For me as a food and travel writer, food is about adventure, about culture, about creativity and conviviality. But food is also about nurturing body and spirit and – at its most basic – it’s about survival. That’s why I volunteer at the Drop-In Centre, the Food Bank, and with LeftOvers Calgary.
Through LeftOvers I’ve learned that, at its worst, food is also about waste. HEAPS and HEAPS of it. So I’m excited to be a part of Feeding the 5000 this upcoming Thursday in Olympic Plaza – an event that will see Calgary chefs and volunteers turn perfectly edible food that would be destined for the landfill into a tasty lunch for 5000 people. And the best part? LUNCH IS FREE AND EVERYONE’S INVITED.
From its inaugural event in the UK in 2009, Feeding the 5000 has spread to locations around the world, including Paris, Sydney, New York, and Vancouver. Its aim is to raise awareness about global food waste. Fully 1/3 of the world’s food production is wasted, according to the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization – discarded in processing, transport, warehouses, grocery stores, restaurants, and home kitchens.
Yes, you read that right – ONE THIRD of the world’s food production never makes it into the mouths of people.
In Canada alone, approximately 170,000 tonnes of edible food – or 300 million meals valued at 31 billion dollars – are sent to landfills every year. This squanders countless resources in terms of water, energy, land and the like – and makes discarded food one of our largest contributors to greenhouse gas emissions.
Here in Calgary, we’ve got work to do, too. Discarded food accounts for 36% of all material going from our homes into our landfills – and a 2016 study commissioned by the City of Calgary revealed that 52% of that discarded food is edible.
The food we’re talking about is not spoiled, mouldy, or otherwise unsafe to eat. Think those imperfect fruit and vegetables that you’re reluctant to buy at the supermarket (Yup – I’m guilty as charged). Or food beyond its “best before” date, but not past its expiration date. Overstock and oversupply at retailers. And mislabelled, improperly packaged, or damaged food.
What SAIT Chef Andrew Hewson and his team of volunteers aim to do this Thursday, June 15, is transform unsellable winter-stored potatoes and carrots, ugly tomatoes, surplus chickpeas, day-old bread – and anything else that might turn up in the food truck – into a delicious and nutritious summertime lunch that includes soup, salads, and dessert.
I’ll be chopping up some of those vegetables in the lead-up to the event and serving food in Olympic Plaza from 11 am to 2 pm. Come on down and have a taste – did I mention that it’s free?
While you’re eating, you’ll be able to find out what LeftOvers Calgary, the Calgary Regional Partnership, the Recycling Council of Alberta, and other organizations are doing to address food waste at the community level- and what we can do at home and at the supermarket to reduce our own food waste.
If you’re interested in joining me at the chopping block, contact me here – or on Facebook – and I’ll let you know where to be and when.
Or contact Jessica Letizia directly (jessicaletizia@calgaryregion.ca) and she’ll tell you how you can still help out before, during, or after the event. Feeding the 5000 would be happy to have a few extra hands on the team.
The food you’ll see is destined to surprise you. Come on down and check it out.
Thanks to Karen Anderson for the shout-out on her Savour It Allblog about my “Eating India” article in the newest issue of City Palate. The article highlights my travels through northern India in late 2015 with Alberta Food Tours–a truly delicious adventure.
I’m happy to say I’ll be making a return trip with them in the fall – this time to Mumbai, Goa, Kerala, and the Cardamom Hills!
You can read Karen’s post here – and see my full article in blazing colour in the digital edition of City Palate here.
Know what always tells me that spring is actually on its way?
It’s not the tulips that appear at the checkout, whispering tight-lipped promises that they’ll open their hearts, if only I’ll take them home. (I do, and they prove true to their word).
Nor is it the bare patch that emerges in my garden after a long Chinook, reminding me of where my rhubarb lays sleeping. (That just makes me sad. BUT I’ve found an antidote for that, which I’ll share later on).
It’s the moment when I take my last luscious YYC Hot Chocolate Fest sip (thank you, February!) and open my browser to the listings for The Big Taste – Calgary’s annual festival for food lovers. Those ten days in March when hundreds of city-centre chefs put on their best show, with multicourse meals that remind us what a terrific food town we live in. This year, more than 90 restaurants make their pitch for your heart and mine.
But the festival’s not all signature events and gourmet dinners (though there’s plenty of those, with menus whose read is its own delicious indulgence). Our chefs and restaurateurs know – perhaps better than most – that we’ve been hurting here in Calgary during this economic downturn. So they’ve also included 3-course lunches for only $15 and $25 dollars, and Happy Hour specials featuring all your favourite and soon-to-be-favourite drinks and snacks.
So even if the belt is tight at the moment, there’s good excuse to loosen it up just a notch and treat yourself to a little morale boost. To celebrate the news that we’ve turned the corner and – though the climb is still long and slow – better times lay ahead.
To venture down to the new-kids-on-the-block like Royale Brasserie and Mill Street Brewpub on 17th; Klein/Harris on Stephen Avenue; or Provision in Memorial Park. Stave off the winter blues with a new-to-you cuisine at Hapa Izakaya (serving Japanese), Paper St. Food + Drink (featuring international street food), or Foreign Concept (helmed by Gold Medal Plates winner, Chef Jinhee Lee, and her mentor, Duncan Ly).
