Pine Marten brings fresh, creative charcuterie to Brigid's Well's basement pub kitchen
An executive chef moonlighting at the cozy Cumberland Street venue serves housemade pickles, cured meats, and focaccia in a short, rotating menu.
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Brigid's Well, a friendly basement pub on Cumberland Street that's long been an Ottawa hidden gem, now has food that's drawing crowds. Pine Marten, a new kitchen operating Wednesday through Saturday from 4 p.m. to close, serves a short, frequently changing menu of fresh, creative fare.
The smaller charcuterie platter costs $15 and comes loaded: generous chunks of homemade, butter-toasted focaccia, three cured meats, housemade pickles, hummus, and the chef's rotating selection of garnishes. On recent visits, the platter included an incredibly tender and flavourful pork rillette piled with crispy onions, a mountain of salted potato chips, and pickled veggies — carrots, cabbage, and fiddleheads — still crunchy and slightly sweet, with paper-thin, juicy onions.
Behind the counter is a bona fide executive chef flexing his creative muscles in the basement to feed the regulars who've come for trivia night and darts. The menu also features shrimp cocktail, ham toastie, and smoked salmon on toast. The entrance to The Well is on Cumberland, despite the listed address.
