Salutes and Shout Outs

Canadian Rocky Mountain Resorts

have added Relais & Chateaux Post Hotel & Spa, Lake Louise, to their mountain lodge portfolio in addition to Buffalo Mountain Lodge, Deer Lodge, and Emerald Lake Lodge. Brothers André and George Schwarz have handed over the baton after more than 43 years.

Great news Edmonton - Pasta la Mano have now expanded their Pasta Club deliveries to you! You can receive a monthly chef's fresh pasta dish for two, and a second fresh pasta with a recipe to try at home. Or opt for the Pasta and Wine Club and receive a bottle of wine with your meal. pastalamano.com.

Calgary’s A1 Bodega and Café is now A1 Café, and they’re making changes with executive Chef James Lawson at the helm (Ex-Von Der Fels and River Café). The menu has been overhauled and Lawson’s British heritage shines through in his signature dishes – the fish & chips? Has to be tried! Seven days, 5 pm-close.

Cam and Naghma Slade have opened The Curryer, a Pakistani restaurant, in the former Avec Bistro/Melo spot at 550 11 Avenue SW. The menu features halal beef, chicken, and lamb, with plenty of veggie choices, and recipes from Naghma’s mom. In the kitchen is chef Ali Tajdeen (so we already knew it would be delicious!) and his brother, cooking up tasty curries and biriyanis (the lamb just falls off the bone!), kababs, and chaat, and naan bread made in their tandoor. There are signature non-alcoholic drinks and daily features too. Before you leave, check out the Grab and Go section for jars of Curryer butter chicken sauce, garlic and ginger paste, spices and dried goods. 11:30-9 pm, Saturday from 3 pm, closed Sundays.

Kensington has a new restaurant at 304 10 Street NW. Pocket Holic specialise in inari sushi – deep fried thin pouches of tofu stuffed with sushi rice and a choice of 14 different toppings! Seven days, 11:30-8:30 pm.

There’s a new addition to Calgary’s Bro'kin Yolk family! Gil and Jeffrey Carlos, have opened Bro’s To Go at Chef Jong (above) started at the original location seven years ago, and he’s created a must try Bulgogi Benny, Gnocchi Carbonara, Chilaquiles, and truffley Bagel Forestière. There’s new cocktails too and a Breakfast Beermosa and Raspberry Rummosa. Seven days, 7-2:45 pm.

Tiger Sugar started four years ago in Taichung, Taiwan, and has now achieved cult status for Boba (bubble tea) worldwide, with 40 locations. Their first Alberta location is now open at 210 Riverfront Ave SW, in Calgary. Check out the tiger stripes created with syrups hand-poured into the drinks. Seven days, 12-9:30 or 10:30 pm.

We know how tough it is for small business owners to start their own stores, so hats off to UNITE by TMK who have opened a market space with more than 40 vendors in 'mini shops' throughout the 6,700 sq ft space upstairs in Edmonton’s Kingsway Mall. There are plenty of food and drink producers here – including Uproot Food Collective, Crave Cupcakes, and Oodles of Chocolate, as well as BOM (Black-Owned Market), clothes, housewares, and lots of other goodies!

And talking of Edmonton collabs, JustCook Kitchens’ Jennifer Keith and Luke Butterworth have opened

820 Northland Drive NW. A small menu offers just seven breakfast sandwiches, all served with a potato bun. 7:30–3 pm, weekends from 8:30 am.

And the Bro’Kin Yolk brothers have been busy, they’ve collaborated with World Bier Haus, to open Morning Brunch Co in Calgary at 722 85th Street SW. This bright and modern space is open 8-2 pm for breakfast and lunch, seven days a week. Get your fill of very affordable biscuit bennys, sandwiches, eggy dishes, and a kiddies menu too. No reservations.

And while we’re talking breakfasts… OEB have just opened their sixth Alberta location in Calgary’s University District at 4132 University Avenue NW. You could put a pin anywhere in the menu and be perfectly happy with your meal – it’s all so good. There’s still delicious duck fat herbed potatoes, lots of duck confit, free-range pork, and their own eggs of course, but new menu items too! 5th Street Food Hall with four restaurants together under one roof, at 10344 105 Street NW. Here you’ll find Backstairs Burger from Chefs Levi Biddlecombe and Robert Wick, serving elevated burgers and sandwiches; Greg Sweeney’s HOM, for rich and flavourful, South East Asian inspired dishes; Seitan’s – vegan chickun, burgers and po

boys from Chef Neil Royale; and Three Foodies with Chef Kelly Burns’ unique twists on classic comfort food. Lunch and dinner from 11 am, closed Mondays.

There are two new spots at one address to discover in Calgary’s Grain Exchange Building at 811 1 Street SW! Upstairs is Taqueria El Chefe, with Mexican Chef Giovanni Vazquez heading the kitchen alongside brother Alan. Their eight-hour cooked beef birria is making a stir not only as tacos, but as poutine (ooh, yes please!) and sopes too. You can also get tacos with other fillings as well as nachos, ceviche, enchiladas and burritos too – and some wicked tequila cocktails! Walk-ins and takeout for lunch and dinner, closed Sundays. Downstairs, on Fridays and Saturdays, is PDT (Please Don’t Tell) bar and nightclub with special comedy, burlesque, and celebrity acts from 7 pm, and a DJ from 10 pm-2 am. Get your tacos upstairs and bring them down, or order sandwiches to soak up your drinks. Reservations available.

Missing Stampede? You can enjoy it all year round at the new Whiskey Rose, a Western-inspired saloon in the renovated former Cibo location on 17 Avenue SW, from Chris Jamieson and Devin Peterson, of Greta Bar. The comfort-food menu has Alberta-sourced ingredients, and we’re fans of the Beer Can and Nashville Chicken plates, Louisiana Shrimp Boil, St. Louis Ribs, and Mac ‘n Cheese… on a bed of fries with fried chicken skin! Fried bologna sandwiches are served 10 pm-2 am. Try a Saloon or Solo Cup cocktail, beer and bourbon, and stomp your boots to loud country and rock music. At weekends there’s live music, a dance floor, and two bars upstairs. Seven days from 3pm, weekend brunch 11-5 pm.

A couple of blocks west, Candy Shop Café is now Honey Bar and Lounge, a late-night bar with a carnival theme! For your birthdays, bachelorettes and other fun celebrations, unwind and let loose with carnival food and drinks too. Enjoy a blooming onion, popcorn chicken with waffle cone, or deep fried pickle, washed down with cotton candy, creamsicle and Ferrero Rocher cocktails, while you’re watching the carnival dancers or trying out the kissing booth. A DJ and live violin play Friday-Saturday. Desserts are a must, with deep fried oreos, apple fries, and the giant Sunday Funday with 16 scoops of ice cream (we dare you!). 1324 17 Ave SW, 5 pm-2 am, weekends from 3 pm.

Edmonton’s Art Gallery of Alberta, is now home to May, a new restaurant from Jimmy Shewchuk’s Prairie Catering, named for when they started work on his family’s farm rather than the harvest. Executive chef Doreen Prei is heading up the kitchen and she’s created an 80 percent local produce, stunning shareable menu. Split into small, substantial, and dessert dishes, we want it all – from the wild mushrooms, quail, bison ribeye, and Arctic char, to the wide selection of interestingly-named artisan cocktails (who lived to 103?). 5 pm-close, Tuesday-Saturday.