Category Archives: Alberta restaurants

Savour the French at This Edmonton Cafe

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The menu at Cafe Bicyclette is in French, but the taste is universal

The menu at Cafe Bicyclette is in French, but the taste is universal

It’s been decades since I studied French in high school. So at Edmonton’s Café Bicyclette, my poor brain is taxed deciphering today’s menu board, with the server kindly translating phrases like pain perdu (French toast) and saucisse dejeunet (breakfast sausage). Fortunately, I need no help figuring out croque monsieur avec oeuf, a very nice version of the ham, cheese and fried egg sandwich, on a fresh baguette, for only $6. I finish things off with a good Iconoclast coffee and a delicately crumbed pineapple scone, perhaps the highlight of my petit dejeuner.

A wonderfully delicate crumb to this pineapple scone

A wonderfully delicate crumb to this pineapple scone

Bicyclette is a lovely new French cafe, with just about everything— muffins and pain au chocolat to soups—made from scratch. And it comes by its French roots honestly. It’s located in the heart of Edmonton’s historic Francophone quarter, with the University of Alberta’s Campus Saint-Jean campus just up Rue Anne-Marie Gaboury. Bon appetit!

Cafe Bicyclette
8627 91 Street (Rue Anne-Marie Gaboury), Edmonton, Alberta
Weekdays 8 am-5 pm (opening at 10 am for weekend brunch), dinner Thursday to Saturday 5 pm-10 pm
Café Bicyclette on Urbanspoon

Lovely Lebanese Pita Pies in Leduc, Alberta

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Kassem Fedda (left) and sone Hassen own the delightful Pita Hut Bakery in Leduc, Alberta

Kassem Fedda (left) and son Hassen own the delightful Pita Hut Bakery in Leduc, Alberta

It’s a bone-numbing winter’s day (-35 Celsius with wind chill) as I step inside Leduc’s Pita Hut Bakery, south of Edmonton. So I’m enviously eying the woman stationed in front of a large, metal gas-fired oven. It’s like a pizza oven, complete with the long-handled paddle. But instead of pizzas, she’s tending made-to-order pita pies and stuffed pies, the latter a Lebanese version of a calzone.

For a bargain $4, I get a half-and-half pita pie—zatar (oregano, sumac, sesame seeds and olive oil) on one side and Lebanese cheeses on the other. These savoury mixes are enhanced by my choice of additional briny toppings, including crunchy, pickled turnip. I top things off with some delightfully crispy and slightly oily pita chips and garlic dip and a piece of complementary baklava.

Half zatar, half cheese pita pie for only $4 at Pita Hut Bakery

Half zatar, half cheese pita pie for only $4 at Pita Hut Bakery

Pita Hut is a friendly Lebanese family affair, with father Kassem Fedda assembling the food in the kitchen, his wife tending the oven and son Hassen kibitzing with takeout customers at the front counter when I visit. It’s a great, inexpensive new place for a delicious light meal just two minutes off Highway 2.

Pita Hut Bakery
Unit 40, 4916 50 Avenue, Leduc, Alberta
Monday to Saturday 9 am-7 pm
Pita Hut Bakery on Urbanspoon

Rockin it in Balzac, Alberta

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The Rockin Horse Cafe in whistlestop Balzac is a good place to stop before hitting Calgary

The Rockin Horse Cafe in whistlestop Balzac is a good place to stop before hitting Calgary

Entering the Rockin Horse Cafe, in tiny Balzac north of Calgary, I look at the specials’ menu board and spot Portuguese soup. “I’m a writer,” I say, erasing the second “u” with my finger. Out comes the cellphone, Google is consulted, and I look for a place to hide…. or order beet-red soup.

Rockin Horse owner Raymonde Boisvert not only knows spelling. She also knows soup. Every day, she and her son scratch make three soups from a roster of some 40 in her little cookbook. Today’s choices include macaroni and, of course, Portuguese, the latter a sturdy, tasty mix of chorizo sausage, potatoes, cabbage and beef broth. The regulars, including cowboys and truckers, usually combine the soup with a BLT or clubhouse, but I go for another standout: her mother’s recipe of cinnamon-raisin bread pudding with caramel sauce.

You've got to try the cinnamon-raisin bread pudding, from an old family recipe

You’ve got to try the cinnamon-raisin bread pudding, from an old family recipe

The Rockin Horse is a good last-minute place to stop for breakfast or lunch before hitting or passing through Calgary. It’s less than a minute west of Highway 2 and within spitting distance of the city’s encroaching northern suburbs.

