Calgary Food, coffee, etc.

[Ramsayfarian]

Originally Posted by Jimby

I too was at Avec the other night. It is a busy popular place. My first visit, although the friend I was with has been a few times.
I had the mushroom soup which was sublime and the braised beef short ribs with mashed potoatoes which were excellent. My friend had the steak frites. Also we ordered roasted veggies - beets, Jeruslalem artichokes, cabbage, and squash. About $125 for 2!

Which night? We were there Wednesday and the place was packed. Nice to see considering how many restaurants have failed in that location.

[Jimby]

Originally Posted by Ramsayfarian

Which night? We were there Wednesday and the place was packed. Nice to see considering how many restaurants have failed in that location.

It was Wednesday.

[Ramsayfarian]

Originally Posted by Jimby

It was Wednesday.

Like ships passing in the night. Were were sitting in narrow section. Across from the loud table of quasi hipsters

[Wigs]

Originally Posted by MichaelS

So I stopped in at Lukes IDA in Bridgeland on the way home to pick up a couple of things, and the clerk at the counter told me they are going to be putting in a coffee bar. Not exactly sure where yet (she thinks fronting onto 1st Ave) and they expect it to happen in a few months.

lol nice. there's not many things you can't get at Lukes. for daily needs anyway

[Wigs]

Originally Posted by Calgarian

haha, I've always read it as No Table.

same here. I picture a nicely dressed couple showing up at the restaurant sans reservations and a snooty Seinfeld-esque "soup nazi" host exclaims "No Table for you! come back when you have reservations. now buh-bye!" (active imagination I 'spose)

[Wigs]

Originally Posted by Ramsayfarian

In other resto news, we finally went to Avec the other night. I had their Arugla, Beet and Goat cheese salad. Seems like everyone is offering such a dish now, but their's was the best one I've had yet. It was slightly warm, which sounds kind of gross, but tastes awesome.

I also had the Steak Frite with Béarnaise sauce. A tad rich, but very good. Crammed it all down with a scoop of Salted Carmel ice cream from Village Ice Cream. Two thumbs up, would eat again.

Dinner came to $250 for 4, and my table mates managed to pound back two bottles of wine. Needless to say, a joyous time was had by all.

Avec sounds pretty good!

[CorporateWhore]

Just wanted to say I had a fantastic striploin at Rush tonight. Finding out that they are owned by the same group as Vintage is probably why it was so good. Nice restaurant overall too.

[Rusty van Reddick]

Three of us had dinner at Market last night. I was very put off by the negative reviews on eg Urbanspoon (it's only 63% "like" as a I write this, which is pretty bad) and was even going to recommend that we go somewhere else but soldiered on.

So, so glad I did. It was a fantastic meal and a great experience from start to finish. Service was NOT slow, portions were NOT tiny (could have done with bigger dessert though, fantastic)- it's not cheap but I didn't find it bad value at all and most important is that everything was delicious. Menu changes every day (that's what they're shooting for at least) so I can't really make recos since they might not be around when you check it out, but we liked every smidgen of what we had: oysters with this funky seaweed foam, mortadella tart, gnocchi appetizer that was really a big appetizer; my main was pappardelle with ground lamb, a coddled egg (I guess it was coddled in shell) and a yogurt sauce. Dessert was chocolate cake with peanut gelato and it was AMAZING. I could have had two of those.

Dinner for three with three appetizers, three mains, three desserts and one each of a unibroue something or other on tap, a prosecco and two house-made ginger ale (one with vodka and one without) was $240 before tip.

I'll definitely go again.

[fusili]

Originally Posted by Rusty van Reddick

Three of us had dinner at Market last night. I was very put off by the negative reviews on eg Urbanspoon (it's only 63% "like" as a I write this, which is pretty bad) and was even going to recommend that we go somewhere else but soldiered on.

I agree. Went there with my girlfriend about a month ago. I found the place to be similar to Farm, in that the food isn't necessarily something you haven't made yourself, but they make it so fantastically delicious. I definitely recommend it.

[Rusty van Reddick]

Tutti Frutti at Mt Royal Village had its soft opening today, official grand opening is the 23rd.

Open every day 12-9.

[Ramsayfarian]

Originally Posted by WIGS

Avec sounds pretty good!

I would go back again.

The name escapes me now, but there were signs in the windows at the old Sumo Sushi on 10th ave announcing a new bar and grill.

[Ramsayfarian]

The new place is called Briggs.

[Jimby]

I heard that Ruan Thai had closed. It used to be a favourite but then either they declined in quality or the new competition like Khao San Thai was so much better in comparison.

