Latest news with #Caméline
Ottawa Citizen
17 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Ottawa Citizen
These five Ottawa-area chefs will vie for a spot at the 2026 Canadian Culinary Championship
Article content Five chefs from Ottawa and the Outaouais will cook off against each other next month, hoping to qualify for the 2026 Canadian Culinary Championship next January. Article content Three of the chefs at the Sept. 22 event are newcomers to the annual competition, which is called the Ottawa edition of Canada's Great Kitchen Party, but in past years was known as Gold Medal Plates. These chefs include Simon Beaudry, the 31-year-old chef at Les Fougères in Chelsea, Simon Laroche, chef at the pasta-focused restaurant Caméline in Gatineau's Hull sector, and Michael Hauschild, the private chef who runs the Kanata-based catering company InHaus Cooking. Article content Article content Article content Returning competitors are Chef Jason Sawision of Stofa Restaurant on Wellington Street West and Mitch Lacombe of Gitanes on Elgin Street. Sawision came in second at last year's qualifier, and Lacombe finished third. Article content Last year, chef Lizardo Becerra of Raphael Peruvian Cuisine on Elgin Street prevailed over Sawision, Lacombe and three other Ottawa chefs to win his spot at the national competition, which was held in Ottawa last winter. A B.C. chef won gold, following the grand finale event on Feb. 1 at the Rogers Centre in Ottawa. Article content Becerra, who recently opened a second, more casual restaurant called Barrio on Rideau Street, is hosting the Sept. 22 qualifying event at Raphael Peruvian Cuisine. All of the event's 80 spots have already been sold. Article content In 2024 and 2023, the qualifying event was held at the Fairmont Chateau Laurier, and at each, six chefs competed during an event that saw guests move from chef's station to chef's station and then eat at high tables. Article content Article content When asked about the change of format this year, Lisa Pasin, senior vice-president for Canada's Great Kitchen Party, said organizers want to stage 'something different and more intimate — and concentrate our efforts on the Canadian Culinary Championship.' Article content Over the years, Ottawa chefs have performed strongly at the Canadian Culinary Championship. Article content Chef Briana Kim, who is expected to open her new restaurant Antheia later this year, won the national event in 2023. Marc Lepine of Atelier won the 2012 and 2016 Canadian Culinary Championships. Chef Yannick La Salle, formerly of Les Fougères in Chelsea but now the chef for the Supreme Court of Canada, won the national competition in 2019. Article content
Ottawa Citizen
24-04-2025
- Ottawa Citizen
Hum: Caméline in Vieux-Hull indulges a passion for creative pasta
Article content Grilled white asparagus ($23), bolstered with guanciale, grated egg yolk and tarragon aioli, felt like a high-in-umami delicacy. Article content We then shared three of the menu's four pasta dishes. Article content Skewing sweet were the agnolotti filled with roasted beet and house-made ricotta, adorned with stracciatella di bufala (the delicate Italian buffalo-milk cheese), orange honey and poppy seeds ($29). On a plate of toothsome tagliatelle verde ($33), earthy wild mushrooms, black garlic and Calabrian chili were all impactful. Article content Article content Article content Carivnore that I am, I preferred the wild boar tortelletti with gremolata, well-salted kale and fried shallots ($34). But my companions had different favourites among the perfectly al dente pastas. That, of course, is a very good sign. Article content Ordering the three appealing but distinct desserts was a no-brainer. Maple gelato affogato ($12) provided the proper sweet, caffeinated jolt. A well-made slice of white chocolate and blood orange tart ($14) nailed its combination of flavours and textures. A slice of upside down banana cake with brown butter cream and ginger crumble ($15) was super-moist and comforting. Article content Article content Before dinner, cocktails ($11 to $18), such as the mix of mezcal, Aperol, lime juice and pineapple juice that I had, were interesting and well-balanced. Article content The always evolving list of privately imported wines chosen by co-owner Alexandre Régimbal includes about a dozen each of whites and reds. Currently, bottles range from $70 to $105. About 10 wines, including an orange wine and a rosé, are available by the glass. I asked someone who knows much more about wine than I do to survey the list and he called it 'an interesting list of food-friendly wines with a focus on low intervention.' Article content He also remarked that about two-thirds of the bottles are from France or Quebec, and just four are from Italy. I responded that perhaps Caméline thinks of itself as a Québécois restaurant that happens to specialize in pasta, rather than an Italian restaurant per se. Article content Later, when I spoke to Laroche and Régimbal, they said I'd hit the nail on the head. Camelina oil, as we anglophones would say, is a Quebec product, and so the restaurant's name nods to some provincial pride on the part of Laroche, Régimbal, and fellow co-owner Audrey Labelle. Article content Further to that, Laroche offered the example of a cacio e pepe pasta that he's made. His riff on that Italian classic involved Quebec cheese and dune pepper, also native to Quebec. Article content I'd like to try that dish if it ever returns to Caméline's menu. I'd also like to sit on the restaurant's back patio, which will seat about 30 when it opens in a month or so. Article content By then, it will truly be spring. Goodbye, root vegetables. Green asparagus and other seasonal delights will be available. Article content
