Ottawa chefs caught between authenticity and local taste

Three times this spring, Ottawa restaurant owners have told the Citizen's food critic Peter Hum the same thing: they've dialed back the heat and funk in their dishes because customers prefer it milder.

At Lotus of Siam in the Glebe, owner Katriya Thanthadawanit said feedback from nearby retirement-home residents prompted her kitchen to reduce spice levels on otherwise hot Thai dishes. At Dinette Atomique in Sandy Hill, chef-owner Vu Duong explained that his neighborhood's "more conservative" clientele influenced his choice to serve a sweet chili sauce with Vietnamese spring rolls instead of the fish-sauce-based condiment traditionalists would expect. At La Nhau Viet Kitchen & Bar on Murray Street, owner Johnny Tran confirmed his kitchen toned down the fish sauce in his fish-sauce-glazed chicken wings in response to non-Vietnamese customers, though he'll increase it on request.

Hum wonders whether the city's changing diversity means restaurants should be braver about authenticity rather than retreat from it. Chilis and fish sauce aren't rare anymore—they're everyday ingredients in a city that's become far more cosmopolitan. Cutting back on signature flavors, he argues, is an affront to the dishes' real identity.

The tension raises a real question for Ottawa diners: Are we getting the food as it's meant to taste, or as we've trained restaurants to serve it?