Category Archives: Alberta

Backpacking Reward: Hearty Burgers in Lake Louise, Alberta

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There's nothing like a week-long backpack into southern Jasper National Park to work up an appetite

There’s nothing like a week-long backpack into southern Jasper National Park to work up an appetite

It’s the end of a week-long backpack in southern Jasper National Park, and the one thing that keeps our feet plodding down the last muddy trail to the car, and civilization, is the mental mantra ham-bur-ger, ham-bur-ger. So it is with stiff legs and famished appetites that we stumble into the Outpost Pub in the darkened bowels of the Post Hotel in Lake Louise, on our way back to Banff. It’s swanky upstairs with a 25,000-bottle wine cellar, but down here—despite the linen napkins and fine European service—they don’t seem to mind my muddy trousers or heavy stubble. And we don’t mind the Lake Louise premium of $15 and up for a burger, especially when it’s six ounces of dense sirloin and a mountain of thin-cut fries, washed down with a pint of Big Rock Traditional. The preliminary basket of chewy, sourdough buns is excellent and somewhat better than the house-made burger bun. But when you’re this hungry, any quibbles are nigh insignificant. For about 10 minutes, the only sound from our table of six is chewing. Or is it inhaling?

Yes, that's a massive sirloin burger behind the mountain of fries at the Outpost Pub in Lake Louise

Yes, that’s a massive sirloin burger behind the mountain of fries at the Outpost Pub in Lake Louise

Outpost Pub in The Post Hotel
200 Pipestone Road, Lake Louise
Monday to Friday 4:30 pm-midnight, weekends noon to midnight
Outpost Pub 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

Lovely Lethbridge, Alberta and its Surprising Food Scene

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The spectacular High Level Bridge spanning the Oldman River Valley in Lethbridge, Alberta

The spectacular High Level Bridge spanning the Oldman River Valley in Lethbridge, Alberta

Lethbridge is my favourite mid-sized Alberta city, with a burgeoning population that’s topped 90,000. Above all, it boasts the spectacular Oldman River Valley, incised by weather-shaped coulees and populated by giant cottonwood poplars on the river flats. If you’re travelling between northern Montana and Calgary/Banff, it’s well worth spending a couple of hours exploring the valley’s half dozen parks, linked by walking/cycling trails.

The valley is also home to two stunning landmarks: the Arthur Erickson-designed University of Lethbridge, built right into some coulees, and the old, long High Level railway bridge. Finally, there’s a considerable Mormon and Japanese influence, so you know things are generally tidy. Yeah, there’s the steady breeze, but not so bad as Crowsnest Pass to the west.

The Lethbridge restaurant scene is now catching up to all this natural splendour. Most mid-sized Alberta cities tend to be culinary wastelands, dominated by chain restaurants in new malls and tried-and-true steak and pizza joints. Not so LA north (Lethbridge, Alberta), where a growing number of independent places are devoted to excellence, local products and generally supporting their community.

These super-sweet tomatoes from Broxburn Vegetables are just the tip of the iceberg for locally produced foods around Lethbridge

These super-sweet tomatoes from Broxburn Vegetables are just the tip of the iceberg for locally produced foods finding their way onto Lethbridge menus

When I spend more than an hour in a coffee shop, it’s invariably because I’m glued to my iPad and its attendant email and Internet tentacles. But at *Cupper’s Coffee & Tea, I don’t even sit down and barely have time to sip one of the best coffees I’ve had in a long, long time—a formidably strong Costa Rican, carefully poured through a Chemex dripper by David. That’s because I’m locked in an intense conversation with owner Al Anctil about all things coffee. Suffice to say, he’s passionate about his craft.

