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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.

Photo by Julie Oliver / Postmedia

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.