Méli-Mélo is an edible hodgepodge to help you stay on top of the hits and happenings in Ottawa and beyond. Get the latest — from the this-just-opened and give-backs, to new bites and libations and don’t-miss events.
Perked up in the ‘Prior
Karleigh Hastings and Josh Ziemba were looking to open a food truck when an opportunity for a café space appeared instead. After years of discussing plans to launch their own business, the two decided to take the entrepreneurial leap and opened Cafe Tilda in Arnprior in May 2024.
“It’s been a crazy first year,” Hastings laughs, “but things are going very well.” The two had previously worked in several cafés, restaurants and breweries in the Ottawa area and are channeling that experience into the small space they now share with White Pine Books.
They serve beans from Anchored Coffee, Hastings’ favourite Canadian roaster. For their original equipment, she and Ziemba drove out to Nova Scotia to pick up a second-hand espresso machine from Anchored and toured the roastery.
Their Arnprior café offers classic espresso-based drinks along with seasonal specials, baked goods and a variety of sandwiches. “We’re probably best known for our breakfast sandwich, people in town have been raving about it,” Ziemba says of the bodega-style potato roll with bacon, egg and cheese. The café is named after his grandmother, Matilda, who ran a deli in Toronto.
In front of Cafe Tilda, the street becomes pedestrianized every Sunday from June to October, hosting a small farmers’ market. “The town’s just alive,” Hastings says, “we feel very lucky to be here.”
Cafe Tilda
158 John St. N., Arnprior
cafetilda.com | @cafe.tilda
A Summer of Food Festivals
Ottawa’s summer schedule is full of food festivals celebrating the city’s diverse cultural and culinary communities. The Ottawa Lebanese Festival, taking place from July 16 to 18, features shawarma, falafel, baklava, with lively music and dance at the St. Elias Centre.
The Carivibe Reach the Beach Weekend, from July 25 to 27, brings a Caribbean flair to Petrie Island in Orleans, with jerk chicken, tropical drinks and soca rhythms.
The Indian Food Festival serves rich curries, street snacks and colourful cultural performances from August 22 to 24 in Barrhaven’s Clarke Fields Park.
And the Ottawa Greek Fest spans two weekends in August at the Hellenic Event Centre on Prince of Wales Drive. The festival serves all the Greek food you crave — souvlaki, spanakopita, loukoumades, dolmades — there’s even a saganaki and Greek poutine tent — not to mention dance troupes, comedy acts, Zorba performances, and Greek language lessons in the church basement.
http://ottawatourism.ca/en/event-calendar
Vampires Beware
The two-day Garlic Festival is back at the Carp Farmers’ Market this year on Aug. 16 and 17. “This year, we’re expecting about
20 garlic-related vendors, from growers to garlic-themed products and food,” market manager Katie Saumure says. “We’ll also have live music, kids’ activities and our full line-up of amazing Carp Farmers’ Market vendors.”
From the expected garlic braids, wreaths and bulbs galore, to the unexpected garlic-inspired products, it’s an opportunity to sample some of the best cloves in the region. Garlic breath for all.
Carp Farmers’ Market
3790 Carp Rd., Carp
carpfarmersmarket.ca | @carpfarmersmarket
Columbian Comforts
Pierre-Charles Mineault returned to Ottawa after a decade of living and working in Mexico and Colombia, and found there was nowhere nearby to grab the Colombian food he was craving.
A red seal chef, he had been teaching English in Colombia as well as working in restaurants, though he credits the grandmothers of friends he met along the way with deepening his knowledge of Colombian recipes. In 2021, he began advertising on social media and serving arepas — a crispy maize flatbread stuffed sandwich — in Ottawa on the weekends. The menu has since expanded to include a variety of arepas, Colombian and Venezuelan-style empanadas, and mains with yucca fries and chicharrón on the side.
Two years ago, he opened the Toasty Arepas dining room, which seats nearly 30. Mineault describes it as a hidden gem in Vanier. “When you come in you feel like you’re at home,” he says.
Toasty Arepas
51 Marier Ave., Ottawa
toastyarepas.com | 613.299.2994 | @toasty.arepas