Maybe it’s time to check out the food scene stars that you’ve just never made it to, like Pigeonhole or Whitehall. Or to splash all-out: at SAIT’s Centennial Celebration in their spiffy downtown culinary campus – or at The Guild toasting Canada’s 150th birthday in the iconic Hudson’s Bay building .
Whether your inclination is to explore new food frontiers or rediscover old favourites, know that scores of our culinary best are working hard behind the scenes to coax fabulous flavours and colours from our province’s larders and root cellars. They’re tapping local greenhouses – and sourcing fresh crops from our neighbours in gentler climes – to remind us of what we can look forward to as the days grow longer.
They’re bringing spring back to Calgary. Time to show them a little love. It’s been a long cold winter for them, too.
The 2017 Big Taste Foodie Festival (#BIGTASTEYYC) launches this Friday, March 3 and runs through Sunday, March 12. Find restaurant listings, menus, and reservations links at http://www.calgarydowntown.com/the-big-taste.
AND FOR THOSE LIKE ME WHO CAN’T WAIT FOR THAT FIRST TASTE OF RHUBARB: Track down a bottle of Okanagan Spirits’ Rhubarb Liqueur – my favourite springtime discovery. In an inspired turn of crowdsourcing in 2016, Vernon’s craft distillery asked Okanagan residents if they’d like to share their spare rhubarb for a little experiment. Okanaganites responded in droves – with everything from truckbeds of rhubarb stalks in dirt, to sealed baggies of carefully-chopped fruit. Distillery staff painstakingly washed and hand-chopped all 650 pounds – to produce a spirit that’s so tart and fresh, you can almost hear the crunch. Look for it at fine liquor stores in Calgary or order it online while supplies last.
There’s a basic problem to running a restaurant in a 75-acre park. Especially when it flanks one of Calgary’s most popular outdoor skating haunts.
How to keep the wind off your customers every time someone whooshes in with their gear?
Solution: the glass-and-metal vestibule installed at Seasons of Bowness Park. It’s a simple but stylish affair of irregularly-sized panels that frames this new casual fine dining restaurant with a watery effect akin to the light playing off Bowness lagoon.
But when I sit down with Alex Solano, one of the operators of Seasons (as well as two Salt and Pepper locations and Lolita’s Lounge in Inglewood), I learn there’s more to this portico than meets the eye.
It’s pieced of ten historic styles of glass – some wavy, some bubbly, some seemingly dripping with movement – that each derive from a different decade of the park’s 100-year heritage. It’s a silent tribute to the park’s storied past of campsites and swimming pools , teahouses and trolleys, dancehalls and midway rides – and to the stories of generations of Calgarians who have skated, strolled and played under the poplars.
“I wanted the vestibule to make you stop and think,” says Alex. “To take a small [subconscious] pause and say: ‘Oh, actually this is really nice. I’m now somewhere else’.” A somewhere else he hopes that’s peaceful and neighbourly, where people can savour food and good conversation along with the view.
A place where the servers are quick to recognize that the couple at Table 12 want a little privacy, the solo diner devouring Road Trip Rwanda along with her arancini needs her glass topped up without interruption, and the pair by the window crave an ear with which to share the thrill of their grandson’s first steps. Or perhaps bemoan the emigration of their daughter to Toronto for want of a local job.
Chicken pot pie with apple beet salad Photo credit: Seasons of Bowness Park
Now almost five months into its rise from the Flood of 2013, Seasons is gearing up for the winter season with a new menu focusing on warm, comfort foods. Think bubbling chicken pot pie. Fresh Alberta Arctic grayling reminiscent of fishing trips with your dad. And an apple-ring confection that looks and smells like mini-doughnuts on a pillow of sweet cream.
With the ice scheduled to be ready this weekend, there’ll be coffee-and-Bailey’s on the deck for the skating crowd; hot chocolate, of course, for the alcohol-disinclined. Weekends will continue to bustle with brunchers, and the gas fireplaces on the new plaza will light up to warm frigid hands and feet.
Look for special date-night events by Valentine’s Day: how about a cocktail/appetizer interlude, followed by a moonlit skate while servers prepare your table for a cozy fondue?
If seasonal shopping is more front-of-mind for you these days, head next door to the Market grab-and-go counter. While the barista pulls your latte, scan the small-but-growing collection of retail items, including Chilewich runners and placemats, and soft navy throws featuring Seasons’ retro-cool canoe logo. And bring home a few shortcuts for your holiday entertaining, like house-made bone-broth, pumpkin hummus, and fresh tomato salsa.
2016 showed us that Bowness Park is back again to thread through the warp of our urban lives. It’s worthy of a pause – don’t you think? – to appreciate Seasons’ glass century passage next time the wind blows you in.
Seasons of Bowness Parkand Market are open daily, including Christmas and New Year’s. Check their Facebook page for hours.
With writing deadlines pending, public trials at YYC Calgary’s new International terminal to attend, and a little Thanksgiving cooking and travel to enjoy over the past two weeks, I’m just now sorting through my notes from the Okanagan Food & Wine Writers Workshop held at the Manteo Resort in Kelowna Sept. 30-Oct. 2.
Jennifer Cockrall-King with grower/horticulturalist, Hank Markgraf
Those of you familiar with the workshop will know it’s the love’s labour of Jennifer Cockrall-King, author of Food and the City and Food Artisans of the Okanagan, who splits her time between homes in Edmonton and the Okanagan Valley (when she’s not on the road researching articles for various print publications). This was my first appearance at the Workshop – now in its 7th year – but it’s safe to say I’ll be joining the ranks of previous alumni who return regularly to the event for more.
More of what, you ask?
More opportunities to meet the chefs, growers, and winemakers who’ve put the Okanagan Valley firmly on the map of North American oenophiles and food lovers.
More engaging workshops designed for food, wine, and travel writers, regardless of where they are in their careers.
Lunch at Manteo Resort
Workshops like Timothy Fowler‘s interactive session on “The Pleasure and Discipline of Daily Writing”, complete with short-but-sweet writing exercises to stimulate the creativity in anyone.
Or “How to Find Great Stories in Food”, presented by SunsetMagazine‘s Food Editor, Margo True – who took us behind the scenes of her award-winning stories at Gourmet, Saveur, and Sunset, to share her own lessons learned and sources of inspiration.
Jill Foran, Editor of WestJet Magazine, helped us hone our query skills in “The Art of the Pitch” and Jennifer Cockrall-King brought it back to the personal with “Authenticity and Connection in Good Writing”.
Composed Oyster, Summerhill Bistro
Woven between these plenaries were bonus presentations by Tourism Vernon, Quails’ Gate Wines, and Carmelis Goat Cheese (replete with treats, I might add).
And then there were the field trips: an orchard experience and hands-on galette-making with Hank and Darcel Markgraf representing B.C. Tree Fruits; a tasting of Kitsch Winery’s newly-minted award-winning 2015 Riesling with winemaker Grant Biggs; and Gabe Cipes’ sunset tour of the biodynamic gardens at Summerhill Pyramid Winery, followed by a 4-course gastronomic experience created by Summerhill’s new Executive Chef, Alex Lavroff and hosted by CEO Ezra Cipes.
Kitsch 2015 Riesling
Back at home base, the kitchens of the Manteo Resort and Hotel Eldorado took our fueling needs to new heights, with the Eldorado’s Vince Van Wieringen recreating a veritable flower garden on our lunch plates and the Manteo’s Marc Schoene and his culinary team pulling out all the stops with spectacular breakfasts, a seafood-inspired lunch, and a true Okanagan farm-to-table harvest dinner.
Kudos to you all for the generous sharing of your talents and passion. And special thanks to Jill Foran and Margo True for your positive feedback on my own new work during our 1:1 Blue Pencil sessions.
At the point where art intersects with science, something exciting happens. Something innovative. Potentially game-changing. Possibly delicious.
And from September 14 to 18, 2016, Beakerhead – Calgary’s annual “smash-up of science, art, and engineering” – promises to deliver all of those things and more.
Think interactive art and science experiments in the streets. An inside-the-studio look at the art and mechanics of special movie effects (read: autopsies and snow flurries). A Rock ‘n Roll History of Space Exploration, featuring a real astronaut. And a plethora of workshops that plumb the intricacies of memory, revenge, and each of the five senses – including my obvious favourite: taste.
(Credit: beakerhead.com)
Food nerds, get excited – because there’s a veritable buffet of activities and samplings at this year’s festival. In the chemistry class you wish you had in high school, Hi Tech High-Balls lets you create “engineered drinks” under the guidance of Hotel Arts’ Mixologist, Franz Swinton. Coffee-lovers can join Phil & Sebastian coffee roasters as they explore java/milk synergies in Cafe-au-Lait Scientifique (who knew these guys were both engineering school grads?).
For those who believe there’s no better workshop than one with take-home treats, there’s Spicy Palate Workout, The Squeak Behind the Cheese Curds, and the Science of the Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookie. And in the realm of epic events, Torched brings six top Calgary chefs and mixologists together with a car turning a spit and wire baskets of trout roasting over a giant flame.
Around town, Engineered Eats sees over 30 Calgary restaurants and bars creating engineered treats and molecular cocktails for you to try, using the 2016 festival’s theme ingredient: milk. I’ve already got my tickets to Exploring the Milky Way, a Stampede Trolley tour to four of the participating restaurants, where we’ll meet the chefs, learn how the dishes and drinks were created, and taste the results of their experiments.
(In truth, signing up for the Milky Way event had my loyalties divided, as it meant having to forgo the engaging Seven Wonderers session – a panel of first-rate science writers and storytellers telling tales of their own wondering. It was my Man’s and my favourite session at last year’s festival).
Lucky Iron Fish (Credit: beakerhead.com)
On the game-changing front, several Beakerhead events present a half-dozen social entrepreneurs: folks intent on improving the world with small inventions that have potentially big social impacts. Products like wearable technology to assist autism-sufferers interpret social cues. An iron fish that tackles world malnutrition one pot at a time. Disaster relief in a box, and a tsunami survival capsule. An inflatable solar light that packs flat. And a solar-powered bike pod to keep you warm on your winter commute.
