When I lived in Calgary (2009-2012) I had to make some adjustments to my lifestyle: long commutes, long underwear, and longing for garlic fingers! I learned that pizza shops make pizza – not poutine, nachos, burgers or fish ‘n chips. I learned that shrimp goes on pizza and that ranch dressing goes on everything. I also discovered that many of the […]
Oh, to be Alberta bound. Some go for the oil jobs, others for the mountains, (myself, for the wondrous foods of Alberta!) but there’s something for everyone. There’s Star Trek and Dinosaurs! There’s salt springs and skiing! There’s ranch land and rodeos! Hell, up until last year there was even a gay rodeo. Alberta is a great road trip province, […]
Last fall I did a Calgary Donair Quest, even though it is really the Edmonton that is known for the the Western Canadian donair. The Edmonton donair dates back to the 1980s which you can read about in this Walrus article: The Donair Wars. Charles Smart was the OG of the Edmonton donair but, alas, it no longer exists. So […]
I was introduced to pho when I lived in Calgary and it was a life altering experience as I had no idea that noodle soups could be so delicious! (Prior encounters were strictly of the chicken noodle variety). There are literally pho restaurants all over Calgary. It’s hard to go any distance without finding one. Though pho was my first […]
I recently critiqued some of the donairs in Calgary, as I don’t believe Calgary to be a great donair city. But what Calgary lacks in donair culture they make up for with Vietnamese subs! I would argue that the banh mi is Calgary’s #1 street food – that it is more prevalent here than other cities in Canada and a […]
Did you know that Albertans eat more donairs than anywhere else in Canada? I know, right?! Edmonton, the donair capital of Western Canada, even considered making donair its official food, but it looks like they’ve conceded that it belongs to Halifax. The migration of the donair to Alberta is a mysterious phenomenon but there is a generally assumed connection to Maritime migrants […]
I lived in Calgary from 2009-2012, during which time there were only 4 microbreweries and brew pubs: Big Rock, Wild Rose, Brew Brothers (now defunct) and Brewsters (a Western Canadian chain of brew pubs). Alberta has been a little slow finding its way into the craft beer industry due to some laws that were unfavourable to small batch brewers. Minimum […]
I lumbered into Calgary on a Greyhound bus one summer morning in 2009. I would end up living there for 3 years, but my first moments were filled with disorientation and culture shock, as I stumbled through the wasteland of strip malls, box stores, and chain restaurants grasping for something familiar, before discovering and understanding the real Calgary culinary scene. This […]
