Happy Halloween- here’s an H1N1-related treat

Brian and I just wrapped up a nice afternoon, following an absolutely delicious lunch at Han’s in Chinatown (we had our usual, which was braised cabbage with chilis and green onions, and the “kung pao” chili chicken. Also ordered an “egg roll,” which is a flour pancake rolled around an omelet- a real egg roll). Unappetizing cam phone pics of each do neither justice but still look tasty:

Afterwards we strolled down to 1st St SW, south of the tracks, to check out some of the salubrious changes that have transformed this once-scary strip, and we had some lovely Intelligentsia coffees (Americano for Brian, macchiato for me) at DeVille Luxury Coffee. The weather is more than perfect today (14c and nothing but sun as I write this, just gorgeous), so it was a great day.

As we headed home we decided to take a chance at getting our vaccinations for H1N1 today. As everybody who lives here knows, Alberta Health Services has taken the unpopular route for this vaccination campaign of setting up centralized inoculation facilities, and there are only five to serve this entire city. The one closest to our home is at the site of the former Children’s Hospital, now “Richmond Road Diagnostic and Treatment Centre,” and I’d witnessed the queues there earlier this week with my own eyes. Mind-bogglingly long lines, and the waits have been epic. Some people have waited for six hours! But I got a hopeful tweet yesterday to the effect that, even though the lines were closed at 10am, somebody waltzed into Richmond Road at 2, 90 minutes before Friday’s closure, and got in and out in 20 minutes. I was skeptical but Brian convinced me to give it a try today, so we headed over at 2:45. Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, the clinics close at 3:30, so the worst that might happen (I guessed) was that we’d stand for 45 minutes and then be told to try again another day. So I went along with this plan.

We got to the clinic, parking a bit east on 20th Avenue SW, and were greeted by a security guard handing out numbers at the door. Hmmm. We entered, walked by the flu clinic (this is set up to assess people with symptoms, to take pressure off emergency rooms) and headed to the front of what I’d observed had been a lineup with, oh, 1000 people on Tuesday, Wednesday AND Thursday. There were FOUR people in the queue. We filled out our forms and because we did ours more quickly than did those folks ahead of us (with little kids), we were ushered into the vaccination hall. I was IMMEDIATELY directed to an empty nurse’s station and that was that. We waited as per normal for 15 minutes as a safety measure with any inoculation, and my arm hurts, but we’re done.

I naturally tweeted our little (well, big, actually) victory and posted it as my facebook status update, and am posting it here. I can’t know if this strategy will work for everyone, but it sure as hell did work for us.

Happy Halloween!

Chagrined update: as of this evening, all H1N1 clinics in the province (Alberta, for which this only applies) are suspended until early next week, when they’ll start vaccinating only high risk groups: kids 6 months to 5 years, pregnant women, and people under 65 with chronic health conditions, which I assume would include my asthmatic self. So I’m extra happy to have got my shot today even if I’d been able to go to the front of the line next week, because who knows what might really happen next week.

Anju

Calgary has a “Downtown West End,” just like Vancouver or, you know, London, but despite its comprising thousands of new and newish residents in massive, expensive condo towers, the area really lacks vibrancy. OUR West End was built up in the years somewhat pre-boom, with the first of these projects, a po-mo condo called “Axxis,” just finishing construction as Brian and I arrived in Calgary in 2000. It was followed by other similarly giant projects including The Marquis, the twin towers of Riverwest and Discovery, West Pointe, and Tarjan Pointe. So they brought the density, and one would expect that they’d bring the street life too. Problem was that too many of these developments offered zero retail space (the Bosa developments–Axxis, Riverwest, and Marquis–are the worst offenders in this regard; the Pointe of View ones, despite being esthetic nightmares, all have some podium retail) and even “tower in the park” suburban setbacks in some cases. All of this makes for a fragmented and unwelcoming pedestrian landscape, and I’m sure that when the residents of these towers want to go for an “urban” stroll they skip past their own community and cross the river into Kensington or head south past the tracks to 17th Avenue. This is unfortunate, because this captive audience of resident urbanites should make this neighbourhood one of the most interesting in town, like what they’ve accomplished in Yaletown in Vancouver, but it feels mostly empty and sad.