David making a high-test Chemex pot of Costa Rican in Cupper's Coffee & Tea

David making a high-test Chemex pot of Costa Rican in Cupper’s Coffee & Tea

A former sculptor, Al—along with a thermodynamic PhD buddy and hot-rod building brother—built a complex roaster that allows the custom roasting of some 34 types of the world’s finest beans, none of which sit for more than three days. Cupper’s has only one, coffee-shaped table, with two chairs, so its espresso-based or drip coffees are mostly to go, though it does supply many local restaurants and cafes, including Anctil’s former business, Penny Coffee House. But it does have the most impressive collection of coffee- and tea-making machinery and paraphernalia I’ve ever seen. And it’s well worth picking up a pound or two of beans and getting on the mailing list. Cupper’s even ships beans to a financial company in Japan. It’s that good.

Cupper's owner Al Anctil and the sophisticated roaster he helped build

Cupper’s owner Al Anctil and the sophisticated roaster he helped build

Cupper’s Coffee & Tea
1502C 3 Avenue South, Lethbridge
Monday to Friday 9 am-5:30 pm, Satuday 9 am-5 pm. Closed Sunday
Cuppers Coffee and Tea on Urbanspoon

I’m not sure what’s better about *Round Street Café, the food or the story. First, the food. Let’s make it simple. Just order the grilled chicken, brie and avocado sandwich on multigrain ($8.50), the silky combination of flavours wonderfully complemented by the seedy bread. Add a soup or salad, if you wish, but make sure you leave room for a thick slice of fruit pie.

A marvellous grilled chicken, brie and avocado sandwich at Round Street Cafe

A marvellous grilled chicken, brie and avocado sandwich at Round Street Cafe

Now the story—this from Cupper’s owner Al Anctil’s perspective, since Round Street owner Bonny Greenshields is not around when I stop for lunch. A retired high school teacher, Bonny wanted to start a café and consulted Al, who spent the first two meetings fruitlessly trying to convince her not to. She ignored his advice and made the restaurant successful enough to be included in Where to Eat in Canada. But the real story is how she’s helped feed and otherwise help the city’s homeless and otherwise needy folks. So, the breakfast and lunch food is fabulous, but it’s Bonny’s contribution to community that’s the real winner.

Round Street Cafe
427 5 Street South, Lethbridge
Weekdays 7 am- 5 pm, Saturday 9 am-5 pm. Closed Sunday
Round Street Cafe on Urbanspoon

Mocha Cabana is another Lethbridge restaurant devoted to fine food and community. It uses lots of locally sourced meat, dairy and vegetables and employs chefs in or graduated from the Lethbridge College Culinary Program. On weekends, they’re free to create three-course dinners, with local musicians playing in the background. But I’m here for breakfast and a delightful Mocha Scrambler. Despite the somewhat leisurely service, the dish arrives from the oven smoking hot, the cheese nicely melted with hollandaise sauce into fluffy eggs, riding atop a nice medley of pan fries, bacon chunks and red onions. It’s a filling, flavourful meal, washed down by a couple of good mugs of Cupper’s coffee.

A smoking hot, fluffy Mocha Scrambler at Mocha Cabana

A smoking hot, fluffy Mocha Scrambler at Mocha Cabana

Mocha Cabana
317 4 Street South, Lethbridge
Monday to Thursday 8 am-9 pm, Friday 8 am-10 pm, Saturday 9 am-10 pm, Sunday 9 am-4 pm
Mocha Cabana Cafe on Urbanspoon

Heritage Day Harvest in Calgary

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Food Trucks gathered for Heritage Day at Calgary's Kingsland Farmers' Market

Food Trucks gathered for Heritage Day at Calgary’s Kingsland Farmers’ Market

Heritage Day, a holiday the first Monday of August, celebrates Alberta’s ever-growing multicultural roots. So what better way to honour that diversity than to head down to the Kingsland Farmers’ Market to sample produce and cheese from various vendors, order a plate of food from an ethnic restaurant stall or grab a Vietnamese sub or Cajun sandwich from one of half a dozen food trucks on hand for the day.

Nothing says ethnic food like a blackened catfish po-boy, served by the Sticky Ricky's food truck

Nothing says ethnic food like a blackened catfish po-boy, served by the Sticky Ricky’s food truck

Bite-Sized Posts: Canadian BBQ

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It's rodeo time at the Calgary Stampede

It’s rodeo time at the Calgary Stampede

In honour of the 101st Calgary Stampede and those who moved mountains to put it on two weeks after the record floods. Where’s the beef? At the end of a shovel.

