culinary Championship, makes exemplary, flavour-packed food that's as tasty as it is unfussy — think spiced duck brochettes with fries or a porcini-dusted ribeye steak for two. Sommelier and co-owner Alex McMahon, who a decade ago interned at the world-class restaurant Noma in Copenhagen before overseeing the wine programs at Bar Laurel and then Riviera, offers beguiling natural and low-intervention wines. He also demystifies them for customers in the friendliest, most unassuming way. The ambience in Arlo's charming, woody Centretown building is just as casual, with servers in t-shirts and a back patio in summer that's positively idyllic. Steadily rising in the estimation of the annual Canada's 100 Best Restaurants list, this year Arlo was ranked 49th. Peter Hum's July 2020 review of Arlo 853 St. Laurent Blvd., Ottawa chef Joe Thottungal is a shining example of a new-Canadian success story. Born, raised and trained as a chef in India, he worked in Mumbai, Saudi Arabia, Toronto, and Windsor before coming to Ottawa in 2002. While the city had lots of Indian restaurants at the time, they served Northern Indian fare while Thottungal came from Kerala on India's southwest coast. In 2004, he opened Coconut Lagoon in a former St. Laurent Boulevard sports bar to champion the food of tropical regions, which is rich with vibrant flavours and the pleasures of coconut milk, curry leaves, ginger, garlic, and well-deployed spices. After persevering through some tough early days, the restaurant became a hit. Thottungal then racked up achievement after achievement, from representing Ottawa at the 2017 Canadian Culinary Championship, where he took home silver , to writing two award-winning cookbooks, to opening a second restaurant, Thali , in downtown Ottawa. Thottungal is as well-known in Ottawa for his philanthropy and community-building as he is for his food. For many years, he has supported local community organizations including Carefor, the Élisabeth Bruyère Hospital and the Ottawa Snowsuit Fund. He regularly donates food to the Shepherds of Good Hope soup kitchen, and during the COVID-19 pandemic, when his restaurants were closed, he rallied local chefs to help feed those hardest hit by the pandemic. No wonder Thottungal in 2020 received the Order of Ottawa and was chosen as an Ottawa Citizen newsmaker of the year . Peter Hum's November 2022 review of Coconut Lagoon . 18 York St.; When I first wrote about Dave Godsoe in 2013, he was the chef barely in his early 20s who ran the kitchen at a very promising restaurant called Indulge Kitchen and Cocktails in Riverside South. Just a few years later, in 2016, the Algonquin College culinary program grad became the latest in a line of acclaimed chefs to take the helm at Restaurant E18hteen in the ByWard Market. Nine years later, Godsoe is a sextuple threat, overseeing the kitchens and beverage programs at E18hteen, Social Restaurant and Lounge, Sidedoor, the Clarendon Tavern and the Hyde, which are clustered in the Market, as well as at Maison Charron in Jacques Cartier Park. E18hteen, which opened in 2001 in a rugged and lovely stone building as old as Canada, is the most deluxe of the eateries in what's now called the E18hteen Hospitality Group, whose owners have entrusted so much to Godsoe. At E18hteen, fine dining fare leans into traditional French cuisine with Canadian influences, and its selection of steaks and chops is considerable. 381B Winona Ave., Opened in late 2024, in the ground floor of Azure Urban Developments' Posthouse Westboro apartment building, Elise brings well-made French-influenced dishes to a neighbourhood and city that could use more of it. Young chef Nouk Couturier-Bernard cooks as if he has something to prove, and he has said he would like Elise to be worthy one day of inclusion in the esteemed Canada's 100 Best Restaurants list. That's quite the aspiration, but it's not out of the question. Peter Hum's March 2025 review of Elise 783 Quebec Rte 105, Chelsea, Quebec, When I'm asked, 'Where should I take visitors to Ottawa for dinner?' Les Fougères always figures in my reply. As far as idyllic rural getaways in the region go, the longstanding restaurant in Chelsea, which overlooks woodlands and gardens, is unsurpassed. Opened in 1993, the restaurant has been acclaimed for its regional, seasonal fare under a succession of chefs, from co-owner Charles Part, who represented the Ottawa area at the 2009 Canadian Culinary Championship, to Simon Beaudry, its current chef. Two chefs ago, its chef Yannick La Salle, now the chef for the Supreme Court of Canada, won the 2019 Canadian Culinary Championship . Peter Hum's March 2023 review of Les Fougeres 610 Somerset St. W., At