"Finished" the reno

The last of our construction, painting and stuff is now finished!

I say this knowing that there remains the possibility to change out the kitchen faucet and downstairs light fixtures and do a tile backsplash in the kitchen and put new carpet in the stairs and finish that baseboard there, but everything we had actually going on is over!

How does it feel? It feel good.

Fon-do or Fon-Don't?

On the 30th of July, Jenn and I went to the Laurier Lounge for our Anniversary dinner. We were a little skeptical at first, as a couple of Calgary-style middle-aged downtown jerk-wads were seated at the table next to us almost right away, and talked loudly of how awesome they were. It was like dining in a Maxim Magazine article. They were rapidly shunted to the patio (where they were more comfortable looking at the "Chicks" and we were more comfortable being without them. We asked the hostess if they could keep us a bit isolated for our romantic dinner, and they did their very best to accommodate.

Our waitress was a thirty-something Aussie surfer-chick on walkabout, but did a reasonable job. She did inform us that Warren Buffet, when he was in Calgary, had dined there, and had their trademark burger and declared it was the best burger he had ever had. I have my doubts. Although I was impressed with the looks of some of the appies, we went with the three course fondue dinner for two, a Prix Fixe option of some excellent value, along with a carafe of the house red, Adobe Malbec from Chile, which was also excellent.

The food was great. The cheese fondue to start was tasty and had a splash of Kirsch. The meat fondue was in a french-onion-soup kind of broth, and came with excellent sides, and the chocolate fondue to finish as to die for. I probably would have died if I had eaten everything with the main course.

All in all, a nice little place in the belt line to try out if you are in Calgary. I would go again, for sure. Also looks fun for groups.

Mexican Food in Calgary

So Friday afternoon on the way back from bodyworlds, Jenn and I stopped at Holt Renfrew to do a little window shopping (the only kind I can afford at Holts). She hit Luis Vuitton, and I hit Hermes, and then we split up, jenn hitting ladies wear, while I checked out the blowout clearance racks in Menswear. 70% off is not helpful when the regular price is $3500.00 for a sport coat. I did see an Armani tux I wanted (only $1100.00, after markdown) and I drooled over the Zenga and Canali suits, but I think I will be sticking with secondhand. Even the shirts I liked were well out of my price range right now (marked down from $300.00 +)

Gah.

We did drop $200.00 at the Bay later on during their season clearance + reno sale and got a large bag full of clothes to last us a little while.

But that leads me to Mexican food (or at least nachos) which we got on the patio at Juan's on Stephen Avenue at about 3:00 in the afternoon on the 30th of July, along with a couple of lime margaritas on the rocks. The nachos were the best I have had in a long time. I would definitely get them again, they are probably the best nachos on Stephen Avenue. The margaritas were good too. The other items on the menu also looked very good, but we didn't feel like a real meal. Also the Guacamole was amazing. I don't make better than that myself, and i am pretty proud of my guac usually.

Sorry about no July Posting, I've been lazy.

But now I can post three or four quick ones back to back thanks to my trip down to Calgary this week.

Jenn and I were married a bit over five years ago, five years ago this past Friday, to be exact, and to celebrate, we booked ourselves into the Palliser Hotel in Calgary. (Why the Palliser? Why Calgary? Keep looking for a future post to inform the Calgaryness)

While we were there, we ate out enough to make up for the no-new-food-reviews-in-months situation. The first place we ate was Earls, because we were looking for a place to eat at 9:30 on a Thursday night on Stephen Avenue that wasn't either hyper-expensive or straight pub food. It was an Earls.

The next morning, we decided to take breakfast at the Avenue Diner in the 100 block of Stephen Avenue. Upon walking in, you are greeted by a mid-sized, cheerful space with a long counter in front and tables towards the back on the way to an open kitchen. The Menu is small but enticing, with some wonderful sounding options. Jenn and I, being on vacation, each had a variation on eggs Benedict. Mine west-coast style with smoked salmon, and Jenn's Florentine, with spinach, shallots and smoky bacon. Each came with the same herbed Hollandaise sauce and hash-brown Yukon gold potatoes, as well as an organic cherry tomato, which more or less exploded into a flavour-bomb of tomato-ness as soon as you bit into it.

The food was knock-you-on-your-ass good. The ingredients were of obviously good quality and fresh and local. The portions were a good size and the price- at about $15.00 each, were higher than going to Smitty's but not substantially so, and for the value, they were great.

If you are having a hankering for breakfast (served all day) and you are in Downtown Calgary, go there. It is good.

Five cups of organic, fairly traded coffee.