Southerners can get mighty particular about barbecue—about smoke rings, chopped or sliced, etc. Me, I don’t know much, but I do lean toward flavour, moistness and an absence of syrupy sauces. So, Calgary’s Holy Smoke BBQ hits pretty much all my bases. Its barbecue has a nice, smoky flavour and ain’t dry, with a dozen sauces in bottles, so I can add what heat and sweetness I want. It also hits my price point, $6 for a generous, regular chopped beef brisket, stacked inside a typical hamburger bun; better bread would kick things up a notch. Add buck-a-bone ribs for more protein or sides like coleslaw or a tiny piece of cornbread, and you still haven’t cracked $10. I avoid the lunchtime rush, so my car-to-car time, including eating, is an impressive five minutes, and I’ve got the vacuum turned off.

Chopped brisket sandwich for $6 hits the spot

Chopped brisket sandwich for $6 hits the spot

The flagship Holy Smoke is located in an industrial part of southeast Calgary, with outdoor picnic tables for summertime dining and indoor seating surrounded by bumper stickers. To wit: “If you’ve been married three times and still have the same in-laws, you might be a redneck” and “Dress code: four tooth minimum.”

Authentic BBQ at 51 degrees latitude? I’ll let the purists debate that. But for quick, affordable beef on a bun, it goes down fine with a little rodeo.

Holy Smoke BBQ
4, 4640 Manhattan Road SE (two other Calgary locations)
Weekdays 10 am-8 pm, Saturday 10 am-4 pm. Closed Sunday
Holy Smoke BBQ on Urbanspoon

Excellent Edmonton Eateries: Part 2

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Dauphine Bakery & Bistro has a lovely downtown Edmonton space, despite the basement digs

Dauphine Bakery & Bistro has a lovely downtown Edmonton space, despite the basement digs

When I was a teenager in Edmonton, I used to walk through the Italian neighbourhood and its lovingly maintained residential gardens en route to Edmonton Eskimo football games. Many years later, that identity is, if anything, stronger, thanks in no small part to the Italian Centre Shop, in the heart of the community. Modernized and expanded to nearly a block by Teresa Spinelli after taking over from her late father, Frank, the store is a great place for weekend people watching. Customers can be seen hovering over peppers, fresh figs, pastas and tomatoes or lining up at the deli to order sliced mortadella, capicollo or Genova salami (ask for samples), along with a large selection of cheeses and olives. A good summertime strategy is to order a panini or pick up some deli cuts along with fresh ciabatta or pagnotta bread and have a picnic in the park across the street. You can also order thin-crust pizza (for a bargain $3 a slice or $11 whole) and an espresso, tossed back Italian style, in Spinelli’s Bar Italia at the store’s south end.

The Italian Centre Shop is as good for people watching as deli perusing

The Italian Centre Shop is as good for people watching as deli perusing

Italian Centre Shop
10878-95 Street (a second, smaller location at Edmonton’s southern outskirts: 5028-104A Street)
Daily 9 am-9 pm
Spinelli's Bar Italia on Urbanspoon

Another boyhood memory is having weekend dim sum at Moon’s Restaurant and shopping in the nearby market. Back then, Edmonton’s Chinatown, just east of downtown, was both an exotic attraction and a sketchy area peppered with unhygienic kitchens. The neighbourhood doesn’t look a whole lot different nearly four decades later, so it’s with mixed apprehension and interest that I enter the Veggie Garden Restaurant. The sparkling clean tables and washroom are reassuring, as is the kindly owner, who immediately informs me this Chinese/ Vietnamese restaurant is strictly vegetarian. Here, you could have fun fooling unsuspecting carnivore companions by ordering lemongrass “shrimp” or stir-fried “pork” and seeing if they could tell they were really eating tofu (actually, it’s never made sense to me why vegetarians would want to use terms like hot dogs or burgers to describe their food). In any event, the food is delicious, especially the shredded potato and jicama salad rolls and the sliced “chicken” in a slightly too sweet lemon sauce. Guess what? It tastes like chicken. My meal, including appetizer, is a ridiculously cheap $12; I have another meal from the leftovers.

