A Bus Named Expire

The new CTO of my company has been making changes. During a meeting earlier this week, it was clear that he expected us to put our noses to the grindstone. It didn't matter as I decided on Friday to leave (remote) work early and head out for a longish lunch.

I didn't want to take the bus to get there. The route used to be the number 2: considered to be the worst bus route in Ottawa. After it divided into the East End 12 and the West End 11 some years ago, these buses still ranked at the bottom. I'll have to take both, but there was no shorter ride to my destination.

My bus made its way down Bank St. and then headed along Somerset West to Chinatown. The local BIA had installed a Chinese Royal Arch more than a decade ago to beautify the area. Since then, they have also added stone lions and other Asian street art. But the gentrification of the neighbourhood continues with non-Asian stores now outnumbering the old stalwarts. When the bus climbed an overpass, I realized that below was an entrance to the industrial complex containing the bakery Art Is In. I usually get there from the other end via the O-Train.

I got off at Hintonburg where Somerset merged into Wellington St. My family briefly settled in this working-class area more than 4 decades ago but I have never returned in the intervening years. The old buildings now housed fancier businesses including a Christmas decoration store (Tinseltown Christmas Emporium), a yarn shop (Wabi Sabi), and numerous restaurants and pubs (La Bonita, The Senate Tavern, Taco Lot).

We lived in a small apartment above a groceteria at the corner of Melrose and Wellington. I don't know when the store opened but, according to old photos on Google Map, its end came some time in the late 2000s. A pizzeria called Tennessy Willems has been on the site ever since. When I stepped inside Tennesy the waft of stale urine greeted me, but no other customers remarked about this odour during my time there. This seemed at odds with the trendy gastropub vibe. Perhaps I was hallucinating a phantom smell?

I ordered the capricciosa pizza ($22). Though it was a serviceable pie, it wasn't worth the price (almost $30 with tax + tip). There was no fragrant aroma or toothsomeness from the dough. Both the tomato sauce and the fior de latte needed more time in the oven. The olives, mushroom, and capicola ham were alright, but the artichoke didn't have that smokey tanginess (shout-out to the delicious Bianca slice of the late-lamented Amato Pizza on College St., even if its final days were sad). The chefs looked young and probably didn't have experience with pizza-making as opposed to simply making pizza.

Tennessy was another disappointing Ottawa restaurant. I might still visit cheaper options like Creole Sensations and Great Canadian Poutinerie. But given the poor transit, the general meal cost and lack of food quality in Ottawa, this was likely my last dine-in meal in my hometown. As for Hintonburg, I'll check out the neighbourhood again in another 40 years if I'm still around.