![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.cusjc.ca\/capitalarts\/wp-content\/uploads\/harvest-photo1.jpg\")
\n Dining out. Hundreds of excited foodies gather on the Museum of Civilization grounds for Harvest Noir\u2019s eccentric all-black picnic.<\/p>\n
A tall, thin man dressed completely in black walks through the grounds of Ottawa\u2019s Museum of Civilization. He\u2019s wearing long coattails that flutter in the keen October breeze, and a top hat is planted firmly atop his head. In his right hand he carries a picnic basket.<\/p>\n
\n Dining out. Hundreds of excited foodies gather on the Museum of Civilization grounds for Harvest Noir\u2019s eccentric all-black picnic.<\/p>\n
Tourists and museum-going families stare in confusion as he saunters down the steps towards the museum\u2019s Adventure Park, but as he turns the corner, it becomes very clear where he\u2019s headed.<\/p>\n
Settled in the grass, with a magnificent view of Parliament and the Ottawa River, 800 picnic-goers have assembled, dressed in their finest and most outlandish black attire, to picnic and celebrate local food at Ottawa\u2019s very first Harvest Noir.<\/p>\n
Harvest Noir is one of the many new local food-based events taking over Ottawa\u2019s cultural scene. Focusing on the area\u2019s diverse farming community and the rich selection of produce, meat and dairy found so close to the city, organizers aim to make people more aware of their carbon footprint and of the good food close to home.<\/p>\n
Black ties and picnic baskets<\/p>\n
The event is based on the idea of Diner en Blanc,<\/a> a gourmet flash-mob picnic that started in Paris and has spread to major cultural centers around the world. Harvest Noir diners pay for tickets, sign up to an email list, pack a locally sourced picnic basket and await the last-minute information on where and when to meet.<\/p>\n Participants dress extravagantly in tuxedos, ball gowns and fascinators, bringing local, gourmet food, their best china and elaborate table dressings. The atmosphere is vibrant and the diners are excited\u2014talking, giggling, and admiring each other\u2019s dishes and costumes.<\/p>\n ‘We\u2019ve lost connection to where our food comes from; it\u2019s wrapped in plastic and totally anonymous.’\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u2014 organizer Greg Searle<\/p>\n There\u2019s a veritable sparkle under the gloomy October cloud-cover as guests bustle around to perfect their table set-ups. After weeks of speculation, the event is in full swing, and the enthusiastic attendees feel like they\u2019ve been let in on Ottawa\u2019s coolest secret. What more could you expect from hundreds of like-minded foodies brought together for this one spectacular event?<\/p>\n Food isn\u2019t served by the Harvest Noir organizers (it\u2019s a strict bring-your-own-picnic rule), and although $40 a ticket seems rather steep for a dinner party with no dinner included, there are over 800 people in attendance, all toting baskets full of locally made or sourced meals. From La Bottega<\/em> sandwiches and farmers\u2019 market goodies to full three-course meals from Les Foug\u00e8res, <\/em>the selection is impressive and truly showcases Ottawa\u2019s growing and diverse food scene.<\/p>\n After dining, the crowd moves indoors for a dance party complete with live music and performers, which seems to be enjoyed to a certain degree, but it\u2019s the local food element that really drives the event. This isn\u2019t surprising considering the number of new, trendy organizations popping up to promote Ottawa as a foodie city. Harvest Noir was, for the most part, a party celebrating Ottawa local food.<\/p>\n <\/strong><\/p>\n A wave of\u00a0 local food events<\/p>\n Greg Searle, organizer of the event, said that after stumbling across the Diner Blanc event in Montreal last August, all he could think of was how <\/em>Ottawa needed something similar.<\/p>\n \u201cI didn\u2019t know if Ottawa was hip enough for it, but it was worth a try,\u201d said Searle. \u201cI think that something is changing in Ottawa. There\u2019s a growing recognition that official culture is not enough. I think Harvest Noir proved that Ottawa is definitely hip enough, and maybe even thirsty for more events.\u201d<\/p>\n Although Ottawa is often seen as a sleepy government town, criticized for lacking culture and a dynamic food scene, the landscape is certainly changing. Events like Harvest Noir<\/a>, the Ottawa Foodie Challenge<\/a>, Dishcrawl Ottawa<\/a> and Bon Appetit<\/a> are creating an accessible, fun, vibrant culture of eating and socializing in the city. Over the past few years, Ottawa has been moving into what prominent food blogger Hilary Duff refers to as \u201cthe new way to do food.\u201d<\/p>\n Duff, known for her blog, Hilary Makes<\/a><\/em>, as well as for being the restaurant critic for Ottawa XPress<\/em><\/a>, says that although there have always been wine and food shows in the city, they are generally outrageously priced and thus not accessible to everyone who is interested in food. She says dynamic new events like the Ottawa Foodie Challenge and Dishcrawl Ottawa are more open and adventurous, and are often seeing more diversity and media attention than the traditional tasting shows.