Salutes... 18 Calgary restaurants have joined Mealshare’s buy-one, give-one meal program! Welcome Bake my Day, Bridgette Bar, Broken Plate, Burwood Distillery, Cannibale, Dandy Brewing Company, Intenso, Greta Bar, Matador Steakhouse, Melrose Cafe & Bar, Model Milk, Modern Steak (Stephen Ave), One Night Stans, Pin Bar, Pigeonhole, Ruth’s Chris, Shelter, and Societe Coffeehouse. Are you a young sommelier between 21–31 years old who would like to compete for great travel and cash prizes? The Chaîne des Rôtisseurs, the
world’s oldest and largest wine and food society, is inviting entries in their annual regional sommelier competition, with the winner advancing to the International Competition in South Korea in September. There is no cost to compete, so check out chainecalgary.ca for details. Congratulations to Shokunin’s Darren Maclean for such a valiant showing in Netflix’s Final Table, representing not only Alberta, but Canada! Maclean, along with teammate Los Angeles chef Timothy Hollingsworth, beat out 22 internationally acclaimed chefs, many
with Michelin stars, to the finals. We can’t wait to hear more of his new restaurant opening in spring! 21 Alberta restaurants are included in OpenTable’s 2018 Top 100 Best Restaurants, making us the province with the second most featured restaurants after Ontario! Created from more than 500,000 diner reviews of over 2,500 restaurants across the country, Calgary features 16 restaurants – the second most of any Canadian city – Edmonton has four, and Banff has one. It’s hardly surprising that we never run out of places to talk about!
and Shout Outs... There’s still so much to tell you, so do sign up for our newsletter at culinairemagazine.ca to hear more news of Alberta’s dining scene! Calgary’s Phil & Sebastian has opened Hoopla Donuts in the +15 network of Calgary Place. Owners Phil Robertson and Sebastian Sztabzyb, along with Head Chef Leslie Morrow, worked through hundreds of variations to achieve the texture, flavour, and look they were after – joyful to eat and not overly fancy. Choose from 16 flavours including Root Beer Float, Matcha White Chocolate, and Uncommon Cider Apple – with vegan and gluten free options too! Weekdays 7:00-4:00. Right on trend is new plant-based Kanu Café, in downtown Edmonton on Jasper Avenue. First time restaurant owner Sherry Schluessel is hoping to make a distinction between vegan, vegetarian and “plant-based”, you won’t find any mock meats – plants are the stars of each dish. Look for Butternut Squash Nachos, Kelp Noodles and a raw, stacked lasagna with zucchini, sundried tomatoes and “macadamia ricotta” – all Instagram-worthy! Lunch and dinner weekdays, weekend dinners. 6
Enjoy local farmers’ markets? Trying new foods from local vendors? Happy days, the highly anticipated Avenida Food Hall & Fresh Market has opened its doors! On Lake Fraser Drive SE in Calgary, and with ample parking, there are more than 40 restaurants and stores waiting to tempt you in this bright and modern, airy space – and tempt you they will! We discovered many new and noteworthy eats just on our first visit, like Wild Rhubarb & Buck, Teff N Greens, and Takori by Duncan Ly! Thursday-Sunday 11:00– 8:00. Avenida Food Hall & Fresh Market
Gluten-free pioneer, Primal Cafe and Soup Company, has a new bricks and mortar location in Calgary’s Glamorgan area, on Richmond Road SW. Along with the Crossroads Market location, you’ll find all your favourite made from scratch soups using fresh market ingredients, coffees, pastries and cakes, every day 7:00-7:00 (6:00 on Sundays). Are you a take-out pizza aficionado? Calgary’s newest pizza spot, POW Pizza will challenge your idea of what that should look – and taste – like! Without Papers owners, Jesse Johnson and Angelo Contrada, have gone out on a limb with these “Detroit-spirited” pies; the cheese and tomato sauce are liberally slathered atop a super-thick crust after baking. Choose regular or large from six flavours, but get there before they run out! 7 days, noon-9:00. Welcome to Calgary’s Mission district, Mr. Chen’s Asian Brasserie! Local chef and restaurant veteran, Shaun Desaulniers, has teamed up with mixologist extraordinaire, Timo Salimaki, to bring us a late night spot with an excellent cocktail and wine list, and Asian inspired tapas-style plates from chef Shamir Bechara, all in a sexy and sultry, red environment. We really enjoyed our