Supporting Ottawa Talent

After moving back from Toronto, I now appreciate Ottawa that much more. I truly think that Ottawa is a great city to be living in. This week I had the privilege of supporting (actually "enjoying" is a better way to describe it) the local talent that the Nation's Capital has to offer.

I was invited by Chef Aliza Hutman to experience her four course Spanish and Moroccan inspired dinner. She created the menu and was the overall chef instructing a team of Algonquin's student chefs to cook the menu at The Restaurant International. Not only did my group of friends provide them with an opportunity to learn but we all enjoyed a lovely 4 course dinner at a very reasonable price ($19.99 per person). If you haven't tried the Restaurant International, Algonquin's School of Hospitality's teaching restaurant, you must...as a lunch/dinner guest, you experience fine dining at very reasonable prices in their well appointed dining room.

Chef Aliza owns a catering company called Octogon Catering in which services include: Private, Corporate, Personalized chef, Cooking Lessons and Gift Baskets. For catering enquiries: aliza@octogoncatering.ca

Phyllo pastries with orange-flower custard strawberries and orange marmalade.
(credit: Photo by Lois Siegel)
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To add to this week's local talent events, I attended Yuk Yuk's Great Canadian Laugh off here in Ottawa. After 6 weeks of competition between Ottawa's best comedians, Wednesday was the FINALE - Ottawa's very own top 6 comedians putting their best efforts to make us laugh: Peter Grunstra, Wafik Nasaralla, Jason Harper, Mike Beatty, Dave Atkinson, and Martha Chaves.

The Ottawa rounds of Yuk Yuk's 2010 Great Canadian Laugh Off contest were, as always, a huge success. It was my first time visiting their new location on Elgin Street and we even enjoyed half price Wednesdays at Hooley's beforehand. Not only was it my pleasure to be there and support our local artists but a portion of the proceeds from my ticket sales were donated to the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation - Thanks to Howard of Yuk Yuk's. Not only did I get great entertainment but I shared the night with a group of fantastic friends for a great cause.

This year's winner in Ottawa was Martha Chaves. She will be competing in a heat with 7 others on Friday March 19th at Yuk Yuk's flagship club in Toronto. Should she win that round she will compete in the final on Sunday March 21st for a chance at $25,000. This round will be taped for national broadcast by the Comedy Network to air in the fall of 2010. If you haven't seen her before, you have to..she's hilarious and it's apparent why she won BUT kudos to all the other comedians because they truly have talent!!!Can't wait for the next event in support of local talent!