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May 19, 2006
Hello from Ottawa: Dinner at Bistro 115
Offers Authentic French Canadian Cuisine
After my nerve-wracking yet exciting TV
appearance at Majors Hill Park it had started to rain and by
this time it was close to 7 pm, so I opened my umbrella and started
to take a stroll towards the ByWard Market. At 110 Murray Street
I found the location for my dinner: Bistro
115, one of Ottawa’s foremost restaurants specializing
in French Canadian cuisine.
Whenever I have a chance I try to find out the human stories behind
the destination, so I sat down with Suzanne Lafrance, who owns Bistro
115 together with her husband André Giroux. Suzanne first
had the idea to open a restaurant in 1983. She and several friends
of hers used to travel to Mount Tremblant to go skiing and during
one of these trips they came up with the idea to jointly open a
restaurant. Suzanne had grown up on a big family farm with many
family get-togethers and she was used to feeding people in large
quantities. So the step towards opening a restaurant was not all
that big and Suzanne decided to take a chef’s course at Algonquin
College.
Together with her husband and some friends they opened a dessert
place called “Memories” in 1983 where they served dessert
and some light meals. It was an extremely busy restaurant and did
very well. As time went by, Suzanne and André were more interested
in opening an establishment that would serve a larger selection
of foods, so in April of 1986 they took over a bar on Clarence Street
and named it Bistro 115.
The name for the restaurant came from a trip to Paris, where there
were so many bistros all over the place. The term “bistro”
actually comes from the Russian language and means “quick”,
referring to the demands for quick food by Russian immigrants in
Paris. Suzanne liked the name, added the street number of their
former restaurant’s address (115 Clarence), and this is how
Bistro 115 was born.
A big event happened in 1991: the entire block at Clarence and
Dalhousie, including Bistro
115, burnt to the ground. Suzanne and André did not let
that deter them and the day after the fire they contacted a real
estate agent to help them find a property suitable for a restaurant.
They found their current location on 110 Murray Street, called in
a contractor and an architect who both confirmed that the building
was sound and this kicked off one year of renovation work, turning
the property into a restaurant downstairs and personal living space
upstairs.
The main dining area at Bistro 115
Suzanne explains that it was a complicated process, requiring numerous
permits and a lot of reconstruction. Fortunately they had business
continuation insurance and their bank was very supportive. Suzanne
said the worst part of the fire was that they had to let their employees
go. Finally, on March 27, 1992 Bistro 115 opened in its new location.
Since there was no street address called 115 Murray Street, they
retained the original name “Bistro 115” even though
their street address had changed.
During the renovation, a lot of interesting materials surfaced
in the house. Suzanne told me that they found horsehair in the walls
which was used for insulation. They also came across newspapers
from the 1930s featuring an advertisement for an Electrolux vacuum
cleaner to be financed for $2.00 a month.
Originally, Suzanne’s background was not in the hospitality
industry, but she worked for the federal government as a personnel
and payroll specialist. Her husband was a printer for the University
of Ottawa, but neither one has looked back and regretted their decision
to leave their public-sector jobs to become entrepreneurs in the
restaurant business.
During her apprenticeship Suzanne’s boss ordered her to peel
50 pounds of carrots on the first day as a test of her endurance,
a very arduous job and definitely not conducive for a manicure.
Much to her superior's surprise she complied and finished the task
without complaining. She spent one summer during her apprenticeship
working as a chef at a private yacht club and also did a three-month
stint in a hospital kitchen. Smiling back at this experience, she
tells of a story where she was told to prepare Red River cereal
as a breakfast for the hospital patients. Suzanne had never heard
of Red River Cereal, so she followed the written instructions in
the kitchen. When her concoction didn’t set she added more
cereal until the whole thing turned into a concrete-like mass upon
which she added more water…… At the end she had cooked
a huge batch of Red River cereal and the entire hospital was eating
cereal for a whole week for breakfast.
My tasty Gazpacho soup
When I asked her about the cuisine at Bistro
115 Suzanne explained that the concept of their restaurant is
French cuisine with a French Canadian twist. Suzanne went on to
say that being located in Ottawa’s ByWard Market is great
since you have access to fresh ingredients all the time, including
fresh Ontario asparagus, fiddleheads, berries, sugar peas and many
other delicious ingredients.
The origins of French Canadian cuisine are based on peasant food,
so typical Quebec cuisine is quite heavy and calorie-rich. At Bistro
115 Suzanne and André substitute a lot of lighter ingredients
for the typical traditional fare to make the cuisine more healthful.
One French-Canadian specialty is “sugar pie”: a dessert
consisting of sugar, maple syrup and cream. Maple syrup is a staple
of French-Canadian cuisine. The same applies to pea and ham soup,
a hearty concoction that will stick to your ribs. Suzanne describes
that as children they would often have berries, bread and milk for
breakfast and that there is an inherent richness to these foods
that is worth preserving.
