The Performance Review

An end-of-year evaluation of Ottawa’s restaurant scene

Employee Name: Ottawa Dining Scene
Position: Culinary Capital-in-Waiting
Review Period: Q4 2024 – Q3 2025
Reviewer: Room Temp, anonymous but observant

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

Innovation Score: 6.2/10
A few brave standouts pushed boundaries, but many played it safe. Microseasonal menus still exist in theory, but the plating says "2018."

Trend Adoption Index: 8.5/10
Extremely proficient at replicating what's hot elsewhere—sometimes before the trend even goes cold. But where’s the originality?

Influencer Fatigue Rating: 9.1/10
We’ve entered the "take a photo of the photo of the food" stage. The feedback loop is real, and it’s exhausting.

Ingredient Recycling Efficiency: 7.8/10
Yes, we noticed you used yuzu, koji, and fermented ramps—again. Creative constraints can be good, but the algorithm is showing.

Menu Honesty Quotient: 4.3/10
No, it’s not a “bread course” if it’s one slice of focaccia and a slick of compound butter. Call it what it is.

Service Tone Calibration: 9.0/10
Most front-of-house staff nailed the tightrope walk between casual and refined. When they weren’t too burnt out to speak.

Labor Ecosystem Stability: 3.6/10
High turnover, closed kitchens, burnout aplenty. Some of the best food this year came from pop-ups run by people who quit the system entirely.

Strengths

Rising generation of cooks who aren't interested in mimicking Michelin but in making something weirder, more personal

Dessert has finally become interesting again

More wine bars, fewer steak tartares

Areas for Improvement

Still too many menus that read like they were cobbled together by committee, afraid to offend or confuse

A distressing return of foie gras as a “luxury flex” rather than a meaningful ingredient

Too many dishes that feel like they were styled before they were seasoned

Overall Rating:

Meets Expectations, with flashes of brilliance.
The potential is there. The audience is ready. The question is whether the next season will be one of reruns—or something new.