I am always wanting to try out a new restaurant and my girlfriend Jill is a willing participant in my little adventures. I so do enjoy her company and exploring new delights!! We came up with this restaurant in doing some research together. The very first impression upon pulling up was WOW, they have parking stalls right out front, how wonderful especially within the busy 4th St. area.

My accomplice Jill!

Looking over the wonderful tapas menu, we were trying to decide what we were going to have and what was gluten free, as Jill has special dietary needs. The very friendly and helpful waitress came to our aid and showed us all the options for a gluten free diet. There was loads to choose from.

My pick to start off with were the Fresh Shucked Oysters. See how pretty they are with that delicious daikon and ginger mignonette foam on top and the perfectly pink bed of salt they are laid on. Amazing!!

Up next were the Shrimp Tacos that were on corn tortillas with pico de gallo, black beans and lime crema. Delightfully flavorful!!

Jill ventured over to the salads and selected the beets which I was more than thrilled with. I love beets any which way but these were stupendous!! With the goat cheese, mint, arugula, pine nuts, olive oil and balsamic reduction this was one crazy good salad. Right up my alley!!

Now back to the protein and we selected these Pork Tenderloin Yakitori brushed with a miso sesame glaze and served with a spicy peanut sauce. They were very quickly gobbled down and thoroughly enjoyed.

We did have one more plate before dessert but with our yakking and so enjoying ourselves I forgot to take a picture of the eggplant that was served with honey, pistachios and ricotta. Very good for eggplant as I am not a huge fan.

We topped off our marvelous lunch with a uniquely intriguing dessert. Poached pear with a gorgonzola gelato with candied walnuts. Oh my stars was that good. I love blue cheese anything but had never tasted a gorgonzola gelato before!!! It was just mildly flavored and paired perfectly with the fruit. Lovely ending to a lovely meal!!

Private Dining Room, to the left is a smoked glassed window looking into the activities of the kitchen, very cool!!

Love the floor and ceiling!!

Come to Candela and bring a friend to enjoy all their wonderful tapas plates. I was eyeing a few others to try next time!! Check out their website here.

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I did a blog post on Much Burrito awhile ago. A new location had opened in our neighborhood and Amber and myself went over to check it out. We had a delicious lunch and I was just recently invited back to try their La Taqueria Trio. It has become a very busy little restaurant, the reason being is that it has great food. Made fresh and to order!!

I went in again to get my taco trio for takeout as we have eaten in the restaurant a few times now. The service is always friendly and helpful. On this occasion I met the owner who was very gracious. I snapped a few pics and off I went home with my tacos. This is a great meal for anyone who is hungry. I superb variety of flavors!!

Amber and I split this lunch and it was more than enough for the both of us but I am sure I could have done it myself if I was coerced even slightly. Here was our delicious lunch!! Go and grab one for yourself, this is a limited time offer as it will only be available until May 3rd!! ENJOY!!

The Mango Steak Tango was the spiciest of the three and had some great flavors!! It has grilled steak, green mango slaw, spicy aioli drizzle.

The Guacagrilled Pineapple Carnitas had sweet heat with the grilled pineapple. It was stuffed with slow roasted pork, adobo mole sauce, grilled pineapple, red cabbage, guacamole and onion chips. Oh those onion chips were good!!

Fiery Chicken Chorizo Fiesta burst with a wonderful grilled chicken flavor and had grilled chicken, chorizo crumble, coleslaw, habanero fig spread, guacamole and sour cream.

At our location you had the choice of corn or flour tortillas. I am not a fan of corn tortillas but they are a good gluten free alternative.

All three tacos were fabulous. Would I have this again, YES in a heart beat. Delicious!!

Everything is made to order!

The trio comes with standard toppings.

But you could change it up if you wanted but they were perfect as they were.

A great take out meal, that was thoroughly enjoyed!!

Check out their site at muchoburrito.com or better yet find a location near you!!

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I was on a flight to Toronto awhile back and sat beside a very nice girl who was from Calgary also. I usually don’t like to chat up my fellow passengers but for some reason this flight was different and we got to talking. I discovered that she worked at Cibo restaurant on the weekends as a second job and she highly recommended that I check it out. It was my neighbor and friend’s birthday Carla so I decided I would take her there for lunch.

Parking down on 17th Ave. SW in Calgary can at times be a challenge but this restaurant has a huge parking lot right beside it. I was already stoked about that!! Upon entering Cibo’s (pronounced Chibo) it has a very rustic feel to it with a big open kitchen.

I loved that there menu is based on sharing. I love a lunch with a girlfriend where you try a new restaurant and share dishes together and great conversation. This is the restaurant for this. We started off with Aracini, yes I am kind of am on a roll with those but these intrigued me as they are done with veal, sweet peas and mozzarella with a simple tomato sauce for dipping. They were great and we both enjoyed them.

Next up for sharing was their Bruschetta. I love a different bruschetta and this one reminded me of when we were in Italy. It is not your typical plain tomato based as it has artichokes, grana and basil also, plus big roasted cloves of garlic. We were offered extra breads to go with it which is always nice. The service all along was attentive and friendly.

Lastly we shared a pizza but not an ordinary pizza!!! A prosciutto pizza with radicchio, caramelized onion, fig jam, arugula and grana padano. I really love a pizza like this, it so far away from your chain pizzas. I true master piece of flavors.

I can’ t wait to go back and sample some more off their menu. Come and check them out at 1012 17 Ave SW Calgary, AB T2T 0A5
p: 403.984.4755

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That’s What I Think (TWIT) Review

I was invited out for my birthday by my lovely neighborhood ladies. Never been to The Vin room and I was excited to go. What gorgeous friends they are!!!

The decor at The Vin Room is upscale modern as you can see, beautiful.

We ordered a lovely bottle of white wine and our lunches. The service was very attentive but the meals did seem to come out slowly. I guess good things come to those who wait!! Here is the line up of the dishes we had.

Lamb Kabob Sandwich

Fenugreek tumeric sauce, spinach, grilled flatbread & green salad

Seared Arctic Char

Zucchini, carrot, chickpeas, radish

Shrimp Salad Sandwich

Rock shrimp, cucumber, tomato aioli & green salad

Barbeque Chicken

Cornbread, pickled jalapeño and apple salsa,
fontina cheese and bacon.

This was mine and I truly loved it!! Great to have a nice fresh salad to accompany a rich flavor filled sandwich.

Falafel Tