Feast and Revel located in the lobby of the Andaz Ottawa ByWard Market hotel at the corner of Dalhousie and York offer modern Canadiana cuisine. Open daily for breakfast and dinner Executive Chef Stephen La Salle offers farm to table dishes focusing on local, organic and sustainable products.
The interior of the restaurant is similar to the rest of the design of the Andaz hotel with a modern design and reference to local through lumberjack plaid on the walls. The massive 14 seat table sits in the center of Feast and Revel and is the perfect place to gather with friends, or if you rather something more intimate there are plenty of upholstered booths next to the floor to ceiling windows.
As a huge fan of the Andaz Hotel, in particular, the trendy monthly Bubbles Beats and Brunch held at Copper Spirits and Sights I was curious to sample the new fall menu. To drink there are a few new cocktails on the fall menu including The Unfiltered Rose which is Dillon’s Rose Gin, Dillon’s Unfiltered Gin, lemon, cassis, crushed ice and simple syrup which makes for a light and refreshing fruity cocktail. Or my personal favorite The Sugar Chack which is tea-infused Lit 40 Rye, Amaro Nonino, sweet vermouth, maple syrup, fresh lemon, black walnut bitters and a rosemary branch which has been torched to lightly infuse the cocktail with smoke. The end result is a smooth drinking drink which is a bit of a show stopper when you are presented with the lightly smoking cocktail. I highly recommend it.
While looking over the rest of the menu, I tried the bannocks, freshly baked light and puffy bread which is served with a daily flavored butter. Upon my visit, the butter was pumpkin flavored which paired perfectly with the buns.
For the first appetizer, I tried one of the new fall dishes, smoked elk on “beaver dough”. Designed to be a sophisticated twist of the classic beavertail, here fried dough is topped with smoked and braised elk from a ranch just outside of Ottawa, and is served with caramelized onions, PEI cheddar, local Beau’s beer pickled mustard seeds, and cornichons. The dish is beautifully plated with flowers and provides a more sophisticated and savory version of the iconic Beavertail.
The first time I tried Chef La Salle’s lamb poutine I was having dinner 150 feet above Ottawa as I had the amazing experience to try the Sky Lounge. The creative dish impressed me so much, that I needed to reorder the dish which is braised and seared Ontario lamb shoulder on top of a creamy potato, and topped with whipped Quebec cheese curd topped with lamb jus. The innovative dish has all the classic flavors of a classic poutine but the end result is something spectacular.
The lamb poutine is also one of the several dishes that are designated as Mealshare items, so each time the dish is ordered Feast and Revel makes a donation to provide meals to youth in need. So go ahead and savor your poutine and feel good about helping your community too!
On the fall menu, there are plenty of delicious entree options including the open sky chicken breast, a Montreal steak spice rubbed turkey leg, and arctic char or vegetarian house-made cavatelli but it was the decedent AAA beef tenderloin that I needed to try.
Like the rest of the dishes on the menu, the meat is locally sourced, in this case, the beef comes from a family farm in Perth and is served with a tomato coulis, a tomato, cucumber and Panzanella salad, house made french fries and a cream lobster-infused butter sauce.
By working with local farmers, Feast and Revel provides generous portions of food so there is no chance of you leaving feeling hungry. This is well highlighted in the pork shoulder which is massive and served lightly seared in boar fat as is topped with a brown sugar glaze and served with kale, blueberries, farro and Saskatoon berries.
I have to applaud Chef La Salle and the rest of the Feast and Revel team as every dish I had was wonderful. The sophisticated restaurant beautifully highlights local ingredients and dishes such as the Beavertail or Poutine in a way that will expose tourists and locals alike to modern Canadian cuisine and the splendor of our local products. When you visit I strongly suggest ordering The Sugar Shack and the Lamb Poutine which are my two must-try items on the fall menu.