Set among these condo towers is a house at 507 10 St SW. One block north of Tarjan Pointe, and easy to miss, this building has housed a number of now-dead eateries. One was a coffeehouse called Thistles, which was notable for having a martini bar upstairs that was nonsmoking years before smoking bylaws would have forced it to be, and it SHOULD have been a success but wasn’t. Most recently it was called something like 507 Wine Bar and got good reviews, but was boarded up in what seemed like the blink of an eye.

A walk around this area back in, oh, September, revealed to me a new attempt at resuscitating this charming old house, something to be called “Anju,” a term that refers to Korean side dishes served with booze– in other words, Korean tapas, so a place called “Anju” just might be (I thought to myself), at long last, something like the Korean takes on izakaya that dot Vancouver. And I was right!

Anju has been getting rave reviews on chowhound and elsewhere, and I made my first visit today, for lunch, and am so glad I finally tried it! I arrived at around 11:30 and the very nice, gracious owner (her name is Anh) told me that the chef would be coming in around 15 minutes- same thing as happened on my first attempt for an early lunch, but this time I said, “well, let’s chat!” and we did- she told me that she and her husband (Roy) are the owners, that business has been good, and we got to talk a bit about the menu… Roy showed up a few minutes later and I ordered one of the “anju” (there are several different plates; “An Ju” would be like tapas or appies; there are “sides” for a buck or two incl things like extra rice and kimchi; there are noodle bowls, there are stone bowls, there are “mains,” there are deserts and there is a superb and interesting drinks menu too though I only had the delicious house-made, lightly sweet iced tea) and a bowl of ramen. Now the an ju I ordered was the “file fish” which was a sort of fish jerky in a little bowl, and a ramekin of Korean pepper paste to dip it into- this was a revelation, with the sweet-savory taste of a good jerky with a side of pleasant (really) fishiness, the pieces are thin and translucent too, and the whole experience of eating this little pile of morsels was completely bizarre and foreign to me but interesting and delicious. $5.

My ramen had interesting and tasty spins too. The ramen noodles, I must first note, were delicious, nice texture. These were in a kimchi-accented broth (and their kimchi is house-made and LOVELY) with plentiful slices of pork belly and the whole thing was topped with a dollop of creme fraiche. Amazing- my only complaint was that I’d have liked more kimchi, more bit to counter how very smoothed-out the creme made the bowl, but that’s a minor quibble and I loved this item. At dinner this would have come with kimchi on the side anyway so my complaint is minor. $13.

Lunch was $20 with the iced tea ($2 and bottomless!) and it was a treat to have the place to myself (one reason why I always dine early or late, for lunch at least) and to be able to chat with owners who are doing such a briliant job in uncharted waters bringing something truly new to this city. Let’s hope it continues to pay off!

Anju is at 507 10 St SW. WEBSITE

Writing what I know: Calgary coffee and sushi news

Okay, enough introspection and social commentary, for now. Coffee and sushi news abounds, and coffee and sushi, in western Canada, don’t know the meaning of “recession.”

On the sushi front: First, I am sad to report that some time before Christmas, what was once the only Nepalese restaurant west of Toronto, Mt Everest’s Kitchen, closed. They had a good run, open for seven years, but these things happen and I wish Raj and the rest of the folks affiliated with the resto good luck and hope that they will find a home somwhere IN CALGARY in the future. The thing is, I rarely went to Mt Everest’s. I found the food delicious but heavy (as in creamy) and just couldn’t bring myself to eat there very often. Sushi and other Japanese treats? I can have sushi three times a week. Hell, seven times a week if the menu is diverse enough. Love ramen, soba, udon. Love Japanese curry and the Japanese take on fried rice. Love gyoza with the deepest of passions. So when I noted that Mt Everest’s will soon morph into “O Shima Japanese Cuisine” (this will be at 1448 17th Ave SW; the new phone number is on the “coming soon” sign on the door and is not the same as Mt Everest’s and if it’s good I’ll keep you posted). I don’t, of course, know if this is actually a sushi place–and honestly I’d rather have a ramen or a curry house since we have much great sushi in Calgary now–despite this post title, but as I say, I’ll let my readers know the story ASAP.

Second sushi news: My beloved Blowfish, 625-11th Ave SW, 403-237-8588, completed some renovations recently and I had lunch there yesterday. It was tremendous. Here is my review cut and pasted from chowhound:

I had lunch at Blowfish (11th Ave SW, just west of Broken City/Amsterdam Rhino, etc) after too many weeks away and got to check out the renos (it was closed for much of Dec-Jan for them). New lighter paint scheme brightens the joint up; the huge lamps were brought down from ceiling height, and unfortunately due to insoluble ventilation issues they had to close off the opening b/t kitchen and dining room where I used to sit and watch the sushi chefs- it’s now a sort of black-glass window with the Blowfish logo in clear letters- so the kitchen is still visible but no more being handed your plates from the chef directly. So it goes- in most respects I’d call it an improvement.

So I sat at the bar (the bar bar; there is no “sushi bar” per se) and ordered yellowtail belly sashimi and one each yam-avocado roll and spicy tuna roll. I have–I am ashamed to admit this but here goes–I have never ordered sashimi. I’ve eaten it when others have ordered it and it’s not that I’m squeamish; I just have never ordered it, so this was a new thing for me. One order of nigiri at Blowfish is, as many of you already know, a two-piece assortment with one piece done trad “naked” and other duded-up in some way; seared maybe, or with a slice of pepper or something like that. With sashimi an order is four slices of fish and a little of the accompanying shredded cabbage. As with nigiri, half is plain raw fish, and in the case of this yellowtail, half was lightly seared. Spectacular! Beautiful cuts and the seared ones in particular were just delicious- warm on top, cool on the bottom, loved this.

The rolls are always a treat for me but this time they were exceptionally well-formed and gorgeously plated. The spicy tuna has a filling of avocado and some fried bits, tempura batter I think, and the tuna is draped over the outside- this means that Blowfish does not use macerated scraps for its spicy tuna. And the slices were super-thin and draped artfully so that there were three of these thin slices on each bite of the roll- this can’t be easy to do and in fact I’ve never seen a roll arranged as carefully as this. WIth the yam-avocado there is tempura sweet potato inside and thin slices of avocado outside, done with as much care as the tuna had been. On each morsel of this roll is a small dollop of mango mayonnaise. Too pretty for words and, more importantly, the tastes were as delicious as any sushi I’ve had anywhere.

I talked to owner Gemma and she asked if I’d met the new chef. New chef? Apparently the former chef, Tomo, has moved to Canmore. And as much as I loved Blowfish before, it’s done the impossible by improving on perfection with this new chef. I didn’t get to meet him (another problem with the closed-off kitchen) but will look forward to more meals there.

Lunch was $32, pricey lunch but worth every penny.

So there it is.

Coffee news: It’s almost amazing to think that all that follows is, yes, in the midst of an economic “slowdown” (which is precisely what Calgary and Alberta need right now but more on that in later posts) there is so much expansion planned in some areas, but when it comes to coffee and coffeehouses, expansion and optimism are very much the order of the day. I have other insights of a more unsubstantiated and “gossip” nature that I’ll not mention here, but here’s what I know that is more or less public (or at least publically-available) knowledge. I’m not putting links in here since all the businesses I mention here are already linked in my “places I like” section.

