This November, the United Way East Ontario is giving people something to sink their teeth into, with the help of a few local restaurants.
The charity is launching its first annual “Novemburger” campaign to raise money for its programs and to promote local eateries.
The event, which takes place throughout the month of November, encourages residents of Eastern Ontario to order a burger from one of 16 participating restaurants, where $2 from each order will be given to the United Way East Ontario to support its initiatives in mental health, homelessness, youth and equity.
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One of the city’s most reputed restaurateurs, chef Joe Thottungal of Coconut Lagoon, is all in. He tells OBJ that the event aligns with his vision of social impact.
“Even though burgers are not in our line of cuisine, we still wanted to be a part of (the event) so that it generates some kind of awareness among the community,” Thottungal said.
Not surprisingly, Thottungal decided to put an Indian twist on the American classic. His version of Novemburgers – yes, his dish has two burgers – features a lamb masala patty, mint, tamarind and chili-lime chutneys and fresh cilantro served on parathas, a kind of flatbread, with a side of turmeric yuca fries.
“Instead of traditional potato fries, we are going to do it with yuca. We’re going to fry it. It’s all about our background. It’s very unique, flavourful. By having this, we wanted to showcase that your burger should not be bland,” he said.
Over at OCCO Kitchen, co-owner Caroline Côté says the United Way helps with local issues that align with the restaurant’s core values.
“OCCO is known for its burgers so, naturally, when this campaign presented itself, we were all in … We like to help in any way we can. This campaign was definitely something we were interested in, on top of teaming up with some amazing local restaurants to raise money for a great cause. It was an absolute yes for us,” Côté said.
OCCO Kitchen will be serving a fan favourite, the “big popper,” at its locations in Orléans and downtown. The big popper consists of a beef patty, bacon and jalapeno cream cheese, fried jalapeno and lettuce.
Côté and chef Mark Steele decided to bring back an old favourite to ensure its success in the campaign.
“I wanted to come up with something that would really catch people’s attention and make them order that burger to boost sales and be able to raise more money for the United Way,” she said.
Jamie Law, owner of Law & Orders, says his restaurant is no stranger to charity work.
Law runs year-long school and team fundraiser nights from Monday to Wednesday every week, and makes the Jason Blaine Burger, where 50 per cent of proceeds go to Canadian country music star Jason Blaine’s charity.
While he originally planned to host the Novemburger event at only one of his seven Ottawa-area locations, Law decided to include all of his locations to maximize the proceeds to the United Way.
His featured burger is one that is popular and ever-present on the menu: the “hickory crunch.” It has a beef patty, bacon, cheese, grilled onions with barbecue sauce and mayo and is topped with hickory sticks for an added crunch.
Law says the idea for the burger came from his love of putting chips on his hot dogs.
“I’ve always loved putting chips (on hot dogs) to give you that extra crunch, but a burger with that extra crunch with the hickory sticks? It’s really good … some of the United Way people, the ambassadors, came in and tested it and they were blown away by it,” he said.
Law says this is the first time his business has been part of a charity project that involves other businesses and the experience has been nothing short of amazing.
“United Way has just been an amazing organization to work with. They have a great team of social media people, photographers, ambassadors … This is the first of a kind … with multiple other businesses and they all seem like good restaurants,” Law said.
Côté says she expects great things to come from this campaign, based on how much traction it’s gaining already.
“(The United Way East Ontario) has a great media campaign out. They’re really pushing it. They’ve got local influencers involved, so I really hope the word is going to get out and people are going to participate,” she said.
Thottungal says his team has worked with other charitable organizations in the past through Mealshare, a “buy one, give one” program with restaurants that helps alleviate youth hunger and provided free hot lunches during the pandemic, with more than 25,000 meals served.
Thottungal says he is hoping the response to his Novemburger will be good.
“I don’t expect everyone to come and have a burger, but if every table can have a burger, try it, and talk about it, it will be good. We have a lot of people from the United Way come in and enjoy our meals and events, so we are supporting each other. It’s a win-win situation,” Thottungal said.
Looking to the future, Thottungal says he would like to see this sort of campaign more often.
“I think this is a great idea, I already recommended to them, don’t stick to only burgers. They should do something different every second month or every season. They should come up with different kinds of food, you know, like a rice dish or grilled barbecue dishes in the summer. It should be something so regular guests get the opportunity to try something different, which we don’t normally offer on our menu. It’s a good way to challenge our staff and the guests,” Thottungal said.
The other area restaurants participating are:
- Bamm’s Snack Shack
- Blackburn Arms Pub
- Edinburger
- Gburger
- Happy Days Burgers & Poutine
- St. Albert Cheese Restaurant
- Art Is In Bakery
- The Barley Mow Stittsville
- Crust & Crate
- Elie’s The Original Lorenzo’s Pizza
- Lowertown Brewery
- The Sterling
- Taproom 260
