stofa is an ottawa fine-dining restaurant that's hard to pin down. that's a good thing.
from stuffed quail—to ricotta and lamb raviolo—to soft-shell crab in a bao bun, the food is complex but not whimsically modern.
5 minute read
jason sawision, chef-owner of stofa restaurant.
jean levac
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stofa
1356 wellington st. w., 613-722-6555, stofarestaurant.com
mackerel starter at stofa on wellington street west
peter hum
/
postmedia
open: wednesday, thursday 5:30 to 8:30 p.m., friday, saturday 5:30 to 8:45 p.m., closed sunday, monday, tuesday
prices: three-course dinners $90, five-course dinners $110; takeout dinners for two $90 (fridays and saturdays)
access: steps to front door, washrooms upstairs
when i told jason sawision, the chef-owner of stofa, that his wellington street west restaurant is very hard to pigeonhole, his response was, “is that a good thing?”
after dining twice at stofa this fall, i think that it is.
jason sawision is the chef-owner of stofa restaurant.
it’s easy-peasy to categorize other restaurants as, say, french-inspired or upscale italian or a neighbourhood, small-plates eatery. but stofa, which opened in 2017, resists a simple, reductive description.
stofa does call itself an “approachable fine-dining” restaurant, which, while appropriate, could apply to a dozen other ottawa restaurants.
it does not call itself a restaurant influenced by asian and eastern european cuisines, although sawision, 42, does have a chinese mother and a ukrainian-russian father. that explains why the fine print of a stofa menu can list ingredients such as crispy wonton garnishes or cabbage rolls filled with sauerkraut and porcini.
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nor does stofa call itself a whimsical modernist restaurant. and yet, a recent, fantastic apple torte dessert i had was topped with a smashable “nitro bomb” — an orb of aerated caramel crème anglaise that shattered into chunks of quick-frozen goodness when i smacked it with small wooden mallet. that was definitely a cheeky bit of interactive dining action. but the other dessert on our table, a roasted banana souffle with maple ice cream and crushed walnuts, was as classic as they come.
apple torte dessert at stofa on wellington street west
peter hum
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postmedia
roasted banana souffle with maple ice cream at stofa on wellington street west
peter hum
/
postmedia
those desserts capped our five-course, $110 meals, which left us more than full and very much stimulated by sawision’s parade of always complex, interesting fare. for slightly smaller appetites, there’s a three-course, $90 table d’hôte that omits a “chef’s choice” starter, bread and an amuse-bouche.
we found most of what we had at stofa was on par with the deluxe dish that sawision prepared in september at the ottawa qualifier for next year’s canadian culinary championship. there, his smoked pork hock and confit chicken pressé took a maximalist approach, filling its plate with potato roulade, crispy bacon, hazelnuts, spiced poached apples, onion and chanterelle mushroom “jam,” potato tuile, aerated brown butter hollandaise, dill and chervil. the competition’s judges ranked that ambitious, imaginative feat second. it won the people’s choice award for the most popular dish.
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at my most recent dinner at stofa, the amuse-bouche, slabs of smoked scallop crudo, topped with roe, on buckwheat tartlet, was disarmingly simple and satisfying. so too was the bread, bolstered by a savoury spread of sweet potato and navy bean. the “chef’s course” that we both had was a direct hit of crisp, cleanly fried soft-shell crab in a bao bun, with herbs and fennel.
smoked scallop crudo in a buckwheat tart at stofa on wellington street west.
peter hum
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postmedia
bread with a sweet potato-navy bean spread at stofa on wellington street west
peter hum
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postmedia
soft-shell crab bao buns at stofa on wellington street west
peter hum
/
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and then, the dishes became markedly more complicated and even worldly, for the most part starring well-prepared proteins surrounded by intriguing accompaniments.
tempura-fried betel leaf with a “chiang mai” chicken sausage was an outstanding thai-inspired starter, and it shared its plate with a crowd of accompaniments, from red cabbage and yuzu mayonnaise to young coconut and red pepper slaw, fresh kimchi cucumbers, peanut sauce and peanuts.
tempura betel leaf with chiang mai chicken sausage at stofa on wellington street west
peter hum
/
postmedia
a starter of kombu-cured and miso-and-honey-glazed mackerel was exceptionally refined and packed with surprises, from a matsutake dashi to ponzu gel to fried shimeji mushrooms to water spinach and a porcini tuile.
mackerel starter at stofa on wellington street west
peter hum
/
postmedia
even the least complicated, a rich bowl of king oyster mushroom soup under a puff pastry dome, came with hits of poached quince and truffle oil that added sweetness and umami respectively.
mushroom soup en croute at stofa on wellington street west
peter hum
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postmedia
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we had two of six mains, and found that one clearly topped the other. a quail dish, in which the bird had been stuffed with confit quail and chicken mousseline, was yet another technical feat that tasted great. its accompaniments leaned into a holiday vibe, including brussel sprouts, squash purée, honey-pickled onions and a scattering of pomegranate seeds.
quail stuffed with confit quail and chicken mousseline at stofa on wellington street west
peter hum
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but we thought that a giant, plate-filling raviolo filled with ricotta and braised lamb missed the mark. the pasta pocket was short on lamb and heavy on cheese, and its tomato sauce, described as “tangy” in the menu, felt almost sweet and sour.
lamb and ricotta raviolo at stofa on wellington street west
peter hum
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and yet, sawision told me that his strength as a chef was “very good flavour memory… if i’m making a dish, i can remember how something tasted and think of how that work with something else.” it could be that his memory and palate lead him to create elaborate dishes teeming with flavour combinations and ingredients. most of the time, when the dishes worked, we applauded. but when one didn’t land, we wonder if something more streamlined would have been more successful.
here, several cocktails were subtle, balanced and fun. a non-alcoholic pairing consisted of de-alcoholized wines, mocktails and even a booze-free hot buttered rum. at our visits, service was relaxed and assured, and as knowledgeable as the ins and outs of sawision’s menu required.
amaro sour and sweetie-pie cocktails at stofa on wellington street west
peter hum
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postmedia
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sawision’s creative churn is such that his menu is always in flux, with dishes frequently coming on and off. i ate at stofa in early october, when we enjoyed a very autumnal meal. by mid-november, the menu had evolved into something completely different.
a shrimp and scallop main course at stofa restaurant in october.
jean levac
/
postmedia
beef tartare at stofa restaurant in october.photo by jean levac/ottawa citizen
jean levac
/
postmedia
in the early months of the pandemic, stofa’s pivot was to make dinners to go, under the “stofa-on-the-sofa” brand. the pickup project continues on fridays and saturdays, with more relaxed but still distinctive meals for two available for $90.
stofa is holding its annual christmas market this sunday afternoon, dec. 15, from 2 to 4 p.m., such re-warmables as house-made sausages, duck confit, beef short-rib wellingtons, porchetta roasts, tourtieres and more will be available.
if stofa’s grand dine-in experience is too daunting, then these options will allow to experience sawision’s food just the same.
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