Ottawa Magazine Best Restaurants 2022

What is change, anyway? It’s a word that gets thrown around a lot, especially around elections. Usually, it’s just a slogan. But these days? These days it might really mean something. I was born and raised in this town. Like many people, work and life drew me elsewhere for a time. Returning mid-pandemic after nearly a decade, change was everywhere. But there was a throughline of familiarity, with many of the people running the city when I left still being at the helm. It was different, but not all that different. No longer. When the ballots are counted in late October, change will be coming to this city. Before even knowing the results, we know there will be a new mayor, and at least 12 new councillors at city hall.…

IT’S OFTEN SAID OTTAWA IS A BIG CITY with a small-town feel, but it’s also the capital of a country with a global reach. A new monument will soon be erected to remind us of that. It will be constructed on the west lawn of Green Island, where the Rideau River empties into the Ottawa River. The site is next to one of the most striking buildings of its era, what was once the city hall on Sussex Avenue, since given over to the federal foreign service and now known as the John G. Diefenbaker Building. Designed by artists Michaela MacLeod and Nicholas Croft of Polymetis Studio, in conjunction with James B. Lennox and Associates and GRC Architects, the new monument will commemorate those who have died while on duty…

While the pandemic has been ruthless on many business sectors over the past two years, live music venues were particularly impacted. Without the ability to host events for months on end, many had to close their doors and hope they could manage to get through the lockdowns and eventually host shows again. Thankfully in Ottawa, the vast majority of these venues did in fact survive, and can now thrive as music enthusiasts return with gusto to their old haunts and catch up with their favourite artists. Absence does in fact make the heart grow fonder; having missed the ability to unwind with a drink and a song, or unleash in a mosh pit, fans are filling those floors once again. Turns out, many of the artists who could not perform…

Change is afoot in Ottawa. This fall there will be a new mayor and at least 12 new councillors. Whatever comes next for the city will be driven by new people, with new ideas. To understand what that might mean, we’ve identified four key issues facing the city. Through interviews with city staff, business owners, advocates, and other leaders, we explore how things might be done differently with new voices around the council table. This election matters. As the nation’s capital, municipal politics are often overshadowed by debates at the federal level here. But cities play an important role in our everyday experiences, and as the convoy showed us, it is our local leaders we will come to rely on in times of crisis. There are not many opportunities for…

“Police were ineffective because they made the intentional decision not to respond to this as they would other forms of dissent”DEBBIE OWUSU-AKYEEAH COMMISSIONER, OTTAWA PEOPLE’S COMMISSION The sound of bouncing basketballs echoes down Banff Avenue as two dozen children try to emulate their heroes on a hot July evening. Down the block, there’s a new memorial that marks the spot where a 24-year-old man was shot in broad daylight. When Kilo, who wasn’t comfortable giving his full name, heard gunshots that day, he ran outside to see a young man lying in a pool of blood. The experience shook the 35-year-old Haitian furniture mover, but he doesn’t think law enforcement is the solution. “More police presence sometimes means more harassment,” says Kilo. “What would make me feel safe is knowing…

In Paris, you can’t throw a stone without hitting a bakery or a café. In Rome, tiny neighbourhood grocery stores sell ripe fruit and household staples. In Montreal’s urban quarters, independent dépanneurs sell bread, milk, and a bit of fresh produce. But in Ottawa’s downtown core, one often has to walk 30 minutes to procure a day or two’s worth of groceries. Instead of a walkable, convenient lifestyle offering a diversity of services, Ottawa instead offers sprawl. “I don’t see it as a deliberate obsession with actual sprawling. I think sprawling is a result of careless planning more than anything else,” says Rick MacEwen of Watson MacEwen Teramura Architects, who has long advocated for density and sustainable design. “It’s also the result of a preoccupation with inexpensive convenience and a…