The shredded potato and jicama salad rolls were a highlight at Veggie Garden Restaurant

The shredded potato and jicama salad rolls were a highlight at Veggie Garden Restaurant

Veggie Garden Restaurant
10582-100 Street, Edmonton
Monday to Thursday 11 am-8:30 pm, Friday-Saturday 11 am-9:30 pm, Sunday 3 pm-8 pm
Veggie Garden Restaurant on Urbanspoon

One part of downtown Edmonton that’s definitely been upgraded is the stretch of 104th Street between Jasper and 104th Avenues. The old brick warehouses and office buildings have been scrubbed and filled with trendy shops and cafes. Here you’ll find one of Edmonton’s coffee hotspots, Credo—with it’s Intelligentsia beans, thin, crisp cookies and homemade granola bars—and a newcomer, Roast Coffeehouse + Wine Bar, featuring a bizarre maple espresso with candied bacon; sorry, I couldn’t bring myself to try it.

Credo is a fine downtown spot for a java and thin, crisp cookie

Credo is a fine downtown spot for a java and thin, crisp cookie

But my favourite place along this downtown strip is Dauphine Bakery and Bistro. A lawsuit forced owner Linda Kearney to abandon her original name, Queen of Tarts. But she hasn’t lost the recipes for her fabulous lemon curd and white-chocolate pistachio tarts, carrot cake and smoked salmon and leek quiche. Plus, she’s somehow turned a downstairs location into a bright, airy space. What I really like is the attention to detail, whether it’s the antique silver sugar bowls or the dense, round sunflower or pumpkin seed breads that use natural leavening agents; they make great, sourdoughy toast. Yes, the cost of many things is a little steep, but you’re paying for quality and locally sourced ingredients. There are some lovely, reasonably priced lunch options such as a wild, smoked salmon plate with rye bread and organic greens or a Pan Bagnat sandwich, featuring marinated tuna, tapenade and arugula, served with a pea and fennel salad (both $13).

There are lovely antiques like this collection of silver teapots and sugar bowls at Dauphine Bakery & Bistro

There are lovely antiques like this collection of silver tea and coffee sets at Dauphine Bakery & Bistro

Dauphine Bakery and Bistro
10129-104 Street, Edmonton
Tuesday to Thursday 10 am-6 pm, Friday 10 am-7 pm, Saturday 10 am-6 pm. Closed Sunday
Dauphine Bakery and Bistro on Urbanspoon

Amidst the leafy, upscale streets of Glenora sits the nicely appointed Vi’s for Pies. Here’ll you’ll find matrons gathering for tea and key lime pie, alongside businessmen and guys in pressed jeans meeting for lunch. As the name suggests, Vi’s is best known for decadent desserts like chocolate caramel cake and a strawberry shortcake gorgeously perched atop a three-berry scone. But it also has some tasty lunch items like the popular chicken pot or shepherd’s pie or the less filling roasted chicken bunwich. The best value, though, might be the half rack of pork ribs or the beef brisket, both $14.50 and slow roasted over pecan and apple/mesquite wood. Both come with two of the following four sides: little bowls of mac ‘n cheese, spicy potato salad, baked beans and cole slaw. Oh, and there’s a cheese biscuit thrown in for good measure. Suffice to say, after shovelling down this large meal, there’s no room for dessert, and I can only dream of raspberry lemon cream pie or apple pecan caramel cheesecake. Sigh.

