Spring has finally sprung in Calgary. With the green shoots and fresh new leaves comes another new restaurant, with a green Italian mascot parked faithfully outside.
Green is the theme on the inside as well, as far as the server’s hip baseball tees go. They’re a casual contrast to the stylish, airy decor of the shoebox-shaped room with a deluge of daylight. Bocce has managed to create a comfortable vibe inside the newly constructed building on the corner of Fourth Street and 22nd Avenue SW. The Tiffany blue accent wall (which I love, of course) reminds me of a similar wall at Black Pig Bistro. Which is a good thing. Calgary could never have enough Tiffany blue. However, the horde of hungry food bloggers was focused on a tastier topic: the food. 
With three restaurants within 3 blocks of each other, Dominic Caracciolo is the Don of Fourth Street. The man behind Mercato takes his Italian food verrrry seriously. After trying several Bocce pastas (the one with the mushrooms was my favorite) and some amazing calamari, I appreciate his fierce foodiness, even if it means he’s so intent on delivering a meal he can’t meander for a brief photo op. His determination has created a delectable situation — I even heard one food blogger say she thinks the pizza here is better than Double Zero. Uh oh — them’s fighting words! Still, don’t go typecasting Dom as all Italian, all the time. The third restaurant in his Mission triple savory slam is Wurst — a German beer hall.
If the permit gods are with them, Bocce will open to the public next week, with their delivery service up and running (or maybe driving in that green Fiat) by the end of June.
Category Archives: Savor
Black Pig Bistro Sneak Peek
Bridgeland’s latest addition to the foodie world of Calgary is still papered up against prying eyes.
But last night, if you were on the list, you were invited to a sneak peek at Black Pig Bistro, before the media launch next week and before the public opening. It felt very VIP, but it was actually more grassroots — and savvy marketing strategy. The soft launch was for local social media supporters.
And who doesn’t support free food and wine?
Circulating chef and co-owner Alison Bieber offered chicken liver pate in appetizer form, which will be served as a smear on the antipasti dish when the restaurant opens. I’m anti-smear, but pro-pate. Delicious.
Love the random Tiffany blue wall in the middle of the subtle brown and white decor. Or Blue Besos blue. Take your pick!
The other two-thirds of the co-owner triumverate, Denise and Larry Scammell. Larry tells me black pig is the tastiest of all pork.
After all those conservative photos, I finally found the restaurant’s namesake, willing to ham it up for the camera. Black Pig Bistro opens to the public next Wednesday.
Spring Snowboarding at Lake Louise
It’s the middle of April and the ski season is still going strong in the Canadian Rockies. Lake Louise Ski Resort, located in the heart of Banff National Park, is just a two-hour drive from Calgary.
The Lodge of the Ten Peaks at the base could be the ultimate ski chalet. Those are hand-skinned logs btw. It is Canada’s second largest log structure. But (sorry!) I can’t tell you where to find the first largest. More on Canadian manners further down in this post.
Once you’re on the hill, if you take a rest stop on the first run (like I tend to do) you may notice that you’re at the same altitude as the ski hill’s namesake: Lake Louise, still frozen and looking like it’s tilted. (Although that’s crazy, because lakes don’t tilt. I checked.) Can you see it across the valley? And yes, that would be the Valley of the Ten Peaks. If you’re a vintage currency collector, you may recognize the vista from two former versions of the Canadian twenty dollar bill.
Next, head to the lift that you can see just past my right foot.
There’s plenty of room to stretch out on the Top of the World six passenger chair.
At the top, aka Top Of The World, you have a double black option. I went for the poser option.
Luckily there’s a green run down from every chair lift. And look at those Rockies!
A handy sign tells you the distance to Tokyo and Cape Horn, just in case you feel like a long run. 
If you can tear yourself away from the epic spring ski conditions, check out the Whitehorn Lodge. It’s always been here, mid-mountain on the front side, but it was only just converted to an upscale restaurant this season. Normally the ski racks out front are packed, but we were here on a Monday. 
