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On the opening day for Thyme & Again’s second location, owner Sheila Whyte looked at one of the building’s exterior walls and disclosed what was missing — hops.
Whyte’s not sure what her long-established catering and take-home food company will do with the quick-growing plants that will soon scale the wall, but she does know that they’re a must. “We want to pay homage,” she says.
Left unsaid, but understood, is the fact that the second Thyme & Again, located on Carling Avenue east of Sherbourne Avenue, replaces the Beer Store that had been in the parking lot for more than four decades.
Thyme and Again, which has expanded into the former Beer Store on Carling Avenue, had its grand opening Tuesday (May 8, 2018). Unlike the restaurant-style shop in Wellington Village, this second location is more geared to the catering end of the business and a grab-and-go clientele.
But Whyte has little time for nostalgia. With the new 5,000-square-foot location, it’s full steam ahead with expansion plans that involved Whyte hiring two of Ottawa’s top chefs from Stephen Beckta’s esteemed restaurant group as she enlarges Thyme & Again’s capabilities to cater events and sell pre-made food to time-strapped Ottawans.
Whyte opened the original Thyme & Again location on Wellington Street West near Holland Avenue in 1991. While that location takes up 7,000 square feet over three floors, it’s been bursting at the seams for years, Whyte said. She has long wanted to open another Thyme & Again, but was not attracted to any of the spaces in Ottawa’s industrial parks or suburbs that presented themselves.
This year, the former Beer Store became available. Sold on its location and parking, among other things, Whyte jumped at it. She signed a 10-year lease and in just the last nine weeks, the building has been transformed to house a bright, airy retail space stocked with Thyme & Again’s products and housewares, surrounded by a massive L-shaped production kitchen that will help take the cooking pressure off of the Wellington Street West location.
The kitchen behind the storefront is huge and will take on all of the catering end of the business.
The expansion has seen Whyte increase her staffing from 75 to about 90 full- and part-time employees. Key among them are the chefs Mike Moffatt, who is now a managing partner of Thyme & Again, and Tim Stock, now the company’s executive chef. Formerly, Moffatt was executive chef and partner in the Beckta group of restaurants. Stock, until April 18, had been the chef at that group’s ByWard Market restaurant, Play Food & Wine.
Moffatt, who had been with Beckta for more than 14 years, and Stock, who had been at Play for six years, both said they left Ottawa’s fine-dining restaurant scene looking for a new challenge. Their departures from the Beckta group were very amicable, they said, and Whyte pointed out that Beckta had attended last Friday’s launch party for the new location and contributed flowers that still adorn a table at the back of the shop.
These staffing movements are part of a larger picture that amounts to top-level musical chairs within Ottawa’s food scene. Replacing Moffatt as Beckta’s executive chef is Katie Brown Ardington, who had been the chef at Beckta’s eponymous flagship restaurant before she became the personal chef for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his family in February 2017. Replacing her is chef Che Chartrand, also a Beckta alumnus.
“It’s a small, small world, and everybody’s friends,” said Whyte. She and Moffatt have been involved jointly in several projects in recent years, including, with Beckta, last August’s Canada’s Table event that marked the sesquicentennial with a lavish spread for 1,000 people beside Parliament Hill.
Sandwiches at the front counter.
Moffatt says that Thyme & Again is “trying to bridge the gap between restaurant food and what people can pick up and take home … Everyone’s saying they’re too busy to cook.”
In addition to its frozen goods, sandwiches, pastries and desserts, the business is revamping its product offerings to include more fresh packaged dishes for take-home dinners — Whyte wants to begin selling roast chickens — as well as pre-portioned cheeses and charcuterie for entertaining, desserts in jars and more.
Down the road, Whyte also envisions an in-house home delivery service for Thyme & Again’s food, and expanded table service at the Wellington Street West location, including pop-up dinners.
“We want to keep it as informal as possible,” said Moffatt. “We don’t want to compete with other people’s restaurant visits. We just want to add another night out to the repertoire.”
Stock, who noted that his kitchen at Thyme & Again is 10 times the size of what he oversaw at Play, said his new duties might involve catering an event for 1,000 people rather than concocting small-plates dinners for a roomful of customers.
Still, despite the enlarged scale and standardization of the business, Stock said he hopes he’ll be able to put his stamp on Thyme & Again’s products. “Every chef has their style … and I hope to see my influence on our products in the future,” he said.
Photos: Thyme & Again opens 2nd location
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Whyte’s not sure what her long-established catering and take-home food company will do with the quick-growing plants that will soon scale the wall, but she does know that they’re a must. “We want to pay homage,” she says.
Left unsaid, but understood, is the fact that the second Thyme & Again, located on Carling Avenue east of Sherbourne Avenue, replaces the Beer Store that had been in the parking lot for more than four decades.