1. Caffe Artigiano has plans to open not one, not  two, but THREE new locations in Calgary. First is at Shell Centre, two blocks north of their current location (6th Ave/3 St SW: Shell is 4th Ave/3 St). Second, but perhaps opening sooner given some obvious turn-key elements, is in the former Second Cup site on Stephen Ave next to Dakota’s, near 2 St SW. Third- and this is the one I’m happiest to hear about- is in Mission at the recently-abandoned, horrible My Marvin’s debacle. My Marvin’s was a concept (a Jewish deli) that might have seemed progressive and edgy in 1985 but today it was just tired and I never heard a single positive thing about the resto. Artigiano will be a blessing in Mission and that location will be a dynamic one for them.

2. DeVille Luxury Coffee is chasing Artigiano for third-wave king status by planning two new locations of its own. The first is well under way and will be on the main level of the GORGEOUS new Colours condo tower on 1st St SW. Next door will be the first, post-Dragon’s-Den-appearance of the great grub of Atomic, the bubble tea people; Atomic also has terrrific Viet-inspired subs and I’m so chuffed about this that I wish I were moving into Colours. Too cool. Second location is, or is planned to be, in the new Fashion Central development at Stephen Ave and 1st St- Encorp is managing this project and as they already manage Art Central, where Deville #1 is, it’s not a stretch to believe that DeVille will be the caffe space in Fashion Central. That’s a lot of DeVille in a fairly tight stretch, but it makes sense given their affiliation with St Germain next to Hotel Arts. Convenient deliveries and such. And with that there will be THREE places in Calgary to buy Intelligentsia beans. Cool.

3. Phil and Sebastian still don’t have a retail storefront but word on the street is that they have settled on a location for a roasting facility. What this means for the future we’ll see, but it’s exciting news that is sure to bring them more customers aside from those who line up for drinks at the Calgary Farmers’ Market. More to come about this, of course.

There are a couple of other developments that I don’t know much about. First, there is an espresso bar at Bite Groceteria in Inglewood that should be bringing artisanal beans of some stripe to that coffee-neglected part of town (one cool in all other respects). Second, the suburbs are getting some major love with A Ladybug Cafe in Aspen Woods (2132 Aspen Stone Blvd, which I am told is near 17th Ave and 85 St SW); they have some top-end equipment and do latte art but I am otherwise not sure of suppliers and such. I’d like to check it out if I’m waaaaaaay in the west side.

UPDATE: A Ladybug sources beans from JJ Bean, and their espresso machine is a La Marzocco GB5. We have Lineas and FB80s in Calgary but ths is the first GB5 I’ve heard of.

Fratello’s glam new Slayer machine is done and ready for the cameras. Barista trainer (and barista per se) extraordinaire Joel May tells me that they’ve sold all 10 units in production, and attention to this beauty is popping up all over the world.

Kawa is now open Th-Fri-Sat nights until 11pm. And they have some amazing beers by the bottle now.

Two visits to Ali Baba Kabob House. It’s superb.

I’ve posted two reviews to chowhound, which for some reason have generated zero response, so I’ll make my case here. This place is excellent.

They opened on the 7th and first visit was for dinner, alone, on the 8th:

Okay, they opened yesterday and I had dinner there tonight. Very promising. I had a very interesting yogurt drink that I have absolutely never seen before- it comes out of a big bubbler type of thing and it’s savoury; added to the thin yogurt beverage is shredded cucumber and a sort of green sauce almost like a salsa verde. It’s fresh-tasting and not at all like a salty lassi (which was what I was expecting)- it’s sort of like drinking a salad. You’ll have to check this out yourself. Anyway I had the Chaplee Kebab plate which came with the kebab (the chaplee version is a slightly spicy ground beef with a roasted tomato on top, but the tomato is sort of worked into to meat- it’s not like a Persian kebab with a separate grilled tomato), PERFECT basmati, just heavenly, a very forgettable “salad” of ugly iceberg, ugly tomato slice and some nice, finely sliced onions (these went great with the meat and rice BTW) as well as a rather dry slice of bread, it’s called “nan” in Farsi and like an Armenian bread but this one was pretty poor. BUT the kebab and rice (and the yogurt bev) were utterly delicious and more than made up for an uninspired salad and bread. I also had a side of this flatbread stuffed with spiced potato that is almost identical to the Turkish potato burek you find at Crossroads Market.