Nothing like eating lunch 6700 feet above sea level. Usually I just have beer and wings on a ski day, but the the Rocky Mountain Game Platter for Two at Whitehorn couldn’t be passed up. After a winter of snowboarding 4 different mountains in 3 different provinces/states, and sampling the restaurant fare with all associated mountain resorts, I now feel it is safe to say that I am a game platter expert. The air-dried buffalo, cured chimney sticks, peppered duck breast, artisan cheeses, figs, sun dried cranberries and raincoast crisps on this one qualify it as Awesome.
Just to keep it carnivorous, I followed it with the Bison Burger. At Whitehorn, it comes three ways: with blueberry compote and brie, roasted red pepper and goat cheese or bacon and cheddar. I hadn’t had a burger with blueberry jam before, so I gave it a try. Delicious. The bison is locally sourced. The only other high-end mid-mountain dining option I’ve tried in recent memory was at Jackson Hole. Couloir may use Kobe beef in their burgers instead of bison, but Whitehorn is a lot closer to home. It’s not pictured here, but the inside of the lodge has been nicely decorated with wood accents on the walls and tables with amazing views.
With a belly full of food and enough libations to inspire your inner Robert-Redford-from-Downhill-Racer, take a fast one down the front side. The Grizzly Express Gondolas will float you up to the top in minutes.
From there, if you head over to the back side, you can pick your poison: green, blue or black diamond.
The Larch Chair will take you up another peak. With 4200 skiable acres, Lake Louise is one of the largest ski resorts in North America.
Back at the base, there’s nothing like having a beer at the end of the day — right by the lift. I took this after they’d closed up shop. With blazing sun at 5:30 pm, I wasn’t the only one lingering in the 10 degree temps. (That’s Celsius, folks).
This being Canada, even the No Smoking signs are super polite.
The lifts will keep running at Lake Louise until May 11. Saturdays they’re open til 5pm. Then they shut down … and open for summer season just three days later. Which will probably go for ages, since they have still have a 200 cm base. See you soon, Lake Louise! Hopefully on another day when it’s so sunny and bright I need my goggles on, even after I take my snowboard off.
Double Zero Doubles Up
Hold the anchovies? Who says that? Not Double Zero.
The popular Stephens Avenue pizza joint created a new white anchovy crostini concoction to celebrate the opening of their brand spanking swanking new location, in the north end of Chinook Centre.
Executive Chef Robert Jewell, slinging the pie in the sky here, sings the siren song of the white swimmers. “You don’t have to bring the sexy to anchovy, to me they’ve always been sexy. It’s one of my favorite things to snack on. We’re trying to open customers up to it.” He says they’re more subtle than sardines. If that doesn’t get you you, maybe the super-luxe price tag will: $45/kilo. Prepared the Double Zero way, the little fishies pair nicely with Prosecco.
But let’s get to the real reason we’re here: the pizza. Plagiarizing directly from the 00 website, “Double Zero is named after the finest grade of flour on the planet.” Since I know flowers better than flours, I’ll just take them on their word.
Wondering why this dude with the beard is lurking everywhere? He’s all over 00. The tables, the walls, even the advertising. We’ll get to that in a minute. In the meantime, check out the ‘za. Super affordable and super good…
…once it’s served it doesn’t stay on the plate for long. The one with the bacon was my personal fave.
The media party was wisely contained to the downstairs bar/bistro area, but upstairs the restaurant was rocking! Even though it has only been open since Monday.
Packed with beautiful people, can Double Zero sustain the Opening Week clientele standards once mall rats get wise to their fresh new dining option conveniently located right next door to Tori Burch? Although Chinook shoppers are pretty cute.