[Rusty van Reddick]

Originally Posted by Jimby

I heard that Ruan Thai had closed. It used to be a favourite but then either they declined in quality or the new competition like Khao San Thai was so much better in comparison.

Would not surprise me. They went completely apeshit with their dinner prices- insane. $23 for a green curry with chicken WITHOUT rice. A plate of basil pork with rice for $21. All of this in an ugly space and cheaper, better options nearby. I never got these folks.

I loved the lunch buffet when the basil chicken was on it but now that I know how to make it myself the way I like it- with minced thigh meat, long beans, and zero hoisin, just fish sauce and a ton of hot peppers and onions- I don't miss it.

The pricing was like a death wish- completely strange.

A block away is the newish Taste of Lebanon. It's decent; a "platter" with chicken, rice, potatoes, hummous and some insipid "salad" (I so, so wish Calgary Lebanese places did what they do in Toronto, at places like Falafel House and Ghazale, which is to have a TON of gorgeous salads, with beet and fava and so forth, to have on the side instead of this stupid iceberg lettuce-onion-pickle we see here), big tasty serving, is around $10. Much better deal than Shawarma Knight.

Oh- Tutti Frutti ROCKS! Fantastic fro-yo in a nicely redone space!

[Pavlov]

Originally Posted by Jimby

I heard that Ruan Thai had closed. It used to be a favourite but then either they declined in quality or the new competition like Khao San Thai was so much better in comparison.

That's too bad. 15 years ago, it was t.my favourite Thai restaurant in the city. I was addicted to their cashew chicken. Also, the owner, Wayne?, was a nice guy.

But yeah, that was 15 years ago.

[Me&You]

Speaking of Thai...

I have no details other than the "coming soon" sign on the door of (the former) Rasoi for De Thai.

Too bad. While I welcome a Thai resto to the area, I always enjoyed Rasoi and it was nice to have something a little different in the area.

[Rusty van Reddick]

From Gwendolyn Richard's blog in today's Herald: Luke's in Bridgeland isn't just opening a coffee bar, but is also opening the first in Calgary (and one of very few in Canada- and I mean fewer than two or three) to feature coffees from Stumptown in Portland. There are lots of coffeehouses in Canada that would love to serve Stumptown but the price has been prohibitive (Canadians have to pay RETAIL, which is about twice the cost of wholesale, never mind paying intl shipping) and so it's very thin on the ground here. Now there are excellent, world-class even, coffee roasters in Calgary these days (Phil & Sebastian and Fratello can go toe to toe with any roaster in the world, and Rosso has started out incredibly strongly for a new roaster for example) but having this option is pretty incredible. From the column:

Those of us who take our caffeine almost like a daily prescription may want to take note that there will soon be a new and tasty reason to visit Bridgeland’s Lukes Drug Mart.

Starting in May, the drug store will be the first Calgary establishment to offer up Stumptown Coffee from Portland, Oregon, as part of their custom built coffee counter. And that doesn’t just mean they’ll be carrying brew from their beans; every barista serving up Stumptown at Lukes will be trained by that company’s roasters and the equipment will be Stumptown’s standards.

http://blogs.calgaryherald.com/2013/...mptown-coffee/

[Full Mountain]

Originally Posted by Rusty van Reddick

From Gwendolyn Richard's blog in today's Herald: Luke's in Bridgeland isn't just opening a coffee bar, but is also opening the first in Calgary (and one of very few in Canada- and I mean fewer than two or three) to feature coffees from Stumptown in Portland. There are lots of coffeehouses in Canada that would love to serve Stumptown but the price has been prohibitive (Canadians have to pay RETAIL, which is about twice the cost of wholesale, never mind paying intl shipping) and so it's very thin on the ground here. Now there are excellent, world-class even, coffee roasters in Calgary these days (Phil & Sebastian and Fratello can go toe to toe with any roaster in the world, and Rosso has started out incredibly strongly for a new roaster for example) but having this option is pretty incredible. From the column:
http://blogs.calgaryherald.com/2013/...mptown-coffee/

Does this have to do with import tariffs or is it Stumptown that dictates that?

[Rusty van Reddick]

Originally Posted by Full Mountain

Does this have to do with import tariffs or is it Stumptown that dictates that?

Stumptown. Intelligentsia- another legendary US roaster, based in Chicago- doesn't do this.

[MasterG]

Originally Posted by Rusty van Reddick

Stumptown. Intelligentsia- another legendary US roaster, based in Chicago- doesn't do this.

Well I guess it made sense tariff or not. They are doing it