Calgarians who favour careening around the city on two wheels will be happy to know that a multitude of free art, cultural, and science exhibits and activities will be placed in cycle-friendly locations around the downtown core. There’s a foldout of these Chain Reactions inside the program guide to help you map out your route. And those for whom this is new territory can join the Cyclepalooza folks for a free guided bike tour through all the major installations – finishing up at Beakernight, the festival’s culminating all-ages street party in Bridgeland.
There truly is something for everyone among the more than 50 events and exhibits at the 2016 Beakerhead festival. Check out the full list at beakerhead.com or download a PDF version of the festival program here.
Seems the folks helming the new cafe at Bowness Park are inclined to agree.
Since the epic flood of 2013 saw Calgary’s Bow River rushing pell-mell among the cottonwoods, pushing mud and debris high up tree trunks and across the century-old picnic grounds, the road back for this well-loved park has been a long one. Last summer, after two years of reconstruction that saw roadways reconfigured, river access improved, and regional bikeways integrated, the park re-opened to the public – and to much enthusiasm for the creatively reimagined central square on the lagoon.
Now the concession that has served hotdogs and ice cream, hot chocolate and coffee to generations of paddling and skating Calgarians has made its phoenix-rise at last, with the opening of Market and – in a throwback to the 1920’s tea house that once graced the river channel – a new cafe called Seasons of Bowness Park.
But this is not your grandmother’s tea house.
With its vaulted ceiling, exposed pine beams, and honey-hued wood trim, the new venue is decidedly unfussy; evocative of a contemporary river-fishing lodge. The mood is casual and stylish, with deep blue and black accents, transparent blue plastic-and-chrome chairs, and two long plaid-and-leather banquettes placed back-to-back to divide the airy room into two. A place where you’d feel equally at home in bike shorts and a tech-shirt as in a sundress and sandals (okay, so some of you guys may not feel comfortable in a sundress and sandals). Few of the furnishings are fixed, leaving this a flexible space that can be configured for multiple uses. The feature attraction, of course, is the long lagoon view – and Seasons cafe takes full advantage of this, with a continuous stretch of windows along three sides of the building and a sunny wraparound deck that overhangs the river channel.
The contemporary feel extends to the lunch menu as well. With grab-and-go sandwiches, salads, and snacks covered off by the take-out counter at the adjacent Market, the team at Seasons cafe have opted for what they term “casual fine dining” – an array of globally-inspired tapas and skewers, beautifully-plated salads, and mains that run the gamut from paella fried rice to fried chicken to steelhead trout with pasta (There’s also a signature burger and ribs).
I chose for my lunch the Canadian Falafel plate (made with black and white beans and garnished with herb purée and sumac yogurt, $10)) and a half-order of the Chèvre Chaude salad (toasted goat cheese on artisan lettuce greens, with a vegetable medley and herb vinaigrette, $10). The three falafel balls were perfectly-crisped on the outside, as was the panko-crusted mild goat cheese, and the salad’s vegetable medley on this occasion included tasty shavings of fennel and Asian radish.
In the interest of the most complete research on a single stomach, I chose a sampler platter from the dessert menu, which included bite-sized servings of chewy brownie, iced coconut parfait, and cheesecake with berry compote and honey ($8). A selection of cheeses is also available, as well as French press coffee and local teas by Grounded (the Velvet Mint rooibos proved smooth and sublime).
The dinner menu expands the lunch offerings with selections of pork, steak frites, shrimp, gnocchi, and a choice of seasonal sides. Just this weekend, the cafe launched its Saturday and Sunday brunch, offering elevated renditions of the usual suspects: eggs, French toast, pancakes, fruit, and breakfast hash.
Seasons has an extensive wine list, a short curation of craft beers (from Canada, the U.S., and Europe) as well as seasonal beers on tap, and interesting cocktail options designed for summer sipping. For those who prefer to bring their own bottle, wine corkage is available for $15.
The staff at Seasons are attentive, welcoming, and notably thrilled to share this new Bowness Park experience with you. With its emphasis on casual fine dining as opposed to chips and burgers, the reincarnated tea house is a bit of a risky venture among the wagon-pulling, football-throwing traditional park crowd. But those simply looking for a caffeine fix or a quick bite will find their needs met by the friendly baristas at Market, with a full display counter of fresh and tasty choices (open 10 am to 8 pm daily). And in the under-served restaurant market of Calgary’s NW quadrant, Seasons of Bowness Park may well be a happy venture that’s been far too long in the making.
I’m already planning my next date night there with my Man, to watch the light play golden over the water and the mother ducks – both feathered and human – shepherding their young ones off to bed.
Welcome back, Bowness Park! We missed you.
Check out menus and catch the latest news from Seasons of Bowness Park on their Facebook page. Watch for their website (seasonsofbownesspark.ca) to be up to full speed soon.
Seasons of Bowness Park is open Monday to Friday from 11 am to 10 pm; weekends from 10 am to 10 pm.
I have to admit: come Stampede time in Calgary, I wear my civic heart on my sleeve.
Truth is, while I can claim Calgary as my birthplace and have loosely called it “home” for most of my adult life, I’ve spent more years living away than living here. But strangely enough, that time away has turned me into an even stronger fan of our biggest summer festival than I might have been.
