We came, we ate, we shopped: That pretty much sums up my first tour of Merrickville as a guide for La Vida Local Tours.
It was a small but keen group of six, and the warm, sunny weather was ideal for exploring this pretty village about 50 minutes southwest of downtown Ottawa. (I specify “downtown” Ottawa because Merrickville is actually just beyond rural Ottawa’s southern border. As I’ve said in other posts, Ottawa stretches over an astonishingly large swath of geography.)
Our bus departed from Carlingwood mall about 9:45am on Sunday, October 23. Once we were on the road, I chatted a bit with the guests about the history of Merrickville and highlighted a few of my favourite shops and restaurants.
By 10:30am, we were pulling into a small parking lot just off the village’s main drag, St. Lawrence Street. The first stop of the day was a curated mustard tasting with Janet Campbell, owner of Mrs. McGarrigle’s Fine Food Shop.
Mustards and more at Mrs. McGarrigle’s
Janet welcomed us to the demonstration kitchen at the back of the shop with a platter of warm onion-mustard tartlets, which were fantastic and (she swears) easy to make. If you’re curious, check out her recipe. Also on the stainless-steel table were jars of mustard and chutney, bottles of vinaigrette, bowls of crackers and bread, and a plate of organic, raw-milk cheese from Bushgarden Farm in nearby Elgin.
As we happily sampled all that, Janet told us why she started making her own mustards 34 years ago—basically, she couldn’t find any commercial mustards that she liked—and how she branched out into a full-fledged gourmet store, cooking classes and culinary tours of Italy.
She makes over a dozen flavours of mustard, including cranberry port, chipotle lime and hot whiskey. After tasting them all, I’ll admit that more than a few made it into my shopping basket in the store later. (The balsamic and cracked pepper mustard has long been one of my faves.) I also picked up some basil-infused olive oil from Italy and what looks like a handy bag for keeping onions from spoiling.
Gelato galore at Stella Luna
Next up was the Merrickville branch of Stella Luna Gelato Cafe. Despite the fact that we were already full of onion tarts, mustard and cheese, owner Tammy Giuliani plied us with multiple samples of her small-batch gelatos and sorbets.
True confession: When it comes to ice cream and gelato flavours, I generally err a bit on the timid side, leaning to flavours such as chocolate-chip cookie dough and Madagascar vanilla. In particular, I usually avoid mass-market chocolate dairy products, as I find they have a weird taste that is nothing like the chocolate I normally love.
But when Tammy brought out samples of rich chocolate gelato, I figured it wouldn’t hurt to try it—and I was very pleasantly surprised. The name was no joke. It was indeed rich and chocolatey, reminding me of just-sweet-enough cake icing or homemade fudge.
Even though I’ve had Stella Luna’s products in Ottawa, I hadn’t tried some of these flavours, such as cherry sorbet and white chocolate chai gelato. (It was all in the name of research, right?) The pistachio gelato was as a particular standout.
A bit of Merrickville shopping…and pizza
After Stella Luna, we had about two hours to discover Merrickville on our own. Deciding that a bit of a pause was in order before eating yet again, I set out to visit some one-of-a-kind boutiques, of which Merrickville has plenty. (One of them is Chaiya Home and Garden Decor, where I spotted the quirky metal birds pictured at the top of this post.) Here are just a few of the many little shops worth a stop.
Several shopkeepers highly recommended Iron Forge Pizza, so a few of us dropped in there for a slice before our last stop. My combo slice was loaded with pepperoni and peppers, with a light dash of cheese. The sourdough crust was not too thick, not too thin, not at all greasy and just the right amount of crisp.
Terrific tumblers at Gray Art Glass
Mid-afternoon, we swung by Gray Art Glass for a tumbler of wine (the shop recently got a liquor licence) and a glass-blowing demonstration. This glass studio has been a Merrickville favourite since the late Kevin Gray set up shop here in 1985. Today, his son Michael carries on the tradition. He and his fellow artisans create a wide range of vases, glassware, art pieces and witch balls—colourful spheres traditionally suspended in front of windows to ward off evil spirits. They do custom orders of light fixtures and other decor items, too.
To honour a loved one, you can also commission a piece of memorial glass. The glassmaker will add a little cremation ash to an item during the production process, creating a glittering swirl in the glass that the creators hope will be a consoling reminder of the person who has died.
When you visit, you can stay indoors to watch the glassblowers at work via a window in the retail shop, or head outside to observe them through a large, garage-style doorway. Since the weather was sensational, most of us chose the latter. I’d judge we were about six metres, at least, from the roaring furnace, and I could still feel a bit of the heat from the flames. The glassmakers conceded that, yes, it’s much more pleasant doing this work in the cooler months of the year. In fact, at the height of summer, they often work early in the morning and then halt production when the mercury climbs later in the day.
To sum up
After our visit to Gray’s, we piled back into the 16-seat bus, which we’d already half filled with shopping bags during the day. The trip back to Carlingwood passed quickly, as we fell into companionable chatter about purchases, hobbies and travel. All in all, it was a great way to explore Merrickville and make some new friends.
Want to join me on a future Merrickville tour? Sign up to La Vida Local’s mailing list (scroll down to the bottom of their home page and add your email address in the “subscribe” box) and they’ll keep you up to date on all their upcoming trips, including tours to local wineries, craft breweries and distilleries. I’d love to travel with you!
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As the owner of Ottawa Road Trips, I acknowledge that I live on, work in and travel through the unceded, unsurrendered territory of the Algonquin Anishinaabeg Nation. I am grateful to have the opportunity to be present on this land. Ottawa Road Trips supports Water First, a non-profit organization that helps address water challenges in Indigenous communities in Canada through education, training and meaningful collaboration.