Chili & Olive
Alas, the only Gluten-free bakery in the ByWard Market, Chile and Olive, is no more. According to their website, Chili and Olive was a natural spin-off from its sister bakery/restaurant across the street, le Moulin de Provence. The city’s enthusiasm for fresh gluten-free food inspired the Moulin’s owner, Claude Bonnet, to start Olive & Chili. But after five years, the gluten-free outlet just wasn’t generating enough business.
Before Chili and Olive, the corner shop had long been occupied by fruit vendors. When the last of these, Ontario Fruit, closed its doors, local residents put considerable pressure on the city not to allow yet another restaurant to rent the space. Chili and Olive, part bakery, part restaurant, more or less met the criteria. This time, however, there was no gap in the tenancy and lo and behold the Casa Dimoni, a restaurant specializing in Mediterranean cuisine. has taken its place.
Hobo
On the other hand, a site which has long been a restaurant is about to be converted to a shop selling leafy greens. Hobo is a dealer in herbs, Marijuana to be exact.
According to their website:
Hobo is a leading cannabis lifestyle brand that’s pushing the socioeconomic shift of medicinal to recreational cannabis. We aim to set in motion the popularization of cannabis into mainstream culture while proudly practicing progressive and sustainable core values. Hobo is always looking at creative ways to expand our brand and culture.
They are on track to open 15+ the provinces of BC, Alberta and Ontario this year. One of these 19 will be on the corner of Dalhousie and Clarence The space has had difficulty over the years making it as a food establishment. With the legalization of marijuana in edible products, perhaps it will replace the gluten-free bakery.
C’est Bon
Further north on Dalhousie, as of November 1st, C’est Bon, the gourmet cooking and food tour company has moved from 206 Dalhousie into the space vacated by the Daya Spa. The new space at 200 Dalhousie has two kitchens, each with 14 cooking stations which is more than double the size of their previous location.
In addition to larger kitchen facilities, the new space has a boardroom/dining area to accommodate meeting/team-building functions. Groups can hold a meeting, and then do joint meal prep and finally sit and enjoy a meal. Obviously this is something that will appeal to the many small high-tech firms located in the Market.
According to Stefani Siska, the larger space will allow C’est Bon to have a retail store where it will sell locally-produced gourmet products. Strangely, while meals can be cooked and eaten at C’est Bon, the kitchens are not licensed to package and sell their own meals for take-out.