Not so much for all the attractions on the Stampede grounds (although my July’s not complete without a wander through the Dream Home and the livestock barns – and my annual candy apple vs. cotton candy debate on the midway).
Nor for the signature Stampede rodeo (although rodeo has claimed a piece of my heart ever since I was a kid at my bedroom window watching flashlights comb the bush nearby for a bull escapee from the Lacombe Indoor Rodeo. A mean-humped bull that I had just seen triumph in the arena. Pounding the dirt of the field that I’d walked home across not an hour earlier. My seven-year-old reaction to that chain of events still holds today: rodeo bulls rock!)
No, what impresses and amazes me most is how, 104 years in, this festival of cowboy culture maintains a grip on our common consciousness that seems as strong as it ever was. How a city of corporate highrises, urban bike trails, and sprawling suburbs, with its 1.2 million strong population drawn from every corner of the globe, embraces – at least for 10 days every summer – a sense of shared experience.
Where downtown office towers shut down on Parade Morning to let their employees join the 200,000+ spectators downstairs ogling shiny floats, horses, and marching bands.
Where conversations at the coffee machine turn to Stampede party recommendations and who’s looking likely to win the chuckwagon races this year.
Where working the Stampede is a rite of passage for thousands of city high school students; a place where they get their first taste of employer expectations and learn the rudiments of customer service.
And where thousands of volunteers, too, tend exhibits at the Stampede grounds, or flip pancakes and sling beer from one corner of the city to the other, all in the name of Stampede spirit and fundraising.
It’s a sense of shared community that’s difficult to articulate to the visitor (or to that sliver of cynical Calgarians who take determined flight from the festive crowds every summer).
But for those interested in figuring out what this Stampede thing is all about, it’s the pancake breakfasts, I believe, that best encapsulate what I’m getting at.
“A couple of free pancakes and sausages on a paper plate,” you say. “Chilling in the morning breeze. And you LINE UP for this. Huh – go figure.”
If you’re not already a believer, maybe I can’t sell you on this. But I set out on a short pancake odyssey this week to try and capture what I mean. It may come off corny and my effort may be doomed, but walk with me for a few minutes, as I explore the Stampede Breakfast experience:
Prospect Stampede BBQ, featuring the Great Canadian Army Burger Challenge
Okay, so my initial stop is a free lunch instead of a pancake breakfast, but it’s two days before the official start of Stampede and this is the first one out of the gate.
When I pull up at 15 minutes past noon, the lineup for burgers already loops twice around the parking lot and snakes past the corner to the busy grill at the back. Seems the folks who work in the neighbourhood have caught on to the free food in the 27 years that this barbecue has run. But the event is news to me, as is Prospect itself: a non-profit job placement agency that helps people who face barriers to employment.
Today’s barbecue highlights Forces@WORK, one of Prospect’s newest programs, designed to help Canada’s recent veterans transition successfully into the civilian workforce. A good turnout of active military personnel appear in the crowd, trading jokes and stories with members of other units, chatting with clients of Prospect’s developmental disability program, and cheering on the contestants of the Great Canadian Army Burger Challenge: a food-channel-styled event that pits four contestants – active army cooks all – against one another in a battle for bragging rights and the Spatula D’Or.
Among the celebrity judges for the burger challenge are Calgary restaurant critic, John Gilchrist, and Master Chef Canada finalist, April Lee Baker. They’re joined by Alberta Deputy Minister of Labour, Jeff Parr, Calgary Flames forward, Joe Colborne (soon to be of the Colorado Avalanche), and Lieutenant-General Christine Whitecross, Canada’s Chief of Military Personnel (and purveyor of crackling dry wit).
There’s a bouncy castle for the kids, a live band on deck, and giant tricycles tricked out as chuckwagons for the ingenuous to race. Pro-chuckwagon racer, Mark Sutherland, stands by for autographs and photo-ops with his rig.
A sudden downpour with rolling thunder makes barely a dent in the food queue. Instead, jackets appear, hoods go up, and those with umbrellas huddle together with those who don’t. A Prospect staffer hands out green garbage bags to those like me who’ve come unprepared – but not before she carefully punches out neck and armholes making them ready-to-wear. In the driving rain, the Army Burger contestants work, undaunted, on their creations.
Ultimately, the clouds clear and Warrant Officer Bryan Power – a veteran of Afghanistan and father of two – takes home the Spatula D’Or. As spectators and judges melt into the crowd, April Lee Baker and the lone female contestant share a quiet exchange of sisterhood and selfies.
Nearby, a woman with mobility challenges wants to sit on the mechanical bull, just to see how it feels. A volunteer offers his knee as a step up, then again as a step down. With a break in the action, he takes a spin on the bull himself. HIS dismount is decidedly less graceful.
Calgary Dream Centre and 88.9 Shine FM Stampede Breakfast
Within minutes of musing aloud about how I’ve driven past this place countless times without knowing what it is, I’m told that 60% of people surveyed think it’s a centre for sleep treatment. In reality, it’s a faith-based residence for the homeless and a treatment centre for addictions. And home to 88.9 Shine FM radio.
