A few weeks ago I was racking my brain trying to think of the best way to enjoy one of the last days of summer. Beer? Gardening? Beer gardening? The choices were many, but my decision was made easy when I was invited to attend Taste of Calgary with a couple of friends. Populating the Eau Claire Market area, the festival boasted 26 culinary venues, along with 17 beverage stops, just waiting to be discovered.


I really enjoy festivals like this as it can be made into a little culinary adventure. You follow your map/guide, eat your way through, and learn about some restaurant you haven't heard of before. Items cost anywhere from 2 to 6 tickets (75 cents per ticket), and with an average price of 4 tickets, I was able to enjoy five 'tastes' for a reasonable $15! Tickets in-hand, I was ready to go!

Here were some of my favourite eats at the festival:

Nubian Express: An African restaurant-in-the-works showing off some accomplished skills. Their African-Style Grilled Beef had a nice amount of heat and the accompanying Coconut Rice was definitely coconut-y.


Frugal Gourmet Cookery: Their Organic Alberta Green Onion Cakes were delicious. The accompanying creamy Hawaiian Coleslaw were, without a doubt, my most savoured sampling of the day!


La Vita e Bella: A Roasted Red Pepper Meatball stuffed with Bocconcini cheese... mmm...how could I pass that up? Now that's a meatball!


Chicago Chophouse: A well-known Calgary steakhouse showed us their 'chops' (pun intended, obviously) with a Steak Crostini topped with Ancho Chili Aioli. The crostini itself wasn't great, but it had a good cut of meat, and the aioli was very flavourful.