It’s also a good place to work on my spelling. Think they’d let me add an ‘ to Rockin or an é to Cafe?

Raymonde Boisvert runs the show, with the help of son Sean

Raymonde Boisvert runs the show, with the help of son Sean

Rockin Horse Cafe
100 Main Street, Balzac, Alberta
Weekdays 7 am-3 pm, Saturday 8 am-3 pm
Rockin Horse Cafe on Urbanspoon

Country Cooking in Millarville, Alberta

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Quiche and hearty soup feed the country soul at Corner House Cafe in Millarville, Alberta

Quiche and hearty soup feed the country soul at The Corner House Cafe in Millarville, Alberta

Sitting in The Corner House Café feels like being in a farmhouse kitchen. It’s partly the location—in the rolling foothills southwest of Calgary near Millarville, home of Alberta’s original farmers’ market and its century-old horse racetrack. But it’s also about being in this cozy, old house at a table right next to the open kitchen. There, four women are peeling potatoes, manually grating carrots for soup and fixing breakfasts, while chatting amongst themselves and with the regulars.

The short menu features omelettes and Highway Crossing oatmeal at breakfast—chased by Fratello coffee or lattes—and chile, sandwiches and quesadillas at lunch. I’m not usually a quiche person but am intrigued by one with sweet potato crust, which indeed is sweet and crumbly soft. The airy quiche is easily matched by the accompanying bowl of spicy soup, chockfull of sausage and greens in a flavourful broth.

Sitting in the Corner House Cafe is like being in a farm kitchen

Sitting in The Corner House Cafe is like being in a farm kitchen

The building, at the junction of Highway 22 and the turnoff to the Millarville Farmers’ Market, has been owned by the Lee family since 1927. Lorraine Vernon and Tracey Rigon took over the restaurant two years ago and are doing a bang-up job of feeding folks and preserving that laid-back country feel.

The Corner House Café
549 Highway 22, Millarville, Alberta
Tuesday to Friday 7 am- 3pm, Saturday, 8 am-3 pm. Closed Sunday and Monday (and all of January 2014)
Corner House Cafe on Urbanspoon

Just down the road in Black Diamond, Jacquie Gabriel and daughter Jan Morgensen have recently opened JnJ Tea Infusion. It’s definitely worth checking out for a wide selection of loose teas—to buy or to enjoy in their Tea Shoppe—along with great muffins and pies baked by Angela Boznianin.

Jacquie Gabriel is serving up great tea and baked goods at JnJ Tea Infusion in Black Diamond

Jacquie Gabriel is serving up great tea and baked goods at JnJ Tea Infusion in Black Diamond

JnJ Tea Infusion
126 Centre Avenue West, Black Diamond
Tuesday to Thursday 9 am-5 pm, Friday 9 am-4 pm, Saturday 10 am-3 pm. Closed Sunday and Monday

Long Live Longview, Alberta

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Mounir Berrah and his wife run the lovely Rustic Artisan coffeehouse in Longview, Alberta

Mounir Berrah and his wife, Yasmine, run the lovely Rustic Artisan coffeehouse in Longview, Alberta

Longview, a whistle-stop community along Highway 22 southwest of Calgary, used to be known as Little New York during an oil boom of the 1930s. These days, it might well be called Little Morocco, at least from a culinary perspective.

Longview is in the heart of southwest Alberta’s cattle country, so a steakhouse makes perfect sense. But one owned and lovingly operated by a Moroccan family? It doesn’t matter. Just go. As one online reviewer notes, if it’s a choice between a popular beef chain close to his Calgary house and a one-hour drive through the gorgeous foothills to the *Longview Steakhouse, it’s a no brainer. He’s getting in his car. Yes, it’s that good.

My $16 open-face steak sandwich might be the best lunch money I’ve spent this year. The locally sourced steak is a huge strip loin—with a red wine and pepper sauce—that flops over a hapless piece of bread, whose main function is to soak up all those juices. “My God, that’s huge,” I say. “You’re a hungry guy,” replies my friendly, lanky server, Samir Belmoufid.

