{"id":825,"date":"2010-11-09T10:08:30","date_gmt":"2010-11-09T15:08:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/justrw.net\/blog\/?p=825"},"modified":"2016-08-17T18:01:58","modified_gmt":"2016-08-17T22:01:58","slug":"the-un-chef-meets-cordon-bleu-bistro","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/justrw.net\/blog\/2010\/11\/09\/the-un-chef-meets-cordon-bleu-bistro\/","title":{"rendered":"The Un-Chef meets Cordon Bleu Bistro!"},"content":{"rendered":"

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A taste of the Good Life in Ottawa!<\/span><\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
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When the girls are away, it’s our chance for fine dining<\/span><\/p>\n

And for the Cordon Bleu Bistro, it’s a while we’d been pining?<\/span><\/p>\n

Though they’ll let you wear jeans, it just won’t feel right…<\/span><\/p>\n

With that decor and food it would be a real slight!<\/span><\/p>\n

It’s not for you,\u00a0if you’re into nickel and diming!\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

It really is astounding how we can live in a city for most of our lives and still be\u00a0blissfully unaware of many of its hidden secrets. A case in point was our ignorance of the\u00a0fact\u00a0that Ottawa is one of only a handful of cities around the world that boasts its own bona fide Cordon Bleu cooking school. It came to our attention by accident when Gregory, one of\u00a0our Supper Seven noticed it tucked away at the end of Laurier Avenue\u00a0just beyond Ottawa University. One evening, when we\u00a0were otherwise engaged, he took his wife there and gave it rave reviews.\u00a0Since that time, we had been waiting for a suitable\u00a0occasion to try it out. When we got a call from the\u00a0Girl’s father saying that\u00a0they were going to a pumpkin patch, we\u00a0knew that our chance had arrived.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Signatures has now become 'The Bistro at Signatures'<\/p><\/div>\n

Where we went:<\/span><\/span><\/strong>It seems that there is already some history behind this restaurant, since until recently, it was the only restaurant in the city to have received Michelin’s coveted 5-Star award. It seems to me that many years ago, the ‘Ruisseau’ dining room in a hotel in Hull\u00a0that has changed names so many times, I don’t remember what it was called, also earned that accolade! For some reason, The Cordon Bleu Institute decided to ‘downgrade’ the restaurant formerly called ‘Signatures’ to ‘The Bistro at Cordon Bleu’. They now emphasize that they offer casual dining at a more affordable price. I would have liked to have visited before the switch, though my wallet probably would not, since, even now, it could not be considered inexpensive.<\/p>\n

When we entered, there was no one to greet us and we were beginning to have some doubts until someone finally appeared and offered to take our coats. From an inauspicious beginning, things then improved immeasurably!<\/p>\n

\"Chateau<\/a>

Ch\u00e2teau de Courte 2008, Bordeaux, France<\/p><\/div>\n

What we ordered: <\/span><\/span><\/strong>Gregory recalled that the wine that he and Norma had ordered on their previous visit had been particularly good but could not recall its name. Our waiter, also named Gregory, took pains to help him select the correct one. The Ch\u00e2teau de Courte 2008 is what we finally selected and we were very happy with our choice. Both Dorothy and I elected to go with an appetizer, she the cheese souffl\u00e9 and I the snails. While we waited, we leisurely sipped our wine and snacked on warm, fresh artisanal bread.<\/p>\n

What we got<\/span><\/span><\/strong>: Rather than attempt to give you a blow by blow, I will let the pictures do the talking. I will say that the snails in a bread basket was probably the best I have ever had! Dorothy also let me taste her cheese souffl\u00e9 and it melted in the mouth. Clicking on each photo below will give you the description of each dish. Because portion sizes are moderate, we were able to order appetizer, main and desert and still not feel overfull. There are a few things to point out where the pictures do not tell the full story:<\/p>\n