The weather is cooling down, and so are some fine-dining restaurants. Charlottetown’s award-winning Lot 30 restaurant is being transplanted to Manitoba, while Ottawa’s Juniper Kitchen and Wine Bar closed for good.
According to The Guardian, Lot 30 chef Gordon Bailey plans to take the fine-dining concept west, opening Lot 30 West in the next four to six months in Manitoba. “The name still means a lot to me,” Bailey told The Guardian. “I want to keep it the same. We already have a brand.” Lot 30 served regional fare such as lobster salad with citrus-vanilla vinaigrette and dressed greens; grilled 12-oz. artisan Atlantic beef rib-eye with braised tomato and sweet potato pave; and house-made vanilla and anise ice cream with fresh berries.
Meanwhile, Ottawa’s Juniper Kitchen & Wine Bar has permanently left the scene. Earlier this week, the restaurant owners shared an announcement on its Facebook page: “After more than 17 years of operations, Juniper Kitchen and Wine Bar has closed its doors. Our last dinner service was Saturday.” It continues on to read, “Today’s announcement is driven solely by economics. The realities of running an independent fine-dining restaurant are more challenging today than ever before. This is especially the case in neighbourhoods like Westboro where real-estate costs have risen dramatically in recent years. No matter how we looked at it, it was simply no longer viable for us to keep operating at the same standard of quality and remain profitable.”
The fine-dining restaurant served specialties such as Lennox Island scallops with bacon-garlic scape risotto, chimichurri and fresh peas ($27) and Aux Champs D’Élisé duck, cooked sous vide with peach glaze, wild rice confit stir fry and pickled peach ($33).
