This weekend, we took a leisurely cycle ride down to Westboro to pick up a gift card for my sister’s birthday. We coasted along the Byron pathway keeping an eye out for anything new heading west from our patch. A few interesting developments in Westboro, and an update on openings in Wellington West are in order.

Not having a kitchen, we were quite interested to stumble across The Piggy Market. They had pre-cooked jerk chicken, a recipe that still requires somel turning up the heat according to the owner. There were several types of fresh sausage, and some organic milled flour. They’ve been open since April, and I suspect we may pick up some food there before the kitchen returns. Just before I published this post, I thought I’d google them to add a link to their web site. Didn’t find a web site but I did learn that they’re also at the Ottawa Farmer’s Market and found an April 9, 2009 Ottawa Citizen article (copied below):

What’s new?

The Piggy Market is opening in Westboro Saturday.

I’ve heard of The Piggy Market. Weren’t they at the Lansdowne farmers’ market?

“We were at Lansdowne till it closed in November,” says Dave Neil, 26, who with chef Warren Sutherland of Sweetgrass Aboriginal Bistro has been running the Piggy business since last summer. “We’ve been looking for a storefront for two years. The wonderful response at the farmers’ market told us that Ottawa is ready for heritage pork, and we really did need a permanent location.”

Where is it?

400 Winston Ave., which is across Richmond Road and up a bit from Mountain Equipment Co-op. (Winston is a dead-end street that abuts Richmond Road; the building fronts onto Richmond, but the entrance to Piggy Market is just around the corner.)

What kind of business is it?

“Sally (Smart) from Kiddie Kobbler (next door) came by and said, ‘I’ve heard it’s a butcher,’” says Neil. “I told her that’s true. ‘But I also heard it’s caterer,’ she said. I told her that was kind of true. ‘But I’ve also heard it’s a local food store,’ said Smart. I told her that’s true too.”

So what can I get there?

You’ll be able to get local, organic, heritage pork in different and delicious forms: several kinds of sausages, breed-specific bacons, terrines, confits, pot pies, hams, ribs, ready-to-reheat pulled pork and even soup. “I’m going to start with one called This is Spinal Tap, made with pork spine meat and Beau’s beer,” says Neil. But Piggy Market will also sell some of the best of the rest of the local food scene: three brands of local honey, Hall’s apple cider vinegar, maple vinegar from Quebec, smoked fish, smoked duck and turkey breasts and some outstanding new local cheeses, including ones from Fifth Town Artisan Cheese from Prince Edward County and the brand-new gourmet Glengarry Cheese from near Lancaster.

So everything is local?

Almost. While Neil and Sutherland work only with 100-mile pigs — they get their Tamworth pigs from the Pickle Patch near Vankleek Hill, their Large Blacks from Upper Canada Heritage Meat near Prescott, and their Berkshire-Tamworth-Wild Boar crosses from Mariposa Farms near Plantagenet — they are making an exception for some exceptional prosciutto. They’ll carry Niagara Specialties’ prosciutto made by Mario Pingue, who the Urban Element says “has succeeded in bringing the quality of Canadian-made prosciutto to new heights.” (The Urban Element is hosting a charcuterie tasting and wine dinner with Pingue on May 25.)

So Piggy Market is a butcher shop and it’s a local food store. But in what way is it a caterer?

Neil cooks for special events, such as a dinner at Beau’s Brewing Company recently, and he’ll be doing the cooking at a local Slow Food spring forage dinner in May. He’s also going to offer sausage-making lessons at the new store.

Didn’t someone say ice cream?

We were saving dessert for last. Pascale Berthiaume, who became famous for her ice creams at the Wellington Gastropub, has moved into the other half of the Piggy Market store. She’ll be selling her creations by the pint. On Saturday, to launch the new businesses, she’ll be giving away tastes in little cups.

What flavours?

“I hope to have my five most popular ones,” says Berthiaume, who is 28. “Peanut-butter-salted-caramel, dark-chocolate, passion-fruit, espresso and dark-chocolate-bacon.”

Bacon ice cream?

“I start with 70-per-cent Lindt dark chocolate added to the cream mixture,” says Berthiaume. “I take some of Dave’s bacon and bake it until it’s crisp, almost like jerky, and coat it with honey or maple syrup and smoked salt. Then I swirl the bits into the chocolate mixture. It’s pretty yummy.”

When can I get all of this?

The Piggy Market will be open from 8 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. on Saturdays, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sundays, from noon to 6:30 p.m. on Mondays and from 9:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays.

So everything is all organized and on schedule?

“I hope everything is here by Saturday, but I don’t even know if we’ll have signs up by then,” says Neil, who worked his last shift as sous-chef at Sweetgrass just last week. (Berthiaume left the Gastropub about three weeks ago.) “We’re doing our best. We’re excited, but Warren and I are also overwhelmed.”

Quicha World Market has opened in the old surf shop beside Westboro Sports. Apparently they have another location on Sparks Street. Both stores offer “sights and sounds from around the world” in a amazing collection of clothing, jewelery, and gifts. Will have to go hunting for the other location one day at lunch.

Rikochet Resale has taken the last spot of the former Lusitania Body Shop. It’s supposed to be a hip, contemporary re-sale clothing store.

I had heard that Bridgehead was going to be opening in Westboro Station. But I thought that would mean closing the tiny store near the MEC. No, it seems, because Westboro-ites love their coffee. In the space of about 3 blocks, there are two Bridgeheads, one Starbucks and Viva Loco. Don’t go for a leisurely stroll — too many people will be wired on strong coffee!

On another note, Boutique Mystelle has opened. The display doesn’t really say much about the store. It looks a place to shope for bridesmaid  or “mother of the bride” dresses. Definitely too flashy/dressy for my tastes.