We’ve found some exciting things to help you embrace winter in Ottawa: Enjoy artwork that showcases the region’s great outdoors; pick up a trendy carryall for weekend activities; visit a hip new shopping hotspot; and take a sip at a cool beer venue.
HERITAGE TOTE
Perfect for toting skates to a canal outing or when packing for a weekend ski getaway, the Novel weekend duffle, is part of a new five-piece collection of travel essentials available at Hudson’s Bay stores. Hudson’s Bay Co. has partnered with Herschel Supply Co. to produce this trendy collection featuring the clean bold stripes symbolic of Hudson’s Bay.
COMMON PLACE
Ottawa’s Elgin Street is known for its youthful vibe and eateries, bars and pubs, as well as the famed Sens Mile. And now it has just received a new dose of hip with the opening of Common at the corner of Elgin Street and Gladstone Avenue.
The two-storey retail space had struggled to find an identity within its prime location. Recognizing the potential, Ottawa businessman Nader Salib leased the top floor with the idea of creating the same sort of anti-mall that he experienced in California. It’s a place where visitors get a combined experience of unique services: a hair salon, clothing store and coffee shop, plus an ultra-cool space that’s waiting to house a restaurant, but is currently showing artistic expression – perfect for photo shoots and events.
WINTER
IN ART
Bring the outdoors inside this winter and celebrate the season while enjoying this vibrant scene of the Rideau Canal Skateway. Renée Bovet is a Canadian artist who uses silk as her canvas and special liquid dyes to produce works of art showcasing beautiful outdoor scenes. In the past few years, she has completed a series of iconic Ottawa scenes, featuring the Rideau Canal, the Parliament Buildings and Maman the Spider at the National Art Gallery. Her works are available at The Cuckoo’s Nest, 291 Richmond Rd.
IN BEER WE TRUST
Stalwart, loyal, reliable and hard-working – all apt descriptors of the ale being produced by Stalwart Brewing Co., a small brewery that recently opened its doors in Carleton Place. Three friends, Nathan Corey, Edwin McKinley and Adam Newlands, all craft beer enthusiasts and former staff at The Wellington Gastropub, began as a small brewing operation in the restaurant’s kitchen. Stock Pot Ales, so named because they were brewing in stock pots rather than industrial tanks, started a house brew for the restaurant.
After the much-admired nanobrewery partnered with larger Ottawa breweries Beau’s and Beyond the Pale to produce special-occasion collaboration brews, they started thinking about the possibility of opening a full-scale production brewery. They were joined by another Gastropub staff member, Phil Kelsey, and opened just before Christmas as Stalwart Brewing Co. They are now brewing on a seven-barrel system and offering revived versions of three Stock Pot favourites: Big Papa Pale Ale, Bad Moon Rye Stout and Dr. Feelgood IPA.
Ottawa’s Matchstick Design created Stalwart’s modern industrial-style tasting room and retail store at 10 High St. in Carleton Place. Sample some of their ales at The Wellington Gastropub, Supply and Demand and Union Local 613.