This was more food than I should have eaten and I left very, very full. The damage was about $15- $8.95 for the plate, $3.25 for the stuffed bread and $2 for the drink. Service was extremely friendly and surprisingly fast for day 2. Order at counter, get food at one of only 5 tables.

And I picked up takeout for Brian and me yesterday (the 12th):

Okay, got dinner there again tonight w/ Brian so we could sample more. We got two dinners- Chaplee Kebab again and the “Sultani Kebab,” which is Barg (tenderloin) and Kofta. We also got and order of Boulanee, which is the grilled bread stuffed with spicy mashed potato, a side of Kabelli/Qabeli Rice (it’s spelled differently on the menu board and the takeout menu), which is basmati with raisins and shredded carrot, and two orders of this pistachio pudding called Firnee for desert. The total for all this was $35.

I took this feast home and we plated everything, pulliing the meat off skewers (except for the Chaplee which is not skewered) and topped up the regular side rice with the Qabelil… and ended up with a couple of very heaping plates. The Chaplee kebab was as good as last time; the other meats (all were beef this round) were excellent but the spicing on the Chaplee just punches more. Kofta was not unlike a good, lean one from a Lebanese place, and the Barg- well it’s hard to screw up tenderloin, so I have to nominate the Chaplee and my favourite for now.

But I have to say more about the rice. As I was entering to pick up my order the owner was just removing a great huge casserole from the oven (all very visible to me) and in it was gorgeous, fluffy, steaming biryani-esque basmati, just gorgeous. To this he added the aforementioned goodies (carrot and raisins), boxed up everything else and I was on my merry way (I live 2 blocks south). This rice… you have to try this rice. A generous side of it is $4.99 and i could happily consume an order with a couple of skewers of meat a la carte and call that dinner most nights of the week. One of the best rices I’ve had ever, anywhere.

The Boulanee was very good but as with last time we were both too full to finish it… but we did find room for desert, which is light, not too sweet and not terribly memorable either. They sell pastries at Ali Baba as well and one sample of a Barfi cookie was very encouraging, so I think I’ll stick with those.

Business appears to be good; there are, as I noted before, not many seats at this place but there were 5 other customers dining when I arrived, and for a space this small that’s not bad.

I really encourage other hounds to check this place out.

Oh, the number on the takeout menus is wrong- correct is 403-541-1115.

Ali Baba is at 1602 14 St SW, ph 403-541-1115. They’re open late- until 11 most days but 3AM on Friday and Saturday nights.

14 St (inner) SW and NW: Putting lipstick on a very delicious pig

Inner-city Calgary doesn’t get the respect it deserves for its walkability. Everywhere from Bridgeland in the northeast to Hillhurst in the northwest (heck, to Parkdale even) to, say, Altadore in the southwest and over to Inglewood (skipping past the crackheads and associated human detritus en route, sadly) in the southeast and plenty in between is not only eminently walkable but is also full of interesting retail strips (1st Avenue NE in The Bridges, Centre St North with its “next Chinatown” vibe, 17th Ave SW, 4th St SW, Kensington Rd and 10 St NW, Marda Loop [finally] and other nooks and crannies… and then downtown per se of course), great elevations and views, varied and interesting new and old residential, and just everything that animates and motivates walkers like me.

It’s a pity given this urban treasure trove here that the major road closest to us, and the best direct route to both Kensington and the west Beltline for me is ugly 14 Street. The stretch from 17th Ave SW to around 5th Ave NW is almost uremittingly ugly, with scary freeway and train underpasses, some really poorly planned stretches abutting parking lots, and way too many destitute and drug-addicted heading God only knows where.

