Le Poisson Bleu is entering its fourth year in the Ottawa culinary world. The modern space at the corner of Somerset Street West and Percy Street has become a favourite of many Ottawa restaurant-goers for its unique and eclectic take on seafood dishes, cocktails and wine.
To find out what it takes to run a successful hospitality business in Ottawa and how that might differ from other major markets in the country, I sat down to chat with the chef/owner of Le Poisson Bleu, Alex Bimm.
I started by asking Bimm to explain his concept. According to him, Le Poisson Bleu has two distinguishing qualities that fill a gap in the Ottawa hospitality scene. The first is offering true casual fine dining.
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Coming from a Montreal background, it’s the type of dining experience that Bimm understands and loves, as Montreal leans heavily into it. However, he says the difficulty of this type of concept is that it must appeal to both casual and elevated dining patrons, who are the antithesis of each other. He believes that Le Poisson Bleu has found a way to strike that balance through high-level food and a casual but cool atmosphere.
The second distinguishing quality is the restaurant’s unique seafood program. The use of dry-aging fish and nose-to-tail, no-waste cookery is what sets Bimm and his team apart. Very few restaurants in the world (let alone Ottawa) are executing techniques and ideas the way that the team at Le Poisson Bleu has been for the past four years.
According to Bimm, the concept has been difficult to sell to the average diner. He notes that, in the age of using social media to become inspired about where to eat or what trends are hot in the culinary scene, there isn’t a lot of talk about what he is attempting to execute. And so owning a restaurant like his involves a simple lack of understanding from the general public that requires education.
Some of the things that Bimm and his team do have never been done anywhere before. Techniques such as baking a gateau marjolaine using fish milk and fish fat, or their candied fish scale eclairs. (From personal experience, these are absolutely delicious by the way.)
When asked what his biggest challenge has been while trying to run his restaurant in Ottawa, Bimm noted a lack of media coverage, but also how Ottawa restaurants have the costs of operating in a big city while not having the same type of market. Many in Ottawa may not know this, but prices to operate here are comparable to Toronto or Vancouver, but in other ways the city is very different. Bimm noted that Ottawa is a large city with a small population, where most people have to travel from surrounding suburbs to dine.
Restaurants also have to cope with diners being deterred by weather, people choosing to drink less (which is the real money-maker of a restaurant business), and just a lack of willingness to come into the city centre on a regular basis.
Bimm noted the anomaly of Ottawa’s events scene taking away from restaurants as opposed to adding to it, citing how the Montreal Formula 1 causes restaurants to be full, but Bluesfest in Ottawa often keeps restaurants empty. As someone with a career in Ottawa restaurants, I can attest to this. Events in this city seem to take all of people’s time, attention and money, leaving restaurants empty for weeks at a time.
Outside of things like costs (including the infamous fridge death that Bimm experienced a couple of years ago), there is also the unknown of how the community will react to what he’s built. He says it was difficult to face people who didn’t understand the product. Learning how to educate diners on a unique experience without “forcing it down people’s throats,” is something he continues to perfect today.
So what does it take to make a restaurant work in Ottawa and how does that differ from other cities? Bimm says every city has its unique dining culture and that he is still finding his way. He notes that Ottawa diners, because they can be travelling a fair distance to come to the restaurant with minimal help from transit, need to find solace in how a restaurant allows them to unwind and relieve tension. He says he often finds small ways to show guests that it’s okay to have a good time. And creating an ambience for the Ottawa crowd is different from places like Montreal. He notes that there is an emphasis on making guests feel special, but also making them feel like they can take a break, versus the more energized approach that Montreal has.
When asked what his initial goal was and if it’s changed in the past four years, the short answer is that not much is different. Bimm says his goal has been the same since he was a child dreaming of owning his own restaurant, and that is trying to carve out an identity and become part of a hospitality community that he deeply respects. It’s evident how deep this desire runs, and he admits it is a hefty learning process.
His current focus is on finding ways to stabilize his finances, pay himself a living wage (something many new restaurant owners can’t do for some time), and find the balance between living well and not falling behind. Ultimately, Bimm aims to constantly be creating more reasons for people to visit and love Le Poisson Bleu.
When asked what has been the most rewarding part of owning Le Poisson Bleu, Bimm was candid, noting that it has been the best part of his life so far. He has made incredible connections and friendships and has been able to open himself up creatively in a way that is uniquely his own. He also feels he has begun to cement himself in the community of Ottawa chefs, a goal that he and others in this community hold in high regard.
As a fan of Le Poisson Bleu and as someone who has spoken with Bimm more than once about his journey, watching the growth of the restaurant over the past several years has been a truly rewarding experience. Bimm has grown from a talented chef with a number of unique and tasty ideas to a respected individual known for creativity who is trailblazing the way for other future restaurateurs with uncommon ideas.
