calendar note: In 2016, the owners of Diplomatica, a popular bistro in Westboro's Hillcrest Restaurant District, fled the W.A.R. (Westboro Association of Restauranteurs) Zone in hopes of finding peace and quiet in the wood-pecker-filled forests of the Gatineau Hills. They found what they were looking for, and re-opened as La Mangeoire Pic-Bois on New Year's Day, January 1, 2017. On that bright winter's day, a large party of Westboro merrymakers made the drive north for a sumptuous lunch. Reaction was overwhelmingly positive, but surprisingly, only one review was filed—
"yes the suet is fatty, but its a GOOD fat"
squarepants: Was here for the grand opening (January 1, 2017) and was impressed, especially when I overheard the chef giving an eager customer his recipe for Suet Provençal (melt bacon fat and peanut butter over low heat, stir in oats, sugar, sunflower seeds and chopped fruit, allow to cool. Sprinkle with parsley, chill, and serve immediately) and it sounded better than anything I've tried recently at bouffe! or The Eden Street Salmon Smokehouse. Definitely worth the drive.
calendar note: on Sunday, December 3, 2017, La Mangeoire Pic-Bois hosted nine Ottawa-based gourmands for an elegant mid-day meal. Read reviewer comments below—
"Next time I'll Uber, thanks"
dude-x: This place is out of town but worth the drive (unless you caught a ride in the bouffe delivery van LOL! From what I herd the bouffe waiter spent an hour vacuuming the van before picking anyone up, only to hear one of his passengers say that the van "smells like a dog"). Anyways, the Mangeoire chefs served up a delicious Glazed Spiral Ham with Cauliflower Relish, a delightful Mushroom Quiche with Chili Pepper Jelly, and for dessert, a rum-saturated Cat Island Cake (note: to sober up after the 170-proof (85% ABV) cake, all the customers went for a long walk before attempting to drive home).
"where were the pic bois FFS?!!?"
DriveThru: Last time hubby and I were here there were pic-bois everywhere! Almost a year later and... nothing. Not even a chickadee. (one guest saw a squirrel, whoo-whoo). A bistro that's named after pic bois should feature pic bois. Just sayin'.
"well I've never seen a buffalo wandering around Bufala—"
BEeatin'88: —and no one complains about that. When it comes to animals, you can't always predict how they'll behave and whether they'll show up or not. That includes people too btw (where was the Bufala waiter, for example, and where was the delightful young couple that dined with us at bouffe a week or so ago?!!!). The other weird thing about humans—and this was on full display this afternoon at Pic-Bois I'm afraid—is there fixation on bringing up subjects like Donald Trump even though it ends up getting everyone intensely depressed. As he was leaving, one poor guy announced that he was going to drive his delivery van into oncoming traffic on the way home, and five other lunch guests asked for a lift (this, despite the fact that his delivery van "smells like a dog").
"awkward"
WanderingTurtle27: Lovely bistro with beautiful view out of the picture windows, but awkward moment when the meal was served and all the female customers were seated in the formal dining room with the fireplace while all the males were sequestered in a cold-storage room at the back of the restaurant. Random accident? Or Pic-Bois's 'diplomatic' way—in our post-Weinstein world—of segregating the men and then lowering their body temperatures to suppress testosterone levels???
"Pic-Bois doing well. Meanwhile, W.A.R. restaurants barely scraping by"
foodpuppet: La Mangeoire Pic-Bois was packed today for its lunch service, and good for them (food was great), but meanwhile W.A.R. restaurants are barely surviving. Happen to know that Eden Street had just two customers for its dinner service last nite (Sunday, December 3 2017), bouffe the same meager number (2), ditto for Barristers and Pälegg. And Bufala you ask? One customer. Who also had to cook and clean up afterwards. Ouch.