Back downstairs I thought I’d tracked down The Dude. Not Jeff Lebowski, but the bearded bro in all the promo. Turns out it was a different beard, belonging to a different dude: Jon Molyneux of the uber-tasty Concorde Group. But he revealed the wine list cover model is Peter Feenstra of Tank Design, a Friend Of The Restaurant, like everyone featured in the arresting black and white wall murals. Feenstra also designed all the furniture in the restaurant.
Thanks for the party, Double Zero! Not only did I learn beards are optional here, it turns out that 2 x 00 = feel good, taste good math.
Ski-Out from Sunshine Mountain Lodge
When you overnight at Sunshine Mountain Lodge, you can make first tracks in the morning. Or, if you wake up late, like me, and barely manage to get out of your room by the 11am checkout time, you’ll discover that you can still get a breakfast croissant at Java Lift. With enjoyable midday temps.
Added bonus to sitting outside? The mochas here come with marshmallows.
With the lift for Mount Standish just ten steps away, it seemed like a natural choice for the first run of the day. At the summit of Mount Standish, the clear view of the BC Rockies made our mission clear: it was a bluebird day to ride the provincial border.
Turns out there’s a lift for that.
As you ride up, you cross into British Columbia — the Beautiful, as their license plates say.
Two towers later, you’re safely back in Wild Rose Country.
These are our Alps: the Canadian Rockies.
Without the drive to the hill or the gondola ride to the lifts, a half day felt like a full day. It also felt like it deserved a few beers, which, as you know, are my favorite thing to imbibe at Trappers Saloon. Or outside Trappers Saloon. A relaxing ride down Banff Avenue (a green run, although downloading on the gondola was also an option) would reunite us with our luggage at the base lodge. And with the massive snowstorms lately, the skiing should be just as satisfying right through closing day on May 19.
Apres Ski at Sunshine Mountain Lodge
After a day on the slopes, should you choose to forgo your option to go home and stay at a Sunshine Mountain Lodge fantasy suite (apologies to both The Bachelor and the Lodge) … first you tub, then you dine. The hotel claims they have the largest outdoor hot tub in Banff, but I would go even further and say it’s probably the biggest in the province. With the admirable masonry of the high stone walls to block the wind, bring a brew (in a can, not glass) and sink in.
After you towel off and slip into something less waterproof, there are several dining options to choose from. If you’re feeling rowdy, you can walk 20 steps from the hotel to Trappers. You can enjoy casual fare inside the Lodge at the Chimney Corner Lounge and Sports Bar. Or you can upscale your evening to the more formal Eagle’s Nest Dining Room, where the chef will start you off with an amuse bouche. We split the Caesar Salad on the excellent advice of our excellent server (Aussie, of course, like almost all the staff here), because it would have been too much for one person, if you’re intent on several courses. It had just the right amount of dressing (over-saucing is a constant dining concern for me) and an added touch of crisped pancetta.
This is my Pained Blogger look as I take a shot of the Dreaded Food Porn. Normally I try to avoid it. There’s nothing I hate more than whipping out my camera during a meal. It’s just so rude! Plus my Venison Osso Bucco (incredibly tender and tasty) and Risotto is getting cold. But at the Eagle’s Nest Dining Room, the food takes center stage. Except for the lovely log beams, the room itself is not the ultimate in ambience. It doesn’t detract from the experience because the service and the food, which are top-notch, are what it’s all about. Except for when you desire a dining photo that doesn’t scream Food Blog 101.
For dessert, we decided on a change of scenery, and our waitress kindly accommodated. This is when I realized the Chimney Corner Lounge is called that for a reason. The focal point of this classic ski-lodge lounge is the enormous chimney. Another intimate sitting area with a separate fireplace sprang from the same rocked-in chimney to our right. I was going to check out the other sides to see if there were even more fireplaces, but then I got too comfy, sated with the most incredible piece of chocolate cake. It could be the walnuts that made it so delicious. Or perhaps the vanilla creme on the side. I was also dazzled by the spotlight illuminating the deer so perfectly. Please excuse the lack of full reportage of the chimney situation.
