Hot cuisine: Tight-knit chefs bolster Ottawa restaurant scene

The Ottawa restaurant scene has changed significantly over the last few years with more trendyrestaurants popping up in neighbourhoods such as Hintonburg, New Edinburgh, Centretown, Westboro and even the suburbs of the nations capital.

Thats due to an influx of local chefs starting up their own restaurants in town, as opposed to heading to other big cities, according to star Ottawa chef Rene Rodriguez.

• WATCH | Reporter Sandra Abma examines what's behind Ottawa's changing restaurant scene
• For more on CBC Ottawa'sfour-part series chronicling the city's restaurant industry, click here.

Rodriguez is the head chef and owner of Navarra, a six-year-old Spanish-inspired restaurant on Murray Street in the ByWard Market. He was also recently crowned the winner of Top Chef Canada, a reality show that airs on The Food Network.

Rodriguez believes Ottawa chefs have createda small, tight-knit community, and that they support and inspire one another to be better.

"We are very cutting edge when it comes to food;really great chefs that support each other,"Rodriguez says."It's more of a community, which means we grow up a little bit faster."

• Chef Jamie Kennedy discusses Canadian local food movement

Restaurant owner Stephen Beckta has been one of the cogs of Ottawas rapidly maturing restaurant scene.

He owns three successful local restaurants, including Beckta, which is moving from a small building on Nepean Street to the old Grant House building on Elgin Street. Beckta, who also owns Play in the ByWard Market and the recently opened Gezellig in Westboro, says he needed a bigger space.

"This incredible historic building came up and we had to jump on it and now were making the dream restaurant,"Beckta says, adding he has no concerns about his clientele adjusting to a new location.

"I've always believed that if you do something remarkable, people will show up."

Ottawa on par with big Canadian cities, chef says

The growth of Ottawas restaurant scene can also be traced back to older businesses like Fraser Caf, a trendy spot in New Edinburgh near the intersection of Beechwood Avenue and Springfield Road.

While the Fraser brothers, Ross and Simon, own the restaurant with business partner Ion Aimers, Aimers has taken two former employees and helped them open their own restaurants: the newly-renovated Wilf & Adas in Centretown and Segue in the Glebe.

Segue took over the old Fratellis restaurant and opened fairly quickly, waiting until January to close for renovations.

This growth shows Ottawa has become a food hub, according to Rodriguez.

"Ottawa has been a great town for food, but now it's an even better town because we are on par with Toronto, Montreal and even Vancouver when it comes to local chefs, local produce and sustainability when it comes to farming," Rodriguez says.

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Hot cuisine

This is the firstin CBC reporter Sandra Abma'sfour-part series on Ottawa's changing restaurant scene, called Hot cuisine. Join the conversation on Twitter by using the hashtag #hotcuisine, and let us know what you think of the city's food industry.

• Part 2 | Coming up on Thursday, we look athow the abundance of farms in and around the greenbelt has changed the game for restaurants.
• Part 3 | Coming up on Friday, wequestion how much noise is good noise in restaurants?
• Part 4 | Coming up on Saturday, how does social media playa role in the restaurant business?