Out front, a Stetsoned white board-member-type shares griddle duties with a guy whose weathered face and gaunt frame betray the hard knocks of a street life existence. A couple of young men cuff each other in the shoulder as they join the pancake queue and catch up on what’s been happening in their lives since they last met. One of them is currently in residence at the Dream Centre.
A thin, middle-aged man moves his cane out of the way so I can set my plate down at a communal table. He waxes cynical on his recent experiences with the Stampede but concedes the rodeo is still pretty great. Stomach sated, I take a peek at the petting corral. A young woman of First Nations descent introduces me to her one-month-old niece, while her older sister pets the goats with the baby’s toddling brother.
At the coffee dispenser, I run into a pair of cyclists who’ve taken a break from their ride for a bite of pancake and a look around. Turns out they’re refugees from the Fort McMurray fire – and all that’s left of their former home is concrete foundation and a pile of ash. But they’ve got jobs to go back to in September, they reassure me, and a line on a potential place to live. “Ah, we were travelling too heavy anyway,” the woman says with a shrug and a smile.
We band together with about a dozen others for a tour of the Dream Centre, kindly offered by the staff every half hour. We view a well-crafted video, as well as the sleek cafeteria, classrooms, and public spaces of this once vermin-infested hotel and strip club. Remarks about the centre’s suit gifting program perk the ears of fellow tour-goers who are staffers from another agency that serves the homeless. Business cards are exchanged; pledges made to get in touch.
A Latina woman on the tour laughingly confesses to underage drinking here at the Spanish nights in the former bar. I smile at the ballsy-ness of her teenage self. It occurs to me, then, that courage comes in many different flavours and today I’ve witnessed several of them.
Calgary Japanese Community Association Stampede Breakfast
From a square of pavement in a blocked-off street, the warm tenor voice of a country singer sends out a Saturday morning serenade to the residents of Killarney. It’s Craig Moritz – solo musician, and today’s featured guest of the Calgary Japanese Community Association at their 6th Annual Stampede Breakfast.
I know that North American country music has a startling number of practitioners and fans in Japan and I speculate whether that might be the genesis for this event. Silver-haired Keiko Takenchi hands me a paper plate and gently sets me straight. The pancake breakfast is organized, she says, to introduce the neighbourhood to the Calgary Nikkei Cultural Centre and to give Japanese seniors who can’t get down to the grounds a little hit of Stampede.
The volunteers here sport the most well-groomed Stampede ensembles I’ve seen anywhere, and I secretly covet the faux cowhide aprons and red boots of the women who rule the griddle. Ruth Nagata runs the Food Bank donation table and when she hears what I do, we talk travel. Seems she retired from Travel Alberta some years back and now trots the globe to keep track of her children and grandchildren, does some informal consulting with Japanese tour agencies, and volunteers at – well – things like this.
Craig Moritz cedes the asphalt to the CJCA Line-Dancers: a seniors’ group who practice every Sunday at the Nikkei Centre. Ms. Takenchi pulls up a piece of curb and alternately cheers and heckles the dozen performers with affection.
After a complex 15-minute routine that banishes any doubts about the inherent memory capacity of the aged, the line-dancers take a break. From a shy performer who caught me grooving on the sidelines, I learn that the troupe appeared at a downtown Buddhist conference awhile back, but mostly line-dance as an excuse to get together with friends.
The crowd grows as the Midnight Taiko drummers take the stage in a show of musical power and traditional Japanese finery. For those yearning to take a little piece of Japan home with them, a bounty of Japanese foodstuffs is available for sale in the nearby cultural centre, imported for the occasion directly up Highway 2 from Lethbridge.
Connections 2016 Artist-Run Pancake Breakfast
“Tequila Sunrise” may be playing on the sound system outside the Ruberto Ostberg Gallery, but the talk here steers neither to climbing fences nor to drinking hard (well, perhaps there’s a little talk on the drinking front).
Instead, I overhear a debrief about a recent five week arts residency near Rome, and an ironic and speculative discourse about how best to harness architectural design for the forces of good and evil. A lavender-haired young woman behind me in the food line talks X-Men with a couple of fanboys. A cluster of art professors discuss the challenges of keeping students engaged in class.
The pancake line itself winds attractively and strategically through the interior of the small gallery, allowing visitors to survey the current collection on show. The pieces are diverse in medium and theme, but uniformly accessible to the casual art appreciator like me. That, I learn, echos the gallery’s mission precisely: to provide a comfortable space for all art lovers, regardless of their level of art sophistication, to view some of Canada’s best talent.
Staffing the griddle and the serving tables are the exhibiting artists themselves, so I ask the woman serving the melons whether she knew what she was signing up for when she got involved with the show. “Not really,” she laughs, “but I prefer to be busy”. Which gets me wondering how it feels to stand around while others dissect your creations with their eyes.
The gallery’s tight street-corner location permits no room for a bouncy castle. But here the kids can use a box of colourful sidewalk chalk instead, and a long blank canvas of concrete on which to make their mark.
A young artist cleaning up the coffee station points me in the direction of her sculptural piece when I ask about her work. “Go ahead and open the drawer if you want.” (An art piece I can play with – how cool is that?)
I take my coffee to the basement for a gander at more work, and a behind-the-scenes peek at the Purple Door Art Studio next door. I briefly consider the studio’s beginner classes – then hear my Grade Six teacher’s voice in my head and beat a hasty retreat.
