New Ottawa restaurant, gothic Italian speakeasy hidden behind a bookcase in the ByWard Market
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You're not in a club, nor are you near some of the noisier parts of the Market, which flood with bar spillover after hours. You've found Tredici, a gothic Italian speakeasy accessed by a faux bookcase on Clarence Street.
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Much like the intimate space, the menu is compact and committed to a noir aesthetic. The theme carries through each course, among them, bone marrow bruschetta for starters, squid ink fettuccine for main and tiramisu stamped in Roman numerals for dessert.
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Cocktails like the black vodka Nerotini and the absinthe-rinse Corpse Reviver Thirteen lean theatrical in name, though regulars swear by their balanced construction and depth of flavour.
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Alcohol-free options are made with similar care. The lemon-basil Numero Zero, for example, lands herbal and complex — easily the best mocktail I've had in three years sober.
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Tredici, which opened around six months ago, is the passion project of Barry Moore and Matthew Bishop, veterans of Ottawa's food and drink world.
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Between them, the co-owners have cooked, bartended and managed across the ByWard Market for more than a decade, watching it hollow out after waves of closure, then flicker back to life. Now they run a place on their terms.
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'We didn't make it easy on ourselves, being a sort of hidden spot in the Market,' said Moore. 'We want it to feel classy and a little upscale but not inaccessible.'
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The space is moody with empty picture frames, dripping candles and black-on-black table settings.
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A block away, heavy metal bar and restaurant The Koven goes full throttle with band-themed burgers and a blast beat playlist — great when you're in the mood. But Tredici keeps the volume lower, in both decibels and atmosphere.
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'Our investor originally wanted twelve seats and a bartender,' said Bishop. 'We thought, sure, but let's bump it to thirteen and call it Tredici. Thirteen is a lucky number in Italy.'
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There's a certain symmetry to the gamble. Bishop spent time in Northern Italy, and it shows in Tredici's food, particularly its stripped-down, ingredient-first approach.
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Menu items spring from 'experimentation (and) what's in season,' he said. '(We have) connections with local farmers… I just got beautiful asparagus and young garlic from Rideau Pines (Farm) that I'm working on a dish with.'
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