Thyme and Again, which has expanded into the former Beer Store on Carling Avenue, had its grand opening Tuesday (May 8, 2018). Unlike the restaurant-style shop in Wellington Village, this second location is more geared to the catering end of the business and a grab-and-go clientele.
But Whyte has little time for nostalgia. With the new 5,000-square-foot location, it’s full steam ahead with expansion plans that involved Whyte hiring two of Ottawa’s top chefs from Stephen Beckta’s esteemed restaurant group as she enlarges Thyme & Again’s capabilities to cater events and sell pre-made food to time-strapped Ottawans.
Whyte opened the original Thyme & Again location on Wellington Street West near Holland Avenue in 1991. While that location takes up 7,000 square feet over three floors, it’s been bursting at the seams for years, Whyte said. She has long wanted to open another Thyme & Again, but was not attracted to any of the spaces in Ottawa’s industrial parks or suburbs that presented themselves.
This year, the former Beer Store became available. Sold on its location and parking, among other things, Whyte jumped at it. She signed a 10-year lease and in just the last nine weeks, the building has been transformed to house a bright, airy retail space stocked with Thyme & Again’s products and housewares, surrounded by a massive L-shaped production kitchen that will help take the cooking pressure off of the Wellington Street West location.
The kitchen behind the storefront is huge and will take on all of the catering end of the business.
The expansion has seen Whyte increase her staffing from 75 to about 90 full- and part-time employees. Key among them are the chefs Mike Moffatt, who is now a managing partner of Thyme & Again, and Tim Stock, now the company’s executive chef. Formerly, Moffatt was executive chef and partner in the Beckta group of restaurants. Stock, until April 18, had been the chef at that group’s ByWard Market restaurant, Play Food & Wine.
Moffatt, who had been with Beckta for more than 14 years, and Stock, who had been at Play for six years, both said they left Ottawa’s fine-dining restaurant scene looking for a new challenge. Their departures from the Beckta group were very amicable, they said, and Whyte pointed out that Beckta had attended last Friday’s launch party for the new location and contributed flowers that still adorn a table at the back of the shop.
These staffing movements are part of a larger picture that amounts to top-level musical chairs within Ottawa’s food scene. Replacing Moffatt as Beckta’s executive chef is Katie Brown Ardington, who had been the chef at Beckta’s eponymous flagship restaurant before she became the personal chef for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his family in February 2017. Replacing her is chef Che Chartrand, also a Beckta alumnus.
“It’s a small, small world, and everybody’s friends,” said Whyte. She and Moffatt have been involved jointly in several projects in recent years, including, with Beckta, last August’s Canada’s Table event that marked the sesquicentennial with a lavish spread for 1,000 people beside Parliament Hill.
Sandwiches at the front counter.
Moffatt says that Thyme & Again is “trying to bridge the gap between restaurant food and what people can pick up and take home … Everyone’s saying they’re too busy to cook.”
In addition to its frozen goods, sandwiches, pastries and desserts, the business is revamping its product offerings to include more fresh packaged dishes for take-home dinners — Whyte wants to begin selling roast chickens — as well as pre-portioned cheeses and charcuterie for entertaining, desserts in jars and more.
Down the road, Whyte also envisions an in-house home delivery service for Thyme & Again’s food, and expanded table service at the Wellington Street West location, including pop-up dinners.
“We want to keep it as informal as possible,” said Moffatt. “We don’t want to compete with other people’s restaurant visits. We just want to add another night out to the repertoire.”
Stock, who noted that his kitchen at Thyme & Again is 10 times the size of what he oversaw at Play, said his new duties might involve catering an event for 1,000 people rather than concocting small-plates dinners for a roomful of customers.
Still, despite the enlarged scale and standardization of the business, Stock said he hopes he’ll be able to put his stamp on Thyme & Again’s products. “Every chef has their style … and I hope to see my influence on our products in the future,” he said.
