| As always, I like to focus on unconventional travel | | | | a year later, at the young age of 27, they started their |
| ideas and experiences, and food is part of this | | | | restaurant business with funding assistance for Young |
| experience. So before I left for Ottawa I called up the | | | | Aboriginal Entrepreneurs. I asked Phoebe about the |
| ByWard Market Business Improvement Association to | | | | name of their restaurant and she explained that at the |
| find out about any interesting dining establishments. | | | | time they were considering two names: "Sweetgrass" |
| Sure enough, they had a creative suggestion for me: | | | | and "Smoke Signal". Sweetgrass, the final choice, is a |
| an establishment named Sweetgrass Bistro that | | | | tall perfumy grass that grows mostly in marshy areas |
| specializes in aboriginal cuisine. | | | | and it has a long tradition in aboriginal culture. It is used |
| So after my arrival in Ottawa and my initial | | | | in prayers, it is woven into braids and baskets and it is |
| explorations I made my way to the ByWard Market, | | | | also used as a tea by a variety of aboriginal tribes. |
| Ottawa's largest and most dynamic entertainment and | | | | "Sweetgrass" is the only aboriginal restaurant in |
| restaurant area. Sweetgrass Bistro is located in a | | | | Ottawa and only the second restaurant specializing in |
| former private home on 108 Murray Street at the north | | | | native cuisine in all of Canada. Phoebe explained that |
| end of the market area. | | | | they integrate foods from different aboriginal tribes |
| You walk inside and the place has a bar area with an | | | | from all over Canada, the United States and Mexico |
| open concept kitchen on the left and a dining room to | | | | and they use a lot of herbs, grains and different types |
| the right. The atmosphere is calm and understated and | | | | of meat such as moose, elk, buffalo, duck, pheasant, |
| aboriginal art is adorning the walls. I had a chance to sit | | | | rabbit and various types of fish. The menu changes |
| down with Phoebe Sutherland, one of the co-owners | | | | seasonally to reflect the availability of specialized |
| of Sweetgrass. She and husband Warren opened this | | | | ingredients. |
| dining establishment in late 2003. | | | | I had a chance to sample Sweetgrass' unique cuisine |
| Phoebe has an interesting story to tell: she is of Cree | | | | and started off with "Wabush Dumplings" which are |
| origin and grew up in Northern Quebec in the James | | | | pan-fried rabbit dumplings in a honey mustard sauce |
| Bay area. She lived on the reserve until age 10 and | | | | with Bryson greens in a citrus vinaigrette. I am usually |
| spent her childhood camping, enjoying nature, snaring | | | | not a big meat eater, but the subtle flavour of these |
| rabbits, and from a culinary point of view she got | | | | rabbit dumplings complemented by the savoury sauce |
| exposed to a lot of game meats including rabbit and | | | | was very pleasant to my palate. As a main dish I |
| moose. | | | | chose the "Rustic Mahnoomin Siipai", a purely |
| At 10 years of age she moved and went to a private | | | | vegetarian dish consisting of wild rice dumplings filled |
| school in Quebec near the Vermont Border. She later | | | | with great northern beans, topped with wild greens and |
| attended Grenville Christian College in Brockville and | | | | a spring vegetable sauce, a multi-flavoured, yet |
| after high school she enrolled at Algonquin College in | | | | surprisingly filling dish. To cap off this exotic dining |
| Ottawa to complete a program in hotel and restaurant | | | | experience I had "Mom's Indian Buudin", a beautifully |
| management. Following her graduation she wanted to | | | | presented dense, dark-coloured cake, reminiscent of |
| expand her education in culinary arts and decided to | | | | Christmas cake. |
| pursue a degree program in this discipline. Since no | | | | Phoebe had joined me for dinner and told me a bit |
| Canadian university offered a degree in culinary arts | | | | about her childhood, growing up on a reserve and then |
| she went on to attend the New England Culinary | | | | moving away to small towns in Quebec and Ontario. |
| Institute in Vermont where she honed her practical | | | | She says she enjoyed the simple life on the reserve |
| experience in two internship programs. Her first | | | | and as children they would always play outside. One |
| internship was at a four star French establishment | | | | of her favourite activities was to search for wild |
| named Hammersly's Bistro in Boston and her second | | | | strawberries. Today the lodge in her village has been |
| one was at the Asticou Inn in North East Harbour, | | | | turned into a conference centre and although 8 or 9 |
| Maine. The cuisine at this historic inn focused on | | | | hours northeast of Ottawa, the area where she was |
| seafood which was a great learning opportunity for | | | | born attracts a lot more tourists. |
| Phoebe. | | | | Phoebe and her husband Warren, originally from |
| She met her husband Warren in her second year of | | | | Jamaica, share a passion for food. Every year they |
| school where he was studying a year behind her. | | | | participate in the ByWard Market Stew Cookoff and |
| Warren had given up his studies in electrical | | | | this year they won the People's Choice Award for |
| engineering to pursue a career in creative culinary arts. | | | | best stew. They also regularly participate in a local |
| After graduation, both Phoebe and Warren moved to | | | | food show in a small town outside of Ottawa which is |
| Phoenix, Arizona, where she studied transcontinental | | | | a true collaboration between farmers, who provide |
| cuisine, a mixture of South-Western cooking and world | | | | local produce and meats, and chefs, who turn these |
| fusion. Phoebe went on to say that she was the only | | | | precious ingredients into mouthwatering delicacies. Last |
| female in an all Mexican kitchen crew and through the | | | | year about 600 to 800 people attended the food |
| interaction with her co-workers she learned a lot about | | | | festival. |
| traditional Mexican foods as well. That also explained | | | | Phoebe and Warren Sutherland's creation |
| why Sweetgrass has a Mexican Tortilla soup on its | | | | "Sweetgrass" is a unique addition to Ottawa's food |
| spring menu. | | | | scene and testimony to two young, talented and |
| After this experience Phoebe and Warren moved | | | | hardworking people who share an absolute passion |
| back to Canada and decided to get married. Less than | | | | for food. |