Bar C on Saturday Night

Although Bar C is a contemporary lounge you can’t get a logo more western then they have, check it out at Bar C. This is another restaurant owned by Canadian Rocky Mountain Resorts and is joined to Cilantro which, after being open for 25 years, is a bit of an institution in Calgary. We stopped by at Bar C on Saturday night for dinner in between some sled island events. Walking in the door we were greeted by the smell of garlic and had a good feeling from the get go about dinner. We were in the mood to share so the three of us dove in to the menu to choose some dishes. Started with the mussels et frites ($16) which were served in a tomato, basil white wine sauce with a paprika mayo. The mussels were fresh, the fries on top were hot and crunchy and the smoky mayo was great for dipping. Next up we got the beef tips that were served with an aioli and a soy based dip, we found the tips to be in need of seasoning and were our least favourite dish of the meal. We followed with the wilted kale salad ($7) and one of the evening’s specials, which was gnocchi with mushrooms and lamb. The salad had tomato, shallots and garlic and was a great side to the savory and rich lamb gnocchi. Both of these dishes were a big hit and we finished every bite. Sorry, I don’t have pictures and prices for everything as we also had a couple bottles of wine and sometimes I get distracted!

Cheers,
Janet

kale salad

Brunch on the Lake

The Lake House restaurant is nestled on Lake Bonavista in the southeast quadrant of Calgary.  It is owned by Canadian Rocky Mountain Resorts with chef Thomas Neukom serving up locally inspired cuisine with a diverse wine list to ensure you have a glass to pair with your food.    Four of us landed there on a beautiful Sunday to enjoy the view, some vino, and brunch.   Our meal started with the fish plank ($17) and Canadian cheese ($20), which the four of us delighted in the savory flavours and lovely accompaniments.  Next we shared two brunch items the Bison Brisket & Game Meat Chorizo Hash ($19) and the Lake House Eggs Benedict ($16).  The bison brisket with red potatoes, corn, peppers with a poached egg and hollandaise on top was colourful and yummy.  We found the benedict to be unremarkable but we weren’t too fussed about that, as everything else was fantastic; the view, the company, the WINE and our waiter Ben made sure we were well looked after.  Go check out the Lake House!

Janet

 

fish plank

cheese board

great view!

brisket hash

eggs benny

Dreaming of Aida’s Mouhammara

Mouhammara is the name for reddish colour dips originating from Syrian and Turkish (ingredients may vary with region) cuisines. One taste of Aida’s and you will be back for more! Aida’s is a quaint family run Lebanese restaurant that opened up in Mission area of Calgary in 2000. They lucked out with last years flood as rising waters stopped within a block of the restaurant so they had no damage. Three of us popped in to enjoy a Mediterranean feast for lunch on Saturday. We started with the mouhammara ($8) that I had been dreaming of since mid-week when we decided we would be going there. It has red pepper paste, walnuts and pomegranate juice served with pita on the side and it doesn’t look like much but has a beguiling nutty and slightly bitter flavour that I adore. We also gobbled up some tabbouli ($8), fattoush ($7), squid ($9), garlic prawns ($9) and grape leaves ($6). The squid is sautéed in a light white wine and tomato sauce and the prawns in a garlic butter and coriander blend, they were tender, packed with flavour and so nice that neither is battered. All of our other shared dishes were fresh and packed with flavours of garlic, lemons and onion leaving us all in the need for a breath mint but so worth it!

Enjoy,
Janet

mouhammara

squid

fattoush

tabbouli

Bennies for Breaky

It was a beautiful sunny morning and we decided to walk down to the Loop for breakfast.  We ordered up a couple of their bennies; the Blackstone ($16) and the Florentine ($15).  The Blackstone had bacon, brie, avocado with poached eggs and a house made hollandaise.  The Florentine had steamed spinach topped on the whole wheat English muffin with poached eggs and hollandaise.  My friend had ordered her eggs cooked medium they were served soft and we both found the hollandaise bland.  Overall it was a very mediocre breakfast, I miss the Belmont (rebuilding from last years fire)!