‘Agahan’ First Stampede All-Filipino Breakfast
First thing you should know about this event: the “All-Filipino” label refers not to the attendees but to the food offerings. As in pandesal bread, longganisa sausage, phili hot dogs, fried rice, and Pinoy-style scrambled eggs. Not a pancake in sight.
And although the Filipino community in Calgary is more than 25,000 strong, this is their very first Stampede breakfast. Marichu Antonio (Communications Co-Chair for the Philippine Festival Council of Alberta) tells me the organizing committee felt it was time for the Filipino community to fully engage with the city.
Seems they got the timing part right. Less than 2 hours into the Agahan (that’s Tagalog for “breakfast”), they’ve served 1500 people – and another 1250 stand patiently in line.
The event runs like a well-oiled machine, despite its status as a first-time effort. A full contingent of Filipino musicians is on hand, including a young female up-and-comer singing sweet pop songs to the accompaniment of her ukulele, and a guitar- driven rock band with its dread-locked front man belting out Pinoy anthems, Beatles, and Pearl Jam. Miss Philippines Canada as well as Miss Teen Philippines and her two princesses present their best runway struts, then draw onlookers onto the pavement for dancing.
A small brigade of short boys and tall girls in yellow Calgary Warriors Basketball T-shirts are on clean-up detail, although the folks from Pacific Hut Restaurant handle the big stuff. Politicians take to the stage for a series of welcomes. Sponsors are duly thanked. A stroller-pushing mom who’s getting her plate filled at the buffet table tells me she’s waited an astoundingly-short 30 minutes in the queue.
With the energy high as the last of the live bands makes its exit, a song request is lobbed at the sound man. Billy Ray Cyrus soon croons out his “Achy Breaky Heart” and fills the space in front of the stage with spontaneous line-dancers. Minutes later, J-Lo’s “Let’s Get Loud” draws out the zumba crowd – and here the party prevails.
Half an hour before the event is officially scheduled to end, the food line closes because supplies are running out.
But no worries if you haven’t had your breakfast yet. Right around the corner, Sedona Dental office is just gearing up with theirs.
The Kerby Centre takes it indoors for the seniors, and Own It promises halal meat;
And then there’s the Pho Down (See what they did there? That’s hoe-down, but with Vietnamese pho…).
If you’re interested in checking them out, there’s an app for that (Free Stampede Pancakes) and a website as well (stampedebreakfast.ca). Or simply head downtown, or to a church or a mall near you.
If you’re a visitor, introduce yourself. If you’re a local, meet some of your neighbours. Or better yet, get out and meet the folks who are not.
Like many Calgarians, my distrust of our local weather runs deep.
(Just ask Leonardo DiCaprio how quickly the weather changes around here. But wait – he thought he was experiencing something new…).
Little wonder, then, that when hundred-year-old high-temperature records were falling like poplar pollen in April, I was seized with the conviction that our city would soon exhaust its miserly annual quota of warm summer evenings.
Call me paranoid, but the feeling was unshakeable. So on a balmy Friday just ahead of a predicted weather change, I made the carpe diem decision to cycle against the flow of bike commuters to meet my Man downtown for date night. We’d been itching to try out the new Al Forno Bakery & Cafe near the intersection of the Bow River pathways and the 7th Street cycle track. As luck would have it, my Man had ridden his bike to the office that morning. The plan called for hauling our bikes back home on the C-train if we lingered past daylight or imbibed too heavily.
Al Forno Bakery & Cafe
Sadly, the Man was delayed for an hour past the appointed rendezvous – leaving me no option but to settle beneath Al Forno’s skylights with a glass of red wine, a bowl of warm marinated olives, and a good book (do I know my Man or what?). The cafe buzzed with happy-hour revelers, laptop-absorbed writers, workweek-debriefing couples, and girls-night-out new moms, and a steady stream of nearby condo-dwellers pushed through the door for a takeaway meal or a coffee to go. By the time my Man arrived, every seat in the house was filled by others who, like us, were drawn by the wine and beer specials and the intriguing list of housemade pastas and bakery-fresh flatbreads.
The servers proved amiable and well-versed in the vino offerings, and the twin delights of gorgonzola/pear and potato/bacon/rosemary flatbreads had us planning a return visit before we’d finished the final bites. When we eventually unlocked our bikes in the pink and orange twilight, weekday worries had dissipated along with the day’s heat. A quick calculation of daylight and blood-alcohol levels deemed us fit for the journey home, so we decided to forgo the C-train option. Forty minutes later, we cycled into our driveway just as darkness descended – a happy reminder of how, even in April, our city is blessed with a long and lingering dusk.
Bike Month made its annual launch in Calgary this week – which got me thinking about other great food and libation venues that are easily accessed from our nearly 800 km of cycle paths. As an unabashedly fair-weather cyclist who rarely ventures beyond the Bow River bikeways, I offer up my favourite trailside pit-stops below.
(The more devoted cyclists among you would no doubt cast a wider net – so please do add to the conversation with your own recommendations.)
And let’s get out and enjoy the summer! We’ve got firm assurances from Dave Phillips (Environment Canada’s ever-popular-and-rarely-wrong Senior Climatologist), it’s going to be warm and dry!