<\/p>\n \u201cI think the unfortunate thing about Ottawa\u2019s food reputation is that a lot of tourists don\u2019t venture out of the Byward Market, so the dynamic food scene is overlooked,\u201d says Duff. \u201cEvents like Dishcrawl are helping Ottawa step into a new world\u2014one of accessible food, appreciation of the city\u2019s offerings, and one where anyone who wants to be a foodie can be.\u201d<\/p>\n After starting in Ottawa last June, the San Francisco-based Dishcrawl has sold out its events within hours. Focused on certain sections of the city, it is a progressive dinner: people are led to four \u201cmystery\u201d restaurants to try four different plates. Duff says it\u2019s supposed to expose people to restaurants they haven\u2019t heard of and dishes they haven\u2019t tried before.<\/p>\n ‘Ottawa is stepping into a new world, one of accessible food.’ Social media is a key factor in getting a new generation of foodies out and about in the Ottawa food scene. Harvest Noir was promoted almost solely through Twitter, Facebook, and the circulation of an intriguing YouTube video invitation<\/a>.<\/p>\n Searle credits these new media tools with drawing in a varied crowd. \u201cWe had a really big demographic at Harvest Noir. People ranged from 18 to 75. Using Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube helped us get younger people, and then the younger people invited their parents,\u201d says Searle.<\/p>\n He adds, \u201cThe event had its feet in two worlds. It has one foot in Old World Paris, and the dining culture there, and the other foot in flashmobs and DJ\u2019s and partying. Social media probably accounted for over half of our guests.\u201d<\/p>\n Carolynn Lacasse, who organizes the Ottawa Foodie Challenge, says she thinks the people of Ottawa are craving the fun experiences you find on Queen Street West in Toronto. People love to go out and be part of a cultural community, so the events and the restaurants popping up everywhere in Ottawa are helping them do that.<\/p>\n Embracing Ottawa\u2019s farms<\/p>\n The overwhelmingly positive response to Ottawa\u2019s hipper food events is something that is encouraging the appreciation of local food, and even creating buzz around what\u2019s being grown in Ottawa.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople are realizing that Ottawa and the surrounding area has so many farms, and is a great place to get your food locally,\u201d says Lacasse. \u201cThey\u2019ve always been there, but people have been talking more about it, so I think that\u2019s why we\u2019re more aware and that\u2019s partially why the food scene has opened up.\u201d<\/p>\n Harvest Noir is a perfect fit into the growing mainstream movement of buying local. Canadians have been participating more and more in the \u201cbuy local\u201d and \u201c100 mile diet<\/a>\u201d phenomena because of the negative reputation of imported foods and a concern about their carbon footprint. The Dieticians of Canada say that although the 100 mile diet isn\u2019t possible for everyone, they encourage Canadians to choose local foods to help support agricultural producers and protect the environment.<\/p>\n Searle says the theme of harvest was integral to his event because it\u2019s one of the most important traditions, particularly in Canada where we have so much to enjoy.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve lost our connection to the place where our food comes from\u2014it\u2019s wrapped in plastic and totally anonymous, and we don\u2019t know how far it\u2019s travelled, what kind of fields or farmyards it came from,\u201d says Searle. \u201cWe\u2019re headed into a future where that\u2019s not going to be realistic anymore. Preparing for an energy-constrained future means getting reconnected with our local farms and having a local food system.\u201d<\/p>\n The future of Ottawa\u2019s food scene seems to be promising. The addition of even more food events, creating buzz through social media tools and promoting the idea that anyone can be a food lover, means that more people are going to be getting involved.<\/p>\n \u201cThe more food events, the more that people get into the food scene,\u201d says Lacasse. \u201cWe need more events like Harvest Noir, to bring out more fun, creative, cultured people of Ottawa. I\u2019m always having new food experiences, and I just hope I can help bring that to other people.\u201d<\/p>\n Related Links<\/p>\n Harvest Noir<\/a><\/p>\n Dishcrawl Ottawa<\/a><\/p>\n Ottawa Foodie Challenge<\/a><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.cusjc.ca\/capitalarts\/wp-content\/uploads\/harvest-photo31.jpg\")
\n New food events like Harvest Noir use social media like Twitter and YouTube to connect with the widest audience possible.<\/p>\n
\n \u2014 food blogger Hilary Duff<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.cusjc.ca\/capitalarts\/wp-content\/uploads\/harvest-photo2.jpg\")
\n Ottawa’s farmers’ markets are fantastic places to find an array of local produce, and no plastic wrap in sight.<\/p>\n
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