Janet

Girl’s night out at The Living Room

Headed out to the Living Room with 3 great friends for dinner on Saturday night.  They have a lovely patio with awesome 17^th Ave people watching but the weather was looking a bit dodgy so we sat inside but were lucky to sit at the window so really had the best of both inside and out.  The restaurant claims to have coined the phrase “Contempory Interactive Cuisine” and puts a Canadiana touch on classic French and Italian fare.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To start we shared the Black Angus Beef Tartare ($22) and the Watermelon Caprese Salad ($18). The tartare was served with Dijon mustard, capers, gherkin, shallots, fleur del sel and mixed table side (you know I love the table side service!) it was accompanied by potato gaufrette. The dish was savory and the salty chips were great with the beef. Tamara says it’s the best tartare in the city and I would have a hard time disagreeing. That said, I fell hard for the Watermelon Caprese Salad! It had fresh buffalo mozzarella, a basil gel, balsamic pearls topped on juicy watermelon and drizzled with a lemon olive oil…oh so yummy! I could have just had two orders of the appies and been fine with that but we moved on to mains. Tina enjoyed the Duck Breast ($29), Sinead and Tamara shared the Wild Pulled Pork ($56) with a side of romanesco baby cauliflower with a cheese fondue ($12) and I opted for the Prosciutto Wrapped Cod ($26), which was one of the specials. The five spice duck was served with a foie gras spring roll, on rice noodles with a tom yum broth that was poured over table side (it is interactive!). Tina’s favourite part of the dish was the crunchy spring roll. The pulled pork was brined and sous-vide with a maple and biber salcasi (pepper paste) glaze and a charred pineapple salsa. The girls loved the meat but were underwhelmed by their side of cauliflower. My cod was served on a white bean sauté with asparagus and warm bacon vinaigrette. The cod was flaky and, really, I love anything wrapped in bacon or prosciutto. We managed to polish off a bottle of Oregon’s Johan Pinot Nior ($65) and then a couple bottles California Zinfandel ($70) from St. Francis vineyard. The Pinot was lighter and nice to have with the appetizers and the Zinfandel was dark, jammy & so luscious.

I’m not sure we saved room but we indulged in the chocolate fondue anyway; it was decadent and worth it.  Check out the Living Room next time you are on 17th Ave for some people watching and great food!

Janet

Stop in at the Trop

Located in my hood the Trop is a great place to stop for a bite and drink or check out some live music on the weekends.  The location used to be the Tropicana and was known to be a bit of a dive but about 5 years ago new management purchased the bar, did a significant renovation, and the new Trop was open for business.  Kristie and my driving range plans were foiled by pouring rain so we headed over to the Trop this week for a wine and a bite instead.  We chose the lettuce wraps ($13) and waffle poutine ($8) to share for dinner.  The poutine had waffle fries topped with cheese curds and homemade gravy.  This dish was a sinful delight that didn’t disappoint our taste buds!  The lettuce wraps come with your choice of pulled pork or torn chicken, sticky rice, pickled vegetable salad and crispy wontons.   We loved them, the crunch of the lettuce and crispy wontons contrasted by the sweet smoky chicken and we added a bit of sriracha to get the heat we needed.   Head over to the Trop for some tasty pub fare!

Cheers,

Janet

YYC is Open; Vin Room

The Vin Room in Mission is a cozy wine bar with eclectic décor and a fantastic patio.  They were hit hard last June when flooding water caused them to close their doors for 5 weeks.  During the closure any staff that wanted was offered shifts at the Aspen location, kudos to management!  The basement and lower level of the main floor flooded but with the help of 9 sump pumps they were able to keep the water out of the kitchen.  They lost some pricy Italian and French wines in the cellar but managed to save many of their expensive American wines.  Once they re-opened business was much slower than anticipated because everything around was still closed and most of the area residents were not yet back in their homes.  It took months before it was business as usual.  Recently Kristie, Patrick and I headed there for a food and wine pairing of our own design.  Here’s our delightful menu (thanks for the great notes Patrick!):

 

Eats; Oysters, Irish Point East and Zen from the West, both oysters had a slightly metal flavour and were a nice offset to the crisp rose

Wine Pairing; Schroeder Family Rose (Argentina), Crisp acidic style with ripe berries and anise

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Eats; Eggplant Chips – The acidity of the Pomegranate Molasses cleaned up the greasiness of the chips and balanced out the acidity in the wine bringing a rounder, fruitier characteristic forward in the wine. The eggplant chips are so popular they have not left the menu since Vin opened.