There was so much food with my pork brisket lunch at Vi's for Pies, I had no room for the vaunted desserts

There was so much food with my pork brisket lunch at Vi’s for Pies, I had no room for the vaunted desserts

Vi’s for Pies
13408 Stony Plain Road, Edmonton
Tuesday to Thursday 9 am-10 pm, Friday 9 am-11 pm, Saturday 10 am-11 pm, Sunday 10 am-4 pm. Closed Monday
Vi's For Pies on Urbanspoon

As the name suggests, The Next Act has long been associated with the rich arts scene in Edmonton’s historic Strathcona district, just off Whyte Avenue; the Fringe Theatre Festival’s headquarters are visible through the front windows. Before and after shows, patrons gather for a brew and a bite, sitting in booths or at high tables while perhaps eying an old black-and-white movie playing soundlessly on a corner TV screen. For the first act, I’d suggest ordering a local Alley Kat pint from the many beers on offer. For the second, go for one of the excellent, theatrically named burgers, such as my Director’s ($14), a succulent patty covered in avocado, jack cheese, stewed chilies and sufficient other fixings to stretch my jaw like a visit to the dentist. It comes with fries, but I advise paying a buck more for a good mixed-greens salad dotted with pea shoots, strawberries, halved grapes and slivered almonds.

Be sure to get a salad with a fine burger at The Next Act

Be sure to get a salad with a fine burger at The Next Act

The Next Act
8224 104 Street Northwest, Edmonton
Sunday to Thursday 11 am-1 am, Friday-Saturday 11 am-2 am
The Next Act on Urbanspoon

The folks at *Sherbrooke Liquor Store say they have the finest selection of beer in Canada, with more than 1,400 brands in stock. I believe them. Mind you, there’s no clue when I pull into a grimy strip mall off busy St. Albert Trail and push open the aluminum doors flanked by mirrored windows. But then I hang a sharp right into the walk-in cooler jammed with narrow aisles stacked to the ceiling with exotic beers from around the planet. Suddenly, I’m in beer candy land, and it’s all I can do to not empty my wallet on dozens of ales, stouts and hefeweizens I’ve never seen before. I restrict myself to three world-class choices—a Belgian Mikkeller Geek Breakfast beer (with a dense chocolaty, coffee taste for easing me into the morning), an outstanding Scottish Innis & Gunn winter treacle porter (like all their beers, aged in oak) and an Oregon Deschutes Brewery Red Chair, recently named the world’s top beer, though a little hoppy for me and much more expensive here than in the U.S. By now, you’ve probably figured this ain’t the place for your watery, bargain-basement 24-pack. And I’m sure Sherbrooke has a fine selection of wines and spirits, but I never give them a glance.

Just a small sample of the beers on offer at Sherbrooke Liquor Store

Just a small sample of the beers on offer at Sherbrooke Liquor Store

Sherbrooke Liquor Store
11819 St. Alberta Trail, Edmonton
Sunday to Tuesday 10 am-10 pm, Wednesday-Thursday 10 am-11 pm, Friday-Saturday 10 am-midnight

I venture into the basement of a downtown Edmonton office tower to visit a fast-food court. I’m at Chicken for Lunch for its signature hot and dry chicken, much loved by regulars. But really, I’m here just as much for its exuberant owner, Amy Quon. And she doesn’t disappoint. “Here, you need some skinny noodles with that. It will make you skinny,” Amy says as she ladles food into a Styrofoam container. When I tell her I’m from Calgary, working on a road food blog, she piles some ginger beef on for me to sample. At the rate she’s going, I’ll soon be fat.

Yes, it is food-court fare, sitting in steamer trays, though it’s constantly being replenished to keep pace with the daily lunch lineup. My nuggets of hot and dry chicken are crispy, a little greasy and mildly spicy, the chunks of broccoli and carrots crunchy and the skinny noodles providing a nice, moist base. But Amy, thinking I’m still too skinny, gives me the business card for her other family restaurant, The Lingnan.

Exuberant owner Amy Quon may be the main attraction at Chicken for Lunch

Exuberant owner Amy Quon may be the main attraction at Chicken for Lunch

Chicken for Lunch
10060 Jasper Avenue NW (lower level Scotia Place), Edmonton
Weekdays 7 am-2 pm
Chicken For Lunch on Urbanspoon