First Bites March 2023 - Flower Power

SMELLS LIKE TEA SPIRIT
Dunrobin Distilleries co-founder and CEO Adrian Spitzer says making spirits is a lot like cooking. You want the best ingredients and the right balance of flavours.

The recipe for Dunrobin Distilleries’ award-winning Earl Grey gin includes 12 botanicals. You might recognize bergamot, a flower commonly used in Earl Grey tea. They grow the bergamot locally, using the whole thing from stem to head. When Spitzer and co-founder Mark Watson started on a small Dunrobin farm, they asked: “What flavours can we pull out of the Ottawa area and put into our products?” And business quickly blossomed from there. To keep up with high demand during the pandemic, they partnered with Beau’s Brew- ery in Vankleek Hill, where their main manufacturing centre is now. As they expand, Spitzer says they still want to take a “farm to glass” approach as much as possible, working with local farmers to grow many of their botanicals.

The Earl Grey gin’s eye-catching purple hue comes from the butterfly pea flower. It’s beautiful, but it means this spirit can’t travel too far before that natural colour starts to change. “As a result, it’s a unique opportunity for people who live in the Ontario region, especially the Ottawa area,” Spitzer says. He advises not to let this gin sit on the liquor cabinet shelf: “That gin is meant to be drunk.”

Dunrobin Distilleries Ltd.
dunrobindistilleries.com | @dunrobindistill

Find it at the retail shop at 10 Terry Fox Dr., Vankleek Hill, or LCBO

A FLAVOUR THAT'S CLOSE TO THE HEART
“My wife and I share a passion for food,” David Seba says, starting with how he and Julia Dahdah started making macarons together. Dahdah went to France to study the art of macaron-making, and when she came home to Venezuela, the couple saw an opportunity. “We started making them in Venezuela and over there, people have these huge weddings. [We] would do these macaron towers and they would spread the word,” she says.

They moved to Ottawa nearly 10 years ago and, after renting a kitchen for a while, they opened Quelque Chose Macarons in Vanier. Now, they have four locations. Dahdah’s sister, Michelle, studied at Le Cordon Bleu in Ottawa and is also a pastry chef in the business.

Dahdah says rosewater is a classic macaron flavour. Still, for her, it’s also a reminder of home: “We were born into a Lebanese family in Venezuela and almost every dessert they would make in our families would have rosewater in it.” Seba says it’s a standout selection because customers sometimes ask for pink (rosewater) or blue (Piña Colada) macarons to celebrate a baby shower or a gender reveal. “We feel special because that piece of information is so huge. And we know it’s important to them,” he says. If you’re ordering a box, Seba says customers who pick rosewater also tend to purchase lavender, another floral favourite.

Quelque Chose Macarons
274 Montréal Rd., Vanier | 379 Richmond Rd, Ottawa
70 George St, Ottawa | 1100 Maloney Blvd., W, Gatineau
quelque-chose.ca | @macaronscanada

JAM-PACKED WITH LOVE
Sofi El-Halawani was working as a career counsellor when she decided to change her career. She knew she loved connecting with people from her time in human resources and social services. But she wanted to go out on her own and open a coffee shop. “My [great] grandfather used to be in the Middle East; he used to own a café,” she explains, “So, I was like, this could be interesting if I bring the family heritage back.”

In 2015, El-Halawani opened Café Cristal in Barrhaven. She produces her own tea and offers a variety of homemade scones, jams and crêpes. Her lavender blueberry flavour came together when she was blending tea for Valentine’s Day. “I wanted something that gives you the warm feeling of love,” she says. “Lavender has that beautiful, nice smell, and it’s all about love, right?” She started using the tea in her jam to give it that boost of flavour and then the jam-filled crêpe became a signature on her menu all year round.

Whether people visit for a bridal shower, birthday or brunch, El-Halawani hopes the café is a welcoming community space. “It’s not your grab-and-go place. It’s not that fast environment,” she says. “I wanted a place where people will come, sit, socialize. It’s for everyone.”

Café Cristal
240 Kennevale Dr., Ottawa, Ont.
@cafe_cristal_canada