Wine Pairing; Docil Vinho Verde (Portugal), Bright acidity, grassy on the nose and palate with light citrus undertones. I have had this in Portugal and it is cheaper than water!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Eats; Pistachio Crusted Scallops – The natural sweetness of the scallops and sweetness from the pineapple raison chutney paired beautifully with the sweetness from the wine.

Wine Pairing; Rockford Frontenac – Sweet elegant white from Australia smelling of fresh apples and peaches. Although a sweet style it is light and refreshing in the mouth because of a well balanced acidity. The food’s sweetness brightened the wine up highlighting the acidity and peaches.

Eats; Pork Short Ribs – Sweet and smoky pork ribs.

Wine Pairing; Stuhlmuller Zinfandel (Sonoma), A jammy zin. The smokiness of the wine was intensified by the smoky bbq flavors in the short rib sauce. Because zin is softer than most full bodied reds it held up to the pork ribs but didn’t over power them.

2 oz palate cleanser; Copain Syrah (California) – Light juicy with fresh berries and white pepper.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Eats; Lamb T-bones – delightful T-bones with a salt cheese.

Wine Pairing; Post Scriptum Duoro (Portugal) – a full bodied red wine with a savory bouquet and finish. The full-bodied, slightly chalky tannins softened with the lamb.

Eats; Grilled Flatiron – A beautiful steak served on cheesy risotto.

Wine Pairing; Lolita Merlot (California) – A smoky plum jam Merlot. The full lush wine was beautiful with the dish.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Eats; Pumpkin Bread Pudding – The pumpkin spice and caramel desert felt like Christmas pie in your mouth when you added the sweet bruised apple flavor of the wine.
Wine Pairing; Rabl Trocken-beerenauslese (Austria) – an ice wine that has flavors of peaches and bruised apples. Although thick and sweet the Rabl has a serious acidy that leaves your mouth watering for more.

Our lovely tasting menu totaled up to about $470 and left us with full tummies and in need of a taxi!

Check out Vin’s recently announced “What Women Want” lunch and learn series for $35/person you get a three course lunch with wine pairings and learn about topics varying from food, wine, health and style.

Enjoy,
Janet

YYC is Open; Sky 360

A great way to celebrate a special occasion is to head up the Calgary Tower to Sky 360 enjoying both culinary delights and an ever changing view of our City. The tower was constructed in 1967-1968 with a total cost of 3.5 million, which wouldn’t get us a quarter of a tower with today’s construction costs. A neat fact, during a 24-day period in 1967 the concrete was poured in an unprecedented continual pour using a relatively new construction technique. The resulting 191 metre tower is a great place for locals and visitors alike to enjoy the view, check out the glass floor (yikes it makes me nervous!), or, like we did on Saturday night, have dinner while the restaurant rotates (a full rotation about once every 45 minutes).

View of Saddledome

Saturday was my mom’s birthday so 6 of us headed up the tower for a celebration dinner. We started with a couple orders of the meatballs on bed of tomato sauce with goat cheese and pickled zucchini ($16 per order). The menu said they were stuffed with goat cheese but the cheese was actually served on top and we found the meatballs a bit dry but loved the housemade tomato sauce and zesty pickled zucchini. For mains several of us had the Ling Cod ($32), my brother opted for the Wild Boar ($34), and my mom tried the Smoked Salmon Fusilli ($25). The pasta was served with fire roasted peppers, basil, capers in a goat cheese rose sauce and my mom said it was probably the best pasta she had ever eaten in her life which is a pretty high compliment indeed! The boar was an Alberta wild boar striploin with risotto, green onion, swiss chard, tomato in a peppercorn sauce and my brother enjoyed every last morsel. The cod was served on a bed of diced potato with bacon, brussel sprout leaves, roasted cauliflower, carrot chips and topped with a citrus herb butter. The fish was flakey and fresh and the potato mixture was salty and exquisite. Since we were celebrating a birthday, dessert was a must have and we finished off with an order of the daily gelato ($9) and a piece of flourless Black Forest Cake ($9). The gelato was a chocolate with chucks of near frozen peanut butter, yum! The cake was a deconstructed black forest cake and was a bit too sweet for my taste but between the 6 of us we managed to polish it off. I should note that if you are having dinner up the tower you don’t need to pay the normal observation admission fee ($18 for adults). We had great service throughout our evening and even though this restaurant isn’t new and trendy, it is definitely worth a visit!

