The official itinerary for the royal visit to Ottawa has not yet been announced, but it’s unlikely Prince William and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, will be stopping by the legendary Dominion Tavern or alternative music club Zaphod Beeblebrox or even the Elgin Street Diner, for the so-called healthy poutine.Those are the suggestions on Vanity Fair magazine’s website, in an article written by Rebecca Sacks, a former Ottawa resident who now lives in New York City,
Sacks writes that newlyweds William and Kate will probably enjoy a visit to Zaphod Beeblebrox, the hip ByWard Market club named after Douglas Adams’s Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. Or, they could soak up the local character by swilling a pint at the “beloved dive bar” Dominion Tavern. And they can scoot over to the Elgin Street Diner, which Sacks points out, serves the “healthful-ish” poutine, smothered with mushroom-based, and therefore, meat-free gravy.
Sacks really veers off the beaten path by suggesting the royal couple could get a real eyeful by checking out who “spills out of Bare Fax, the bleak little gentleman’s club” on York Street. Apparently, Kid Rock has been known to visit the strip club, but it hardly seems like the place for the royal couple.
Prince William and Kate will visit Ottawa and the region June 30 to July 2, before travelling on to several other Canadian cities and then to Los Angeles. The royal couple are expected to be on Parliament Hill on Canada Day. A complete itinerary will be released soon.
“It’s supposed to be a fun and lighthearted article about places they won’t go to,” said Sacks, 25, in a telephone interview Wednesday from the magazine’s office in New York City.
“I wanted to show them what is beyond Parliament Hill,” said Sacks, an editor’s assistant, who moved to Ottawa when she was 12 and attended Colonel By High School before going on to Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire, to study religion.
Sacks said during her years in Ottawa she visited all the haunts she recommended in the website article, with the exception of Bare Fax.
“These are places that I love and have been to and I think, feel beloved to the people of Ottawa. Also, these are places that wouldn’t be on any official tour.” said Sacks.
“The royals have had a well-documented nightlife in London and although Zaphod doesn’t cater to the same crowd that the bars and clubs that they go to in London do, it did feel like a fun way to reference what we know about them, their social life and what Ottawa has to offer,” she said.
An Ottawa institution that Sacks neglected to mention was BeaverTails, explaining that she regarded the tasty cinnamon treat more as a wintertime indulgence rather than a summertime ritual.
Eugene Haslam, owner of Zaphod Beeblebrox, said he’s flattered that his club got a mention in the venerable society magazine.
“It’s a good plug, especially when people around the world read something like that,” said Haslam. “It’s not entirely impossible that the Prince would not stray off the official program, just like (Barack) Obama did. The chances are pretty unlikely and we know that.”
Sacks isn’t the only one preparing fantasy itineraries. Jantine van Kregten, an Ottawa Tourism spokeswoman, also has a few suggestions.
“Because (Prince) William is a pilot we suggest the open cockpit bi-plane ride at the Aviation Museum. That would be a fun way to get him up in the air,” said van Kregten.
She said the royal couple could take a leisurely paddle on the Rideau Canal by renting a canoe from Dow’s Lake. She also suggests a “couples massage” at Holtz Spa on Rideau Street, the new Caravaggio exhibit at the National Gallery of Canada, or renting bikes to explore Ottawa’s bike paths.
“There’s no end to the things they can do in Ottawa,” said van Kregten.
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