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Photos: Thyme & Again opens 2nd location
- Owner Sheila Whyte (centre) is flanked by Executive Chef, Tim Stock (left, formerly of Play, Food and Wine) and Mike Moffatt, also from Beckta Group, as Director of Operations. Thyme and Again, which has expanded into the former Beer Store on Carling Avenue, had its grand opening Tuesday (May 8, 2018). Unlike the restaurant-style shop in Wellington Village, this second location is more geared to the catering end of the business and a grab-and-go clientele. Julie Oliver/Postmedia Julie Oliver/Postmedia
Thyme and Again, which has expanded into the former Beer Store on Carling Avenue, had its grand opening Tuesday (May 8, 2018). Unlike the restaurant-style shop in Wellington Village, this second location is more geared to the catering end of the business and a grab-and-go clientele. Julie Oliver/Postmedia Julie Oliver/Postmedia
Thyme and Again's take-home products include everything from dinner and dessert to dressings, sauces and sandwiches. Thyme and Again, which has expanded into the former Beer Store on Carling Avenue, had its grand opening Tuesday (May 8, 2018). Unlike the restaurant-style shop in Wellington Village, this second location is more geared to the catering end of the business and a grab-and-go clientele. Julie Oliver/Postmedia Julie Oliver/Postmedia
Cookies at the front counter in old fashioned jars. Thyme and Again, which has expanded into the former Beer Store on Carling Avenue, had its grand opening Tuesday (May 8, 2018). Unlike the restaurant-style shop in Wellington Village, this second location is more geared to the catering end of the business and a grab-and-go clientele. Julie Oliver/Postmedia Julie Oliver/Postmedia
Thyme and Again's take-home products include everything from dinner and dessert to dressings, sauces and sandwiches. Thyme and Again, which has expanded into the former Beer Store on Carling Avenue, had its grand opening Tuesday (May 8, 2018). Unlike the restaurant-style shop in Wellington Village, this second location is more geared to the catering end of the business and a grab-and-go clientele. Julie Oliver/Postmedia Julie Oliver/Postmedia
Thyme and Again's take-home products include everything from dinner and dessert to dressings, sauces and sandwiches. Thyme and Again, which has expanded into the former Beer Store on Carling Avenue, had its grand opening Tuesday (May 8, 2018). Unlike the restaurant-style shop in Wellington Village, this second location is more geared to the catering end of the business and a grab-and-go clientele. Julie Oliver/Postmedia Julie Oliver/Postmedia
-The kitchen behind the storefront is huge and will take on all of the catering end of the business. Thyme and Again, which has expanded into the former Beer Store on Carling Avenue, had its grand opening Tuesday (May 8, 2018). Unlike the restaurant-style shop in Wellington Village, this second location is more geared to the catering end of the business and a grab-and-go clientele. Julie Oliver/Postmedia Julie Oliver/Postmedia
Sandwiches at the front counter. Thyme and Again, which has expanded into the former Beer Store on Carling Avenue, had its grand opening Tuesday (May 8, 2018). Unlike the restaurant-style shop in Wellington Village, this second location is more geared to the catering end of the business and a grab-and-go clientele. Julie Oliver/Postmedia Julie Oliver/Postmedia
Cakes, pastries and other yummies are on display at the front counter. Thyme and Again, which has expanded into the former Beer Store on Carling Avenue, had its grand opening Tuesday (May 8, 2018). Unlike the restaurant-style shop in Wellington Village, this second location is more geared to the catering end of the business and a grab-and-go clientele. Julie Oliver/Postmedia Julie Oliver/Postmedia
-The kitchen behind the storefront is huge and will take on all of the catering end of the business. Thyme and Again, which has expanded into the former Beer Store on Carling Avenue, had its grand opening Tuesday (May 8, 2018). Unlike the restaurant-style shop in Wellington Village, this second location is more geared to the catering end of the business and a grab-and-go clientele. Julie Oliver/Postmedia Julie Oliver/Postmedia
-The kitchen behind the storefront is huge and will take on all of the catering end of the business. Thyme and Again, which has expanded into the former Beer Store on Carling Avenue, had its grand opening Tuesday (May 8, 2018). Unlike the restaurant-style shop in Wellington Village, this second location is more geared to the catering end of the business and a grab-and-go clientele. Julie Oliver/Postmedia Julie Oliver/Postmedia
-The kitchen behind the storefront is huge and will take on all of the catering end of the business. Thyme and Again, which has expanded into the former Beer Store on Carling Avenue, had its grand opening Tuesday (May 8, 2018). Unlike the restaurant-style shop in Wellington Village, this second location is more geared to the catering end of the business and a grab-and-go clientele. Julie Oliver/Postmedia Julie Oliver/Postmedia
-The kitchen behind the storefront is huge and will take on all of the catering end of the business. Thyme and Again, which has expanded into the former Beer Store on Carling Avenue, had its grand opening Tuesday (May 8, 2018). Unlike the restaurant-style shop in Wellington Village, this second location is more geared to the catering end of the business and a grab-and-go clientele. Julie Oliver/Postmedia Julie Oliver/Postmedia
Thyme and Again, which has expanded into the former Beer Store on Carling Avenue, had its grand opening Tuesday (May 8, 2018). Unlike the restaurant-style shop in Wellington Village, this second location is more geared to the catering end of the business and a grab-and-go clientele. Julie Oliver/Postmedia Julie Oliver/Postmedia
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