During the flood of 2013 the Calgary Tower was closed for approximately 10 days while the water raged around it. When access was allowed the kitchen had to be purged and sanitized as all of the food had rotted. Once back open the kitchen had some issues with their suppliers as they utilize a lot of local ingredients and these farms/suppliers had either been impacted or had issues with transportation of food supply to the restaurant. Staff had to work with a modified menu and it was a good 30 days before normal business resumed.

Check out Sky 360 at the Calgary Tower!

Janet

YYC is Open; WURST

 

Located at the south end of 4^th Street in Mission, WURST was hit hard by the 2013 flood.  The downstairs flooded to almost the ceiling and a whirlpool effect was created moving the kitchen equipment across the room!  They were closed for 6 months as they salvaged and repaired what they could and re-built what couldn’t be repaired.  We were pleased to hear that the pig statues were rescued!

Head here on a Thursday or Friday night you will find a bustling beer hall downstairs and a busy German inspired restaurant upstairs.  In the restaurant we love the decor with large windows maximizing natural light, the trees in the middle of the room along with wood finishing and cuckoo clocks adding warmth to the space.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Three of us made the quick trip from the downtown core to enjoy lunch today. We started with the roasted cauliflower ($10) which doesn’t make for a great picture but served with balsamic capers, golden raisins and a lemon aioli it was tender and had a great salty and sweet flavoured sauce. Our mains included the small bratwurst platter ($15), the wiener schnitzel ($19), and a crispy cod sandwich ($14). We had enough food for 6 people but did our best to make a dent in our meals. The bratwurst was served in a traditional fashion with mustard, potatoes and sauerkraut on the side. The schnitzel was served with pan fried potatoes and the cod sandwich had a choice of sides of which the duck fat fries seemed like a no brainer. The portions were large and it was a hearty German lunch. That being said we couldn’t resist sharing the “WURST brownie ever” ($8) since it had such a catchy name and we liked the sound of the kirsch cherries. It was a chocolaty delight with the cherries popping with flavour in our mouths, wunderbar!

Roasted Cauliflower

The Wurst

The Schnitzel

Cod Sandwich

The Wurst Brownie

YYC is Open; Mercato

What better way to spend a Sunday then spa and lunch with a girlfriend? Kristie and I headed down to the Mission area in Calgary to enjoy just such an outing today. Last June however this neighbourhood looked much different as water from the Elbow River spilled over the banks and ran through the community flooding homes, restaurants and businesses. We were glad to see the community buzzing with activity today with most, if not all, of the businesses re-opened. Our morning started at Sante Spa which was closed last June for 3 months due to the flood damage. Today it was a serene and lovely environment to enjoy a pedicure and facials. After the spa we walked across to Mercato and grabbed a seat up at the bar for lunch. Mercato was lucky, didn’t have substantial damage and closed for only 10 days during the flood. They were able to keep their staff busy at their west location or helping clean up the Mission site. And speaking of busy, this charming restaurant is a great success in Calgary and is always full of patrons ranging from families, couples and friends. We enjoyed a light and lively bottle of Nino Franco Prosecco Rustico ($50) as we looked over the menu and with our lunch. After finishing off some foccacia bread with olive oil and balsamic vinegar we opted for the Tagliatelle ($16) served with cherry tomatoes, fresh basil, and parmigiano reggiano. The pasta was fresh, the tomatoes sweet and juicy and the salty cheese was a great topping. We both love the Bistecca, one of the best steaks in the city, but decided to try something new and ordered the Calamaro ($37) for our next course, a grilled squid stuffed with prawns, herbs and focaccia on a sauce of urchin and ricotta. The dish was charred, salty and beautiful. It made me think we should have been enjoying it at a coastal restaurant somewhere in Italy. What a great day in Mission!

Janet & Kristie