Susanne After our arrival in Ottawa this afternoon and a very brief rest at our hotel, we went out in search of a satisfying dinner. The Lord Elgin Hotel is just about 15 minutes walk away from the Historic ByWard Market area, which is one of Ottawa‘s main entertainment areas.
Winterlude is a great time because during this winter festival, many of Ottawa’s restaurants offer entertainment and special events. Our destination was Fat Tuesday’s, a New Orleans-style restaurant that is known for its Cajun Creole cuisine and its contemporary dishes.
After we refreshed ourselves and got organized, we headed off at about 6:45 and started our walk toward the ByWard Market, Ottawa’s prime entertainment area. We crossed the Laurier Bridge, which is the setting of quite a few of my husband’s anecdotes about Ottawa’s winter cold which he got to experience in full force during his time at the University of Ottawa in the early 1980s.
We too noticed that there was a stiff fresh breeze coming off the Rideau Canal and by pure coincidence we did a smart thing: we headed into the Rideau Centre, Ottawa’s largest shopping centre. For about 15 minutes we got to walk inside past all the retail stores, totally sheltered from the biting wintery wind.
Well, it didn’t take us long at all to get to the heart of the ByWard Market, and a friendly guy at a Beavertail sales booth (Beavertails are Ottawa’s famous trademark pastry) gave us directions to Fat Tuesday’s, home of Ottawa’s Mardi Gras experience.
Once inside this stylish yet cozy bar/restaurant we had a chance to get a lay of the land from Manny Garcia who’s the general manager and one of the co-owners. He told us that Fat Tuesday’s was created about 4 years ago and is an independently owned restaurant (not part of any restaurant chain). Fat Tuesday’s combines an upscale Cajun/Creole kitchen with live entertainment and great friendly service, and it’s a place where people of all ages congregate.
When we were there the place was packed and the waitresses were dressed up in bustiers and some were wearing face masks in keeping with the Mardi Gras theme. The staff seemed to have a lot of fun and they enjoyed interacting with the customers.
Executive Chef Neil Baker, general manager Manny Garcia, and “the Guy with the Big Furry Hat and the Purple Coat”