Time to roll on back to our room to get a good night’s sleep for the ski out tomorrow.
Girls Trip Seattle Epilogue
For the third and final post of Girls’ Trip to Seattle, some random stuff I enjoyed around town.
Craving a croissant? Head to Le Panier on Pike Place, right across from the public market. It’s worth fighting the crowds for a seat.
No one’s really fighting anyhow, since everyone is in their flaky, buttery, caffeinated happy place. Nice manicure, Emily! And that LV bag would put me in a happy place even sans croissant.
I’m not gonna go on about the fish tossing, since I’m sure you’ve heard it before, but Pike Place Market is also a wonderful place to pick up a bouquet of fresh flowers and locally grown eats. 
Walk over a few blocks and you’ll find the significant stripes that surround Banana Republic’s coolest rehab, converting the old Coliseum Theater into a retail mecca that on this occasion had some hot pink cords discounted 75% that I could not resist.
Even those who claim to abhor malls, like myself, will be charmed by the University Village Shopping Centre in Seattle. Shops line the streets, while lane-ways in between are pedestrian only. Umbrella stands on every corner offer a caring nod to the reality of the ecosystem here.
The ultimate proof I was in Seattle: a Microsoft Store. Located across from the Apple Store. And totally empty. Kidding! I took this photo after closing time. Still… Once you go Mac, you never go back.
Besides my general mall malaise, I’m not one for chain eateries, but the Joey Restaurant Group is Canadian. Turns out Joey Kitchen has made a few forays into the Evergreen State. This is their flagship Washington location at Uni Village.
With the ultimate Canadian touch inside: washrooms is Canuck for restrooms.
And the Great Wheel rolls on. See you on the next spin, Seattle!
The ART of Fine Dining in Seattle
Wondering when I was going to make good on that long-lost threat to post Part Two of Seattle Girls’ Trip? Wonder no more! After a ridiculous delay, here it is. To be followed, maybe even tomorrow, by Part Three!
Tucked into a corner of the Seattle Four Seasons’ art-filled lobby is ART Restaurant. Even if you’re not staying at the hotel full of ocean view rooms, the restaurant is a destination in its own right, offering a taste of that five-star service along with its tasty food.
The first clue that this dining experience would be inextricably linked to the lighting was the sign.
Inspired by the ferris wheel lurking outside on the Seattle waterfront, perhaps? This is the ART Lounge, which could be the definition of Mood Lighting.
Waiting for your table at the bar near the soft glow of those LED-infused shelves, if you checked your coat, you’ll discover even the minor details are not minus aesthetics.
As I perused the locavore menu, the green sheen in the air made sense. Any Pacific Northwest restaurant worth its west coast salt requires a market-to-table philosophy. Besides, Pike Place Market is practically right next door. 
Nor did I notice the subtle switch to a tangerine hue as the appetizers arrived. I was too busy inhaling the Potato Gnocchi with chanterelles and melted leeks as well as the Crazy Salad, which was not psycho but a delightful fresh mix of local greens. Home-made tortilla chips arrived in the brown paper with the sticker, which I thought was a little casual for a Four Seasons… but that didn’t stop me from wolfing them down. To the left of my wineglass, you can see the Dungeness Crab Cake Bites peeking out of the brown paper in their black pot. Heads up: they are deep-fried, which I did not expect. I prefer my Dungeness to taste like crab, not breading.
It was after the appetizers were cleared that I really became obsessed with the radiance of the room. It reminded me of the spectrum lighting of the Muttart Conservatory glass pyramids in Edmonton, of all places. I used to stare down at those I. M. Pei-ish designs during desolate winter nights (that would be November through May) from my condo.
Just because I have three wine glasses lined up here, don’t start thinking it was my vision. Because look! The color changed again. 