Massive, tender steak sandwich and amazing apple-rutabaga soup at Longview Steakhouse

Massive, tender steak sandwich and amazing apple-rutabaga soup at Longview Steakhouse

Tender and flavourful as this slab of meat is, the real highlight might be the accompanying bowl of apple-rutabaga soup. There’s some magic going on in this unusual medley of flavours and underlying stock. Well-priced sirloin burgers, a Monte Christo sandwich and a Moroccan lamb sandwich round out the day’s lunch offerings, with tenderloin and New York steaks heading the pricier evening line-up (dinner reservations recommended, especially on weekends).

The Belmoufid family brought a long culinary history when they moved from Calgary to Longview in 1995. They’ve since run this high-end steakhouse in an unpretentious ranch house-style building, though they’ll soon be moving to a new, close-by building. A couple of brothers, their parents and a cousin are involved, and it shows in the close attention to quality, food preparation and personable service. You’re not likely to find a better steakhouse in the big  city.

Longview Steakhouse
102 Morrison Road (Highway 22) Longview, Alberta. 403-558-2000 for reservations
Lunch Tuesday to Friday 11:30 am-1:30 pm, dinner Tuesday to Thursday 5 pm-8 pm, Friday-Saturday 5 pm-9 pm, Sunday 5 pm-8 pm. Closed Monday
Longview Steakhouse on Urbanspoon

The family reach in Longview doesn’t stop at the steakhouse. A short walk down the road, sister Yasmine Belmoufid and husband Mounir Berrah have taken over the old Navajo Mug and turned it into *The Rustic Artisan, a great, cozy little coffeehouse. It features Phil and Sebastian beans that, strangely, seem to taste better here than at P & S outlets in Calgary—at least the double-shot Americano (hold most of the water) that Mounir expertly prepares for me. Maybe, it’s the mountain air. While there isn’t a proper kitchen, the owners scratch make the breakfast paninis, sandwiches, chile and chicken pot pies. “My wife is a trained pastry chef, so why wouldn’t we make our own pies?” Mounir says as he slides a big slab of apple-cranberry pie into a takeout container for me.

Could you resist a slice of this apple-cranberry pie at the Rustic Artisan?

Could you resist a slice of this apple-cranberry pie at the Rustic Artisan?

The Rustic Artisan
140 Morrison Road, Longview
Opens 8:30 am Tuesday to Sunday, closes 6 pm Tuesday, 7 pm Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday, 8 pm Friday and Saturday. Closed Monday. Note: Closed most of December 2013 and January 2014
The Rustic Artisan Longview Coffee Shop on Urbanspoon

Raising the Bar in Brooks, Alberta

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Dinosaur Provincial Park, near Brooks, Alberta, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site

Dinosaur Provincial Park, near Brooks, Alberta, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site

From a tourist perspective, Brooks is best known for its location on the Trans-Canada Highway, between Calgary and Medicine Hat, and for its proximity to Dinosaur Provincial Park, a World Heritage Site famed for its dinosaur beds and badlands. In recent years, Brooks has grown from a southeast Alberta farm town into a small city (population 14,000), with a considerable workforce from sub-Saharan Africa at a large meatpacking plant. The city’s cuisine has also expanded to include reputable Thai and sushi restaurants.

It's hard to see the Brooks Hotel front behind this monster sandwich

It’s hard to see the Brooks Hotel front behind this monster sandwich

But I’m in the mood for the old-time hotel bar scene that Alberta’s small towns are famous for. And the Brooks Hotel (“Established since 1909”) doesn’t disappoint. The wood paneling’s dark, the lighting dim, with the only glow coming from a row of automated gambling machines. Early-afternoon patrons are nursing bottles of Bud, Miller and Kokanee and digging into mountainous sandwiches. Which is what I’m here for. The waitress rattles off half a dozen varieties, and I pick a loaded roast beef, stuffed between two ridiculously thick slices of fresh, soft French bread. It’s $6 for a pound of food, $1.25 more if I add soup. While I’m waiting for my takeout, she asks if I want a glass of ice water or soda: “Slice of lime or lemon with that?” Unpretentious, friendly, incredible value and the kind of roast beef sandwich your mother used to make. What’s not to like?

Where's the roast beef? Buried inside these massive slabs of French bread at the Brooks Hotel

Where’s the roast beef? Buried inside these massive slabs of French bread at the Brooks Hotel

Brooks Hotel
111 1 Street West, Brooks
Daily 10 am-2 am, except 1:30 am Sunday