An influx of residents from nearby highrises and ongoing development projects are helping Little Italy become an even better-known neighbourhood for foodies.
Area restaurants were showing off what they bring to the table at the Taste of Little Italy event Tuesday evening. Organized by the Preston Street BIA, the event featured 21 local businesses, from restaurants and patisseries to brewers and distilleries, which provided sample dishes to the sold-out crowd of 400 at the Preston Event Centre.
Trever Proulx, general manager of The Prescott, was at the event serving up meatball sliders. He said it’s a much-needed initiative that highlights everything the street has to offer, from decades-old establishments to fresh fusion shops bringing in new flavours.
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“It’s great exposure for us,” said Proulx. “We’re a bar restaurant that’s been on Preston Street for 90 years, one of the oldest in the city, if not the oldest. We’ve been trying to get that exposure out there and let the younger people know. The Prescott used to be an old persons’ bar, but it’s not anymore. We’re trying to show people that it’s a fun spot to go.”
In recent years, especially since the pandemic, Proulx said more eyes have turned to Little Italy as a top destination in Ottawa, especially for food.
“It’s actually kind of becoming a go-to spot – it’s becoming the trendy spot,” he said. “I was born and raised in Ottawa and worked all over the city. I know Ottawa very well. Nobody wants to go to the (ByWard Market) anymore because of the violence. Lansdowne was the next spot, but then you had to pay for parking. And Bank Street and Elgin Street are not as busy anymore. So people have found a new spot to go to.”
Nearby construction has helped. New residential towers have been appearing along Carling Avenue over the past couple of years, with more planned, particularly with the development of the new Civic campus of The Ottawa Hospital bringing more foot and vehicular traffic to the area.
Proulx said he’s already seen the benefits.
“The big apartment buildings are definitely helping, bringing in new business to The Prescott,” he said. “Their balconies are looking at our rooftop patio. I get customers coming in all the time saying, hey, I can see your rooftop from my place, I had to come check it out. It’s perfect.”
Still, there’s more he’d like to see in the neighbourhood’s future: “It just needs a grocery store, or like a 24-hour Shoppers (Drug Mart). That would be amazing. The street is just missing that.”
It’s the second time the BIA has hosted the event, according to executive director Lindsay Childerhose, and the second time it has sold out. A portion of the night’s proceeds will go to Cornerstone Housing for Women, she said.
“Connecting with the community, especially still post-COVID, (businesses) are very eager to have these types of events come back and those types of opportunities,” Childerhose told OBJ. “We hear from them all the time, that this stuff took place a lot before COVID and everyone’s eager to see it return. We’ve had a lot of interest in this event from the business side and then obviously also from the attendee side.”
Joe Calabro, pastry chef and co-owner of Pasticceria Gelateria Italiana, is glad to see more charitable community events.
“Before, we used to do a lot of fundraisers with different charities,” he told OBJ. “It was totally different. In a year, you’d have three, four events – events with a thousand, two thousand people. This is my first time (at Taste of Little Italy), so it’s been great.”
As the owner of another longstanding business, Calabro said he’s seen the neighbourhood change significantly over the years. But he said he doesn’t see himself leaving anytime soon.
“I grew up here,” he said. “My parents always lived across the street, behind the shop … The area has changed from when we started and now it’s all mixed, which is great to see. You have the long-established places, like ourselves, and many have closed, but we have new ones coming in. It’s a whole different aspect that brings in different crowds. That’s what you always want. It’s refreshing.”
While Childerhose said Little Italy isn’t immune to the challenges faced by other business areas in the city, including mental health and homelessness issues, the future appears bright.
“We’re really looking towards the future and with all these new residents coming in, the change is happening. There’s a positive outlook.”