Back to the food. Emily, my dining companion, was in Locavore Carnivore mode, so she had the 8-ounce Beef Tenderloin but ducked out of the picture just in time. So annoying to dine with a blogger. I had the Seared Kodiak Halibut: Fennel, Miscela. Both dishes were delish.
For dessert we split a Warm Cup O’ Chocolate Cake. Lovely.
When the spectrum pivoted to pink…
… I know it was a good time to leave, since my pants matched the current luminosity. But…
…before I got too smug about the tandem incandescence, it changed again.
Rolling out to the steamy cityscape, I tried to resist admiring the Big Wheel, but it would become a constant thread throughout my Girls’ Weekend in Seattle. Now, after a night dining within the artful glow of ART, it seems like a perfect pairing.
Calgary’s Top Chef Pastry Chef
If you happen to be at Raw Bar one evening, mulling the idea of dessert over a glass of Moscato, look no further than the woman on the left — the one that’s about to blow up on national television.
Hotel Arts’ Pastry Chef Karine Moulin will hit the airwaves this Monday, as the fourth season of Top Chef Canada starts its weekly run on the Food Network. “It’s the hardest thing I’ve ever done,” Karine says of the culinary battle against 13 other chefs on the show. “It was a really tough competition.”
Why did she choose the pastry profession? “I really enjoy the sweeter side of things,” says Karine, who was raised in Quebec. “I grew up always having something sweet after every meal, so it’s ingrained in me, I think.”
Karine does the desserts for both restaurants at Hotel Arts. The dishes for Yellow Door Bistro are French-influenced, like the I’le Flottante above. 
Desserts for Raw Bar, like this Valhrona Dark Chocolate Pate, are Asian-inspired. That would be the lychee salad on top and the mandarin sorbet, if you’re wondering. And good to know that Katie Mayer, Hotel Arts Marketing & Media Relations Manager, isn’t above a little photo bomb action.
Hand painted truffles, served at both restaurants, will help you wash down that wine. Come down yourself Monday nights. Raw Bar will be hosting weekly viewing parties for Top Chef Canada, which airs at 7pm Calgary time. Bon appetit!
The Parrot Is Back In Mission
With an icy nod to a species of the verge of extinction (Bus and Stan Fuller’s former decor mascot) Earl’s Tin Palace re-opened last night in Calgary, with an invitation-only VIP bash. With our weather right now, that sculpture should be good for weeks.
Normally I wouldn’t get overly excited about an Earls opening. The casual food and dining chain opens another restaurant every few months these days, both in Canada and the US. With their reliable, reasonably priced food and tasteful ambience (now that the parrots have flown the coop) it’s always a safe bet. But this particular Earls has a special place in my heart, because it’s in the heart of Mission, one of my favorite areas of Calgary.
This is what Earls looked like after the June 2013 flood hit Fourth Street.
This is the same corner (24th Ave and 4th St SW) from Fifth Street. I couldn’t get any closer because it was under several feet of water. Summer was ruined for the vibrant neighborhood. As work dragged on through the winter, I can’t tell you how many times people said to me, “Let’s meet at Earls Tin Palace.” But we couldn’t. It was still rebuilding after the flood.
So last night, it was wonderful to walk in side and see this. A standing room only crowd having a fantastic time, while admiring the updates. The tired rows of Bombay Sapphire bottles above the bar are gone. Subtle bricks and wood accented by industrial style lighting give the room a fresh take.
Calgary’s finest partiers included a Mongolian horseman, aka Jason Gogo.
An army of Earls Girls kept up with the crowd hungry for sushi and sliders from their favorite haunt, now a Kitchen + Bar.
The Earls re-opening ended up being a celebration of the big picture: Mission, back on its feet. Calgary, taking care of its own during the flood. My dear friend Cynthia Moore rocking blue leopard print after almost losing her life to flesh-eating disease one year ago this week. And me, with my nose intact after cancer surgery one year ago this month. Not to mention a few drinks in honor of the Best New Blog honor. Glad to see you back, Earls Tin Palace!