But ths is the thing: There is a LOT of new and should-be-discovered food on this strip! And good food means redemption- so I am on this road, on foot, almost daily. There are prettier routes to downtown (for example) but I’m compelled as often as I can to traverse 14th just to see what’s new, coming, and newly open.

Here are some highlights, several of which are already linked at my “places I like” page here. Heading north on 17th:

1. On the east side of the block is decent sushi (but more decent non-sushi dishes like excellent agedashi tofu, teriyaki and oyakodon) at Oishii Village, 1504 14 St SW.

2. Right next door and opening will be an Afghani place called “Ali Baba Kabob House” and I took some pictures of its windows, adorned with food pics, and its interior menu board. I wouldn’t be surprised to find this place open this afternoon; there are even condiments by the cash register as of this morning:

Looks more than intriguing and the front door indicates ton of opening hours (until at least 10 each night). Review to come, here, on chowhound or both.

3 and 4. Continuing on the east side of the street one then comes upon Vogglio d’Pizza and Shawarma Knight at 1512 SW. Vogglio underwent a recent demi-facelift, with some new paint and a smidgen of interior seating, and last visit suggests the pizza is still among the best, most creative and best value in town. SK is run by the sweetest Iraqi family and (with Sammy’s on 17th at 12th) is one of my go-to places for donair and shawarma, as well as some snacks (like a “kubbe batata”) that I can’t get anywhere else in town, at least not a short walk from home.

5 and 6. Across the street, west side of the block, is a decent seafood shop and fish and chippery (Boyd’s at 1511 SW) and an an intriguing new pub- dare I say gastropub- that has been getting great press but that we haven’t tried; it’s called “Balance” and is at 1504 16th Ave SW but as it mostly fronts 14th counts for this review. Website with links to glowing reviews here.

Okay, so there are at least five places with checking out just north of 17th Ave SW. The stretch further north is a foodie no-man’s-land (with the possible exception of one of this city’s few Mr Sub locations), and things don’t improve until one crosses the river (and enjoys the only really beautiful section on the tour- the bridge is gorgeous, overlooking the river and superb views of downtown); soon we’re on the western edge of Hillhurst and what might, and this is a stretch, be called part of Kensington. Thing is- there is some SUPERB nosh here.

7. First (coming from the south) is one of Calgary’s finest (reputationally, I’ve never actually eaten there) restos, the Sultan’s Tent (4 14 St NW) in a retail bay of a condo building. No report, just noting its presence.

8. A little further north is a Calgary institution, Chicken On The Way (1443 Kensington Road, but it abuts 14 and the only seating is picnic tables along that side of its building, so I count it here). There is a nice review and you can contribute to the discussion about it at roadfood.com.

So at this point one approaches Kensington Road and one’s inclination is to turn right to get into the heart of Kensington and off this unwelcome bit of 14th. To the right are cafes, an indie rep cinema, the city’s best indie bookstore, and QUIET; ahead is traffic, a huge Petrocan station, auto glass restorers, and a lot of weeds.

9 and 10. STAY THE COURSE. In just a few more metres you’ll reach one of the most delightful foodie destinations in town, Globefish Sushi and Isakaya at 326 14 St NW. Much has already been written about this place (and its second location in Marda Loop) and it’s a must-try for sure. But what’s more exciting, for me, is that Globefish abandoned its former location (this was once a Vietnamese place) and took over the former Shan Tung CHINESE resto next door; the original Globefish is now Muku Ramen, run by the same people, and I had dinner there last night and was very impressed! The menu is simple (nothing like Globefish in that regard) and I enjoyed DELICIOUS bowl of ramen with spicy shoyu broth and I also got extra chashu (roated pork, think Chinese “char siu”- it’s a very lean chashu, unlike what I had and enjoyed at a ramen shop in Vancouver last visit, but still very nice). Menu and ramen pics:

So even though I doubt anybody would consider the inner-city stretch of 14 Street between Kensington and Bankview to be a destination of any sort (never mind a dining destination), there is certainly more than meets the eye.