Epic Vegan Foodie weekend in Ottawa Ontario Canada December 2023 featuring Le Cordon Bleu Plant Based Soiree and other great vegan businesses

- January 21, 2024

December in Ottawa has so many vegan food events and this past weekend was really Epic. It is hard to get to everything during the weekend. The first event on Friday night was a plant based soirée at Le Cordon Blue Ottawa. The first cohort of the plant based program was close to graduating. The next event was Little Jo Berry’s that just recently opened for indoor dining after being takeout only for the last few years. After that to the Christmas market and some takeout for later from HotPotatoCo. The final event of the weekend while was I writing this was Franberry baking last vegan brunch pop up for the year. It’s a week since I wrote this and it wasn’t the last event. There was another trip to the Christmas market and more food from HotPotatoCo. Now it’s over month and a whole new year since I started drafting this post. Ottawa keeps me busy.

When I saw that Le Cordon Bleu Ottawa was going to have this event I bought the tickets right away. I knew they would sell out quickly and I also knew this was going to be a rare opportunity. A plant based event at a Cordon Bleu is something I can get excited about. I made sure I was in town for this and it ended up being more amazing than expected. There is going to be another one in April and highly recommend going if you are able to.

I only knew the event menu was as follows but didn’t know if it was plated or buffet. It ended up being a small plate buffet. You can see the pictures on my friend @_munchieslove Instagram Reel here Instagram Reel with menu

Cold tomato and fennel soup with gremolata

Butter chicken tofu, cashew cream and almonds

• Mung bean pancake

Red beets roll wrapped in vine leaf and cook in cocoa nibs, salted crust, smoked soya yogurt. Fermented plum, seaweed oil

Grilled Tempeh, Vegetable Salad, Sesame and Miso sauce
Muharmmara
Carrot Bun, Mushroom Steak, Spicy Tomato Salsa, and Chickpea Fries

Fennel and apple texture (like an apple pie!)

Chocolate caramel degustation
Vanilla macaron
Maracuja tart
Selection vegan cashew cheese served with

multigrain gluten free bread.

Munchies and I got there at the perfect time to take our pictures. The students were ready to tell us about the food as it was being set up. Part of the training is marketing and social media so they were eager to practice all their skills. The students had varied backgrounds and some had even come from other countries for the program. See my Instagram Reel Here Le Cordon Bleu Ottawa Reel ot YouTube short here Le Cordon Bleu Ottawa

The food was both inside the hall and outside. We started with appetizers outside and then went inside as there were a few more things there but a lot was overlap. It was all very good. I am not sure when the butter tofu came out I just happened to go out when it was there but only a few portions and then it was dessert. I never saw the chickpea fries but I think I tried everything else on the menu. It was nice small plates but still got full quickly. The vegan cheese and bread was also made by the students. It was all very good and my belly was too full.

Prior to dessert everyone was called inside the hall for presentations and student introductions inside the hall. Although the food was standing buffet there were some chairs in the halls. It was a good break between dessert.

The desserts were so good. Munchies and I both made room in our bellies to eat a little too much. These were definitely the best vegan macarons I have ever had. It was a great night and although there are many great vegan businesses in Ottawa already I really can’t wait to see what the graduates of the program do next.

That was only one of the events for the weekend since this post was started over a month ago and is already long I will leave you with pictures and Instagram and YouTube links for the other events.