Le Poisson Bleu, which opened in the spring of 2022 on Somerset Street West just east of Chinatown, chef-owner Alex Bimm practices cutting-edge fish and seafood cookery. Among his exploits here are dishes that involve dry-aging fish as if they were beef or poultry, turning fish into charcuterie, putting fish into chili and more. The trailblazing Australian chef Josh Niland, a global leader when it comes to butchering and cooking fish, is one of Bimm's heroes. Another is Martin Picard, the maximalist Montreal chef behind the memorable excesses of Au Pied de Cochon. Put it all together, and you have one of the most accomplished and interesting restaurants in Ottawa — and beyond, to be fair. Peter Hum's May 2022 review of Le Poisson Bleu 1130 Wellington St. W Unit 1, Launched in 2015, Liz Mok's much-admired ice cream business quickly won a broad following for its unique, small-batch, Asian-themed frozen treats. But Moo Shu is a recent arrival in Hintonburg , having moved there in the fall of 2024 after outgrowing its original Centretown location. Intriguing varieties like Hong Kong milk tea, White Rabbit (inspired by the Chinese candy of the same name), black sesame and dalgona (Korean sponge toffee) and coffee must be tasted to be believed. Ever the innovator, Mok has also created flavours such as Blueberry, Ricotta & Basil, Chèvre & Cherry Fig Chutney and Salted Honey & Crostini. Her strawberry ice cream is marvelous, overcoming the high water content of those tasty berries to create a confection from local fruit that's absolutely fresh and natural. Mok's justly revered ice cream bars, which come in flavours such as Vietnamese coffee and brownie or durian and brown sugar blondie, are as architecturally sound as they are tasty, avoiding the common failing of ice cream bars, namely structural integrity failures that see melty ice cream squished out of the embrace of the biscuits after a forceful chew. 226 Nepean St., When North & Navy opened on Nepean Street in February 2015, it took over the space vacated by the departure of restaurateur Stephen Beckta's standard-setting eponymous fine-dining destination. In its first decade, North & Navy has done its address and predecessor proud, with chef and co-owner Adam Vettorel serving some of Ottawa's very best pasta dishes as part of his mission to bring food influenced by Northern Italy to the city. Pasta aside, North & Navy excels at other well-crafted and lucidly flavourful dishes that make local and seasonal ingredients sing. 200 Preston St., Since 1979, when pastry chef and gelato maker Joe Calabro opened Pasticceria Gelateria Italiana, 200 Preston St. has been one of the most delicious addresses on the main drag of Ottawa's Little Italy. Not only did Calabro introduce gelato to Ottawa. He also was part of teams that competed at the 1992 and 1996 World Culinary Olympics. He was also one of five Canadian chefs invited to cook a prestigious dinner in the fall of 2011 at James Beard House in New York. More than a dozen years later, Calabro is still innovating at his shop, where the 20-plus gelato flavours can be resolutely classic or as trendy as Calabro's oh-so-au-courant pistachio with Dubai chocolate. 200 Elgin St., Peruvian cuisine, which for the world's food-lovers has gone in the last two decades from a mystery to a global darling, has an excellent champion in Ottawa in chef Lizardo Becerra. He came to town in 2012 to be the chef at the Embassy of Peru in Ottawa. He worked there for four years, and thankfully for Ottawa, he stayed here. When COVID-19 struck in early 2020, Becerra had to stop working at the Andaz Hotel in the ByWard Market, where he had been chef de cuisine. Since then, he has strung together tasty success after tasty success, first with a modest takeout business feeding people in lockdowns and then the more upscale and refined Raphaël Peruvian Cuisine, which opened on Clarence Street before moving to Elgin Street. Becerra represented Ottawa at this year's Canadian Culinary Championship, where he served what I thought was the most distinguished and tasty plate of the competition. Peter Hum's December 2022 review of Raphaël Peruvian Cuisine 1356 Wellington St. W., Chef-owner Jason Sawision opened Stofa, his self-described 'approachable fine-dining' restaurant, in 2017. It has evolved to become a popular choice for culinary buffs interested in multi-course tasting menu-type experiences without the heftiest of price tags associated with such sophisticated meals. Peter Hum's December 2024 review of Stofa For more smart picks and offbeat stories from around the city, subscribe to Out of Office , our weekly newsletter on local arts, food and things to do.
