Salutes and Shout Outs

Snippets of good news from our everchanging food and beverage scene! Banff and Lake Louise’s celebration of food and drink, Taste for Adventure, runs to November 13, so you’re still in time to enjoy unique fixed price menus and valueadded offers from the 27 participating restaurants, and maybe win a weekly winter adventure for two or a grand prize! banfflakelouise.com/tasteforadventure.

Calgary’s inaugural Taste of 17th festival runs November 20-29, featuring special menus from some of our favourite eateries. Explore dozens of hot spots and hidden gems along 17 Avenue SW, between 2nd and 16 Streets, and register for a $25 food voucher. 17thave.ca.

Don’t miss Les Stroud’s Wild Harvest from Edmonton filmmaker, Kevin Kossowan, to watch Stroud and Calgary chef, Paul Rogalski, cooking with ingredients they’ve foraged. Much of the series was filmed in Canada with four of the 13 episodes in Alberta. Mondays on PBS.

Inglewood Night Market is back on November 6, 13, 20, and 27, in six retail bays of South Bank Apartment Complex on 9 Avenue SE. Over 10,000 square feet of indoor shopping is filled with local artisans, and food trucks outside! 3 pm to 11 pm.

Such a great idea from those clever mixologists at Calgary’s Untitled Champagne Lounge - they’ve created gummy bears with the ingredients of three cocktails, so you can taste the flavours. These complex cocktails have at least six or seven components, so try a gummy bear Lavender French 75, The Belafonte, or Coffee & Bubbles before you order!

After 33 years in the same location, much loved Buon Giorno, on Calgary’s 17 Ave SW, closed its doors earlier this year, but two loyal customers were determined to carry on the tradition, and it has now reopened under their ownership. Good news too that the serving staff are back, so it feels like nothing has changed! Lunch and dinner 7 days, Mondays dinner only.

A lone pine tree stands at the site where the founders of Edmonton’s newest distillery shared conversations and sipped spirits around the campfire, and now Lone Pine Distilling is open in the “Hubcap District” on 59 Avenue. With three gins and two vodkas, you can try sample tastings, take a distillery tour, and kick back and enjoy a cocktail in the new tasting room. Open at 11 am, closed Sunday and Monday.

In addition to Calgary Farmers Market and 6 Street NE locations, Hearts Choices have opened Nan’s Noodle House and Vegan Market at 30 Avenue on Edmonton Trail. Come for vegan ramen, pho, subs, and classic Thai dishes, as well as iced Thai bubble tea, and check out the shelves and freezers full of vegan sauces, proteins, plant-based foods, and grab ‘n go meals! Open 7 Days, 11 am-9 pm.

Calgary cult fave, Pigeonhole, has been reimagined! From 11 am-11 pm, you’ll find upscale comfort food of egg en cocotte with smoked mash and mushroom jus, wagyu burgers, and large plates of schnitzel, gnocchi, and steak frites, but now it’s booze-forward with cocktails, beer, an absinthe fountain, and $5 “Shotz”, as well as their large, well-curated wine list! Thursday-Sunday.

Opening of the month goes to Calgary Chef Jenny Kang and Syndicate Hospitality Group for their new Orchard Restaurant in the SODO building on 10 Avenue SW. Visually stunning, the restaurant boasts 30+ chandeliers and 60+ plants, and Chef Kang’s outstanding menu of familiar European dishes with Asian flourishes. We couldn’t get enough of her crispy rice-coated tiger prawns with yuzu aioli, and her cheese-stuffed garlic bread (and many more dishes) - now we just want to

work our way through her lunch, brunch, snack, and dinner menus, and wash them all down with Orchard’s creative cocktails! From 11 am, closed Mondays.

Alberta Food Tours has launched a mobile app, Alberta Food Finder, a fun game of discovery that supports local businesses while participants solve puzzles, complete challenges, and eat some of the best food in Calgary’s Kensington Village. Visit albertafoodtours.ca for details. Edmonton, Banff, and Canmore – rumours are you’re next!

Edmonton’s Belgravia community has a new café and patisserie! Chef Ed has been a pastry chef for 40+ years, making cakes for the Queen during her official visit to Canada, and leading the chocolate and sugar program at SAIT – and now he’s opened Mood Café, serving up freshly baked pastries and savouries as well as artisanal thin crust pizzas! 9 am-9 pm Tuesday-Saturday, close 5 pm Sundays.

Crescent Heights is home to Calgary’s newest brewery, Two Pillars, the smallest brewery in Alberta! They only produce two kegs per brew, so there’s always something new to try as well as their three core beers, and a collab with Elite Brewing, plus a few regular food choices and specials on the menu board. From 3 pm WednesdayFriday, noon at weekends.