We went on to talk a little about the life-style of the restaurant
entrepreneur and Suzanne’s days usually begin at 7 am with
cleaning of the restaurant, watering the plants on the patio and
cleaning the terrace. Then she handles banking and administration
and by 8 am she is in the kitchen, receiving deliveries. Suzanne
also handles the inventory and food orders. In the morning she looks
after payroll and the bills in between cooking and finally at 11:30
the doors open for lunch at Bistro 115. In the afternoon she runs
errands and coordinates dinner issues with the evening crew.
The main dish: baby greens with baked goat cheese
Fortunately, as experienced restauranteurs, Suzanne and André
don’t have to be in the restaurant all the time. Many of the
hospitality entrepreneurs I have talked to work 7 days a week without
vacations, but as seasoned entrepreneurs with more than two decades
of experience Suzanne and André have found a more livable
routine: they recently purchased a weekend property in beautiful
Prince Edward County and Suzanne finds that whenever she goes there
she feels immensely recharged and ready to tackle the world again.
Generally Suzanne and André take turns going there since
they can’t both be away at the same time. In more than 15
years of hospitality entrepreneurship they have gone away together
on joint holidays 4 times.
Now that they are both in their fifties, lifestyle issues have
become more important and they have found a way of leading a more
balanced life. And their new project in Prince Edward County rejuvenates
them and has given them great appreciation for their work in Ottawa.
Suzanne says she loves what she does and she truly enjoys giving
her clients the best food experience possible.
Well, my dinner order had arrived and Suzanne excused herself.
It was actually her evening off and she had come down to see me
and now she went back to a well-deserved evening of rest. I meanwhile
got ready for dinner after a very long and eventful day and my tasty
Gazpacho soup (a chilled tomato-based soup, heavily spiced with
fresh garlic and other herbs) was ready. I chose a light main dish:
mixed greens with baked goat cheese in order to leave space for
a typical French Canadian dessert: a pie-shaped chocolate mousse
with a slice of the famous sugar pie, both nicely presented and
a perfect final touch after a flavourful dinner.
Dessert, including the famous French-Canadian sugar pie
I sat back, relaxed and savoured the moment, listening to the Cuban
rhythms of Gloria Estefan before I headed back on my 20 minute walk
through the rain towards my bed and breakfast. I thought how much
I admired all these hospitality entrepreneurs who work so hard,
virtually every day, to give all of us a good time when we decide
to go out and enjoy ourselves.
Related Articles:
Hello from Ottawa
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Hello from Ottawa - Arrival,
two photo exhibitions and my own photo safari
Hello from Ottawa - Doubling up
on antiquity at the Canadian Museum of Civlization
Hello from Ottawa - Sweetgrass Bistro:
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Hello from Ottawa - The historic
McGee's Inn: 2 couples embark on the adventure of joint B&B
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Hello from Ottawa - The Canadian
Museum of Nature and Fatal Attraction: seduction in the
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Hello from Ottawa - Gatineau Park,
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Hello from Ottawa - Major's Hill
and a live TV interview
Hello from Ottawa - Bistro 115: Authentic
French-Canadian cuisine in the ByWard Market
Hello from Ottawa - Historic transportation
on the Hull-Chelsea-Wakefield Steam Train
Hello from Ottawa - The Wakefield
Mill Inn & Spa: from historic gristmill to upscale lodging,
dining and pampering
Hello from Ottawa - Flower
and dress design at the Casino du Lac-Leamy
Hello from Ottawa - The Flotilla
- a parade of decorated boats - and an interview about the background
of the Tulip Festival
Hello from Ottawa - Sheep shearing
at the Canadian Agriculture Museum
Hello from Ottawa - Tractors,
cows and small animals at the Canadian Agriculture Museum
Hello from Ottawa - My 2-day
packed itinerary for Winterlude
Hello from Ottawa - First
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Hello from Ottawa - The Lord Elgin
Hotel: a historic landmark in the heart of Ottawa
Hello from Ottawa - Fat Tuesday's
and the Mardi Gras Experience in the ByWard Market
Hello from Ottawa - An early
morning walk to Parliament Hill
Hello from Ottawa - Skating
on the Rideau Canal, the World's Largest Skating Rink
Hello from Ottawa - Charity and
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Hello from Ottawa - Confederation
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Hello from Ottawa - Darcy McGee's:
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Hello from Ottawa - The Canadian
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Hello from Ottawa - The
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and the challenges of immigration
An interview with Tourism Ottawa
provides a great overview of this city
An interview about
the ByWard Market, a prime entertainment and shopping area
An interview
with the National Gallery of Canada
An interview
with the Canadian Museum of Civilization
Helpful websites:
Ottawa
Tourism: Ottawa's official tourism information
The ByWard
Market Business Improvement Area
The
National Capital Commission
The National
Museum of Civilization
The National Gallery
of Canada
The Canadian War
Museum
The Canadian Museum
of Nature
The
Canadian Agriculture Museum
Useful books about Ottawa:
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