Nothing matches the leafy island location of this city-centre icon for a stellar weekend brunch. And I’ve lost track of how many times the cafe has appeared on lists of our country’s top restaurants for its thoughtfully-crafted farm-to-table Canadian cuisine. Procrastinators who’ve been shut-out of Calgary’s annual Folk Music Festival know that come July the cafe’s patio also provides some great unofficial ringside seats to the folkfest along with your meal.
Simmons Building (East Village RiverWalk)
Another addition to Canada’s Top 100 Restaurants list – though it only opened last year – is charbar, serving up meaty Argentinian-inspired cuisine from its wood-fired grill, as well as an array of vegetarian small plates for the herbivores among us. Sharing the gorgeous unconventional spaces in and around the historic Simmons Building are Sidewalk Citizen, with its artisanal sandwiches and overflowing pitas, and well-loved local coffee roasters Phil & Sebastian (who offer tours of the roasterie on Tuesday mornings). But the cherry on top is the oh-so-cool patio of rooftopbar@simmons with its unparalleled view of Calgary’s river panorama (and some tasty bar bites and gelato sandwiches, to boot).
The Hose and Hound Neighbourhood Pub
Hose and Hound Pub and Gravity Espresso & Wine Bar (Inglewood)
Okay, so these two Inglewood favourites are not officially on the bikeways. But just a short detour off the river paths up 11th Street S.E. lie the sunny patios of two of my fondest places to lock up my bike and while away an afternoon. The Hose and Hound‘s location in 1907-built Fire Station No. 3 lends quirky historic decor to a pub-centric menu and craft beer tipples, while across the street at the Art Block the neighbourly welcome I receive along with my pinot makes Gravity my top choice of venue to write my first novel.
Heading west out of downtown, the river valley’s treasures turn to nature more than structure, but this cozy breakfast place-cum-Asian cafe-cum coffee klatsch is a welcome destination for weekday lunchers and Sunday morning caffeine-seekers. Operating out of a former Robin’s Donuts location since 2002, this family-owned venue offers bubble tea as well as wine and beer with its eclectic menu – and a stone fireplace to curl up near when my pedalling gets interrupted by a sudden hailstorm.
What would a westward cycle be without a stop at Angel’s (whose full moniker is larger than the diminutive interior of this aluminum-sided portable)? More than a source for sandwich wraps, home-baked goodies, coffee, and ice cream, Angel’s is also a godsend of pathside aid. They’ve got bike repair tools (supplied by Bow Cycle), first aid equipment (courtesy of Calgary EMS), and other emergency supplies – from battery chargers for stranded drivers to duct tape for hapless rafters.
Bowness Park Cafe (Bowness Park)
Seasons of Bowness Park
This old urban park, beloved to generations of Calgarians, will complete its phoenix-rise from the 2013 floods this summer – with a new wading pool for the little ones and a lagoon-centred sound system reminiscent of the park’s early-1900’s heydays. The miniature train will be back, too. Top of my discovery list this season will be the new grab & go market and full-service restaurant – Seasons of Bowness Park – scheduled for a soft-opening one day very soon. Can’t wait to check it out!
So tell me – where are YOUR favourite bikeway fueling stops in Calgary?
Calgary Food Tours’ Karen Anderson (Photo credit: loree photography)
Those of you who follow my wanderings may remember that the amazing culinary adventure I took to India last November was ably and attentively helmed by Karen Anderson, founder/owner/operator of Calgary Food Tours.
My own introduction to Calgary Food Tours came a couple of summers ago on a Craving Kensington walk that began in the city’s only Relais et Chateau-affiliated inn and culminated in a sampling of small batch 24-year-old single grain scotch whisky that retailed over $150. Clearly not the stuff of your run-of-the-mill tasting tour. No surprise, then, that Calgary Food Tours, with its ever-evolving stable of carefully-curated food experiences in Calgary’s dynamic culinary neighbourhoods, is celebrating its 10th anniversary this month.
And in the spirit of “go big or go home”, Anderson is marking her 10th year with a bold proposal to expand to Edmonton and Canmore in a newly-envisioned Alberta Food Tours company.Partnering with ATB Financial’s Alberta BoostR platform, Anderson just launched a rewards-based crowdfunding effort this week – and her campaign’s early fundraising successes have already secured her a place at the Awakened Company live pitch competition on April 15.
You can check out Karen’s vision of a bigger stage for food travellers – and find links to her rewards campaign – on her Savour It All blog. See her schedule of upcoming tours at calgaryfoodtours.com
For me as a food and travel writer, food is about adventure, about culture, about creativity and conviviality. But food is also about nurturing body and spirit and – at its most basic – it’s about survival. That’s why I volunteer at the Drop-In Centre, the Food Bank, and with LeftOvers Calgary.
What SAIT Chef Andrew Hewson and his team of volunteers aim to do this Thursday, June 15, is transform unsellable winter-stored potatoes and carrots, ugly tomatoes, surplus chickpeas, day-old bread – and anything else that might turn up in the food truck – into a delicious and nutritious summertime lunch that includes soup, salads, and dessert.
--- Catherine ---Van Brunschot 