The New Watering Holes — Bar Lupulus
After years of growth in the restaurant industry, it's time for Ottawa to up its drinking game.
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The New Watering Holes — Flora Hall
The Community Hall
where everybody knows your name
Walking in to the tap room at Flora Hall Brewing feels a bit like coming home — which is just what Dave Longbottom had in mind.
Longbottom has travelled extensively and dined in high-end restaurants around the globe. But what he always appreciated the most — no matter how far he was from home — were restaurants that fostered a strong sense of community.
“I used to travel all over the place, all the time,” Longbottom says. “I was in Asia, Europe and I always took time to find places that I wanted to be.
“I’d go for the swanky dinner, but I’d also make sure I spent a couple of days in proper establishments that had local food and local people — and real conversation.”
He laughingly admits that he couldn’t necessarily speak the language, but there was a feeling of camaraderie, of comfort, in certain locations.
“In Japan, underneath these railway arches, there’s a place called Yakitori Alley,” he recalls of a trip to Tokyo. “It’s outside, cooked over charcoal and it’s full of business people and drunk guys and tourists — everyone is just eating chicken yakitori.
“That type of experience has informed this place.”
When Longbottom decided to open his own craft brewery, taproom and kitchen, he wanted to instill it with that sense of community. He started with a derelict building — which was originally the home of Welch and Johnston Engineering, back in the 1920s — on Flora Street, in the heart of Centretown.
“I’ve been a longstanding believer that Ottawa needs to do more to encourage the development of properties like this; they do everything but,” Longbottom says. “This is a unique building, built in the '20s; it needed to be developed.”
Photo 1: Alli O'Callaghan, who manages Flora Hall's front of house, shares a pint with owner David Longbottom, centre, and Rod Hughes, head brewer.
Photo 2: Rod Hughes, head brewer.
Longbottom basically started from scratch. The property had water, electricity and gas, but everything needed upgrading in order to put the brewery in. Throughout the renovations, he was careful to maintain the original look of the building.
“All the windows had to be replaced, but I wanted to replace them in a way that was in keeping with the period — right down to the pattern of the mouldings on the windows,” says Longbottom, who scoured old photos from the Ottawa Journal newspaper. “I think it looked beautiful; now it looks modern and beautiful.
“One of the biggest points of pleasure here was to take it and just repurpose it and really bring it to life and I think I’ve given it another 100 years; everything is new.”
The beer is new too, of course — thanks to Rod Hughes, his creative young brewmaster, handpicked and imported from Vancouver to help launch operations. Flora Hall currently offers six beers — including a West Coast IPA and a North East IPA — which have been flying off the shelves.
“It’s a hazy, hoppy, beautiful fruity kind of a finish,” Longbottom says, speaking of the North East IPA. “It’s hard to convince people that we haven’t added fruit to it.”
The Farmhouse Saison offers a nice dry finish, with a very subtle hint of orange peel. There are also two oat beers — the American Oat Pale Ale and an Oatmeal Stout.
“We’ll put some of that into casks,” explains Longbottom of the stout. “We soak oak chips in whiskey and put them into the casks with the beer, so that will add another dimension.”
Photo 1: On the day we visited, the menu, inspired by snack foods from around the world, included these housemade brisket sliders.
Photo 2: Daily tap board.
His personal favourite, however, is the English Ordinary Bitter.
“I have English roots,” he says. “I lived in England, I worked in England and I love English beer.”
Although it’s at the maltier end of the spectrum, Longbottom says it’s not particularly bitter compared to some of the popular bitters out there.
“This one has proved to be really popular amongst people who are not necessarily into the hoppier beers; they love the idea that it’s super tasty and, since it’s 3.5 per cent, you can have a few and not be a blithering mess.”
He adds that the British pubs tend to serve at cellar temperature — instead of the keg fridge temperature, which is what we do here in North America.
“We put this one into casks and condition them so you can serve it on the bar, serve it right off the tap at closer to room temperature,” Longbottom says. “This beer really benefits from warming up, so I’ll often let it sit a little while.”
Naturally, food goes well with beer, but Longbottom was strategic in offering snacks rather than mains.
“The snack part is really my need for the food not to interfere with the socializing,” he explains. “The food has to be part of the socializing; it just means that it’s not a massive undertaking that you stop talking because you have to tuck in.
“It’s supposed to go along with the conversation, the beer drinking, the wine drinking — and it fits on the bar.”
Longbottom has given full creative licence to Linette Edmonds, formerly of the Moonroom and Domus, who he clearly admires for her creativity and diversity in the kitchen.
“Linette has lived in different places, she has a diverse background herself, so international spice profiles are something we have in common.”
The resulting menu is an eclectic mix of comfort foods — with an international twist. Think Moroccan spiced chicken, crunchy cod fritters with honeyed harissa, curried beef pizza, and orange and Szechuan peppercorn ice cream.
“There’s a little Spanish influence, there’s Asian, there’s European,” says Longbottom, adding that everything is made from scratch — right down to the flatbreads and slider buns. “It bounces around, but the common denominator is it’s snack food you’d find in other places in the world.”
Peter Simpson, a seasoned journalist, provides marketing and PR expertise, while Alli O'Callaghan, a longtime bartender, heads up front-of-house operations.
“She’s one of the best I’ve seen,” says Longbottom of O’Callaghan’s warm, extroverted personality. “She can be intensely busy behind the bar, but when she serves somebody a drink, they are her sole focus at that moment.”
It’s abundantly clear that he’s proud of his team and takes the job of serving his customers — and the community — very seriously.
“This is a team pursuit and every person up there is going to be part of the success of this place,” says Longbottom of his staff. “My intention, my vision, is to ensure this place is still brewing when I’m dead and gone; I want this to be here — and being used as a neighbourhood gathering spot for decades.”
He says it’s a thrill to see residents of the neighbourhood returning again and again; although Flora Hall Brewing is brand new, there’s already a bit of a Cheers vibe growing.
“We’re very happy with where we are,” Longbottom says. “And our neighbours — they’re proud of it. The people who live on Flora are like, ‘Hey, we’ve got our own place!’”
Flora Hall Brewing
37 Flora St., Ottawa, Ont.
florahallbrewing.ca, 613.695.2339
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