Lorne Abugov

Her parents, Paul and Marjorie, have lived in the Old Ottawa East family home for more than 40 years. She grew up with her two brothers, as a teenager she met up with her friends at the 7-Eleven on Bank Street, later got together with a childhood friend from Old Ottawa South, and today spends what free time she has raising an active 4-year-old daughter from her home in Centretown.
So what’s Vanessa Goodkey doing at the centre of Quebec’s burgeoning smoked fish business?

“Not too sure, it’s just the way things have happened,” Goodkey told The Mainstreeter in a recent interview at the Boucanerie Chelsea Smokehouse, an historic eatery bordering Gatineau Park that she and Elliott Gosselin purchased in 2018, the same year their daughter Leni was born.

“I went to university for sociology and then I ended up being a kitchen designer,” says Goodkey. “So no, I have nobackground in the fish business, and I had no idea that I would ever be the co-owner of a fish and seafood smokehouse business. I don’t even remember if I liked eating fish growing up as a child. You’ll have to ask my parents that question,” she smiles.

Old Ottawa East native Vanessa Goodkey and partner Elliot Gosselin take amoment to relax outside the Boucanerie Chelsea Smokehouse, which they purchased in 2018. Hard work and product enhancements are generating very loyal customers. Photo by Lorne Abugov

A lot more certain is that Gosselin, Goodkey’s partner and an accomplished chef since his teenage years, knows his way around fish and has a passion for the art of “cold smoking” salmon and various other seafood species on sale at the Smokehouse, including Arctic char, rainbow and steelhead trout, scallops, mussels and shrimp. “ Elliott does pretty much everything to do with the front-end business operations. He’s the master jack of all trades around here along with our manager, Zack Vezina,” explains Goodkey. “I am in the background with paperwork and all that kind of stuff. Elliott’s the smokehouse expert. He has the passion and dedication for crafting smoked fish,” she says. “He really loves it, and when you taste the product, you can taste the love.”

“When we took the business over from the previous owner, he showed Elliott the ropes, but given Elliott’s background and experience in the food industry, he picked up the knowledge pretty easily and quickly. He had smoked food outside using hot smokers, but he’d never done this kind of cold smoking before. There was a lot of trial and error, because there’s so much fluctuation in the process, what with the time of year, the humidity, how long it needs to stay in the smoker and other factors. So, for him, it’s still a work in progress, but he’s been working hard to perfect the smoking technique ever since.”

Community outlook

Gosselin’s career in commercial kitchens began with a first job at Patty’s Pub on Bank Street and has included stints as both a chef and a caterer preparing food for the dancers and technical staff at the National Ballet Company in Toronto and for 10 years on and off back in Ottawa at the Manx on Elgin Street. ”He’s always been into cooking, and he always wanted to either own his own restaurant or catering business,” says Goodkey . “So that’s what we set out to do, but then we came across the Boucanerie and decided to go for it, and we’re very determined to keep it going as an important part of this community,” she recalls.

A wide range of salmon and seafood products are all “cold smoked” on the premises by coowner Gosselin. Photo by Lorne Abugov

The theme of community runs through the conversation with Goodkey. The couple has committed themselves to a business model focused on sustainability, community and integrity. Since assuming ownership of the Smokehouse, Gosselin and Goodkey have formed partnerships with like-minded artisanal producers in their community, for example, selling products like kombucha, honey, maple syrup and cheese made in and around the Gatineau region.

There has been some uncertainty for the Smokehouse since the pandemic struck in March 2020. According to Goodkey: “Our team was just settling in, ramping up, and getting to know the business when the pandemic hit, and we had no idea what that might mean for us. Were we going to have to shut down completely?

“Oddly enough, the pandemic ended up being a positive for our business. People were around, they still wanted to eat well, and they were actually closer by, near their homes, going for walks or drives because they couldn’t do anything else. We were open, and we managed to stay open the entire time, following all the safety, distancing and masking measures. So, the pandemic really drove an increase in our sales. Only now are things kind of settling back to pre-pandemic levels of what it might have been had there been no virus outbreak,” says Goodkey

The SamBat connection

Since the pandemic they have faced some challenges. Sourcing their salmon and other seafood has posed issues of price and supply. For example, the price of salmon has skyrocketed, doubling at one point, and forcing the couple to continuously research their suppliers and shift around where necessary. Goodkey stresses the priority that she and Gosselin continue to place on maintaining the highest standards of quality and environmental sustainability.

One of the more innovative business relationships the Smokehouse has entered into involves upcycling sawdust from SamBat, the renowned Carleton Place manufacturer of maple baseball bats used by many Major League baseball players. Once a month, Gosselin picks up a big bin of sawdust from SamBat that the Smokehouse uses in their cold smoking process, which the website describes as follows:

“Cold smoking is a method of smoking which does not involve high temperatures. The smoke is generated in a separate chamber from the fish using sawdust. The consistency of the sawdust is so fine that it never creates a full fire. Instead, it simply smoulders and maintains a very low temperature of between 18-20 degrees Celsius. (…) Our rich, dense, smoky flavour is achieved by using the highest quality maple wood. They (SamBat) use only the finest for their products and, lucky for us, we get to use their waste as our key ingredient!”

With a mind to the future, the couple has already embarked on some ambitious expansion plans for the Smokehouse, according to Goodkey. “We’re hoping to open up a café and outdoor casse croute next year. Elliott’s father has helped us do a major clean-up of the back and side of the property, bringing it up to a usable level this year. It would be a great addition where our customers can come through the store, order a sandwich and some additional items like baked goods and coffee and then sit outdoors and enjoy the view of the river flowing by.

“We’re also continuing our participation in farmer’s markets, every Thursday, Saturday and Sunday through the summer,” she says, pointing to the Smokehouse van and trailer which the couple brings to outdoor markets in Wakefield, Aylmer and Hull, Quebec. “We also do many farmer’s markets in the winter, and especially around the Christmas period.” Tongue in cheek, Goodkey suggests that a new staffer might help bolster their Farmer’s Market team this summer – their young daughter. “Yeah, we’re hoping that Leni will lend Elliott a hand with all the outdoor markets – but not sure how keen she is about that!”

Another area of potential growth for the business is taking their retail efforts online. “We’ve been so busy working day-to-day since we purchased the business, that we haven’t managed to start up our online sales. We are hoping to do that soon, but so far, it’s been a steady stream of our regular customers coming in each week. They love their smoked fish or their raw salmon for sushi, and we see them over and over again. And word of mouth is also bringing in some new customers, so the takeout sandwich sales have been picking up as well.”

And garnering front cover attention in the January/February 2023 issue of influential Edible OTTAWA magazine has helped to put both the Boucanerie Chelsea Smokehouse, and Gosselin’s signature “Chelsea crack” product, a delicious paper-thin smoked salmon jerky, on the local foodie map. The catchy product name was coined by customers of the smokehouse, an obvious nod to the addictive quality of the popular delicacy.

The Boucanerie Chelsea Smokehouse made headlines early this year when their signature product, a smoked salmon jerky affectionately known as “Chelsea crack”, found its way to the front cover of prestigious edible OTTAWA magazine. Photo by Amy Zambonin

“We were so flattered by the fantastic coverage and review we got from Edible OTTAWA – surprised too,” recalls Goodkey. “They had said that they were going to do a feature on smoked fish and that they would be interviewing three or four different people in the business. But they didn’t let on that we were going to get the magazine cover until it actually came out. So we were pretty shocked and very pleased to see our salmon jerky on the front cover along with some really nice photos and a feature article on Elliott and the smokehouse.”

And what of the prospects of the Chelsea Smokehouse participating in the future at the Farmers Market in Old Ottawa East? “We’d really like that,” Goodkey smiles, “but unfortunately, we’re not allowed to transport smoked fish across provincial borders for sale without a federal permit.”

I jump into my car for the drive back from Gatineau Park, and silently curse the bureaucracy. There’s a small stash of the Chelsea Smokehouse’s delicious smoked fish in a paper bag in the passenger’s seat. By the time I hit the Quebec-Ontario border, much of it is eaten. Fortunately, I don’t need a permit to do that!

Boucanerie Chelsea Smokehouse is located at 705, Route 5, Chelsea, Quebec and is open Monday to Sunday 10am – 6pm. To learn more about the Smokehouse, visit their website at www.boucaneriechelsea.com and contact them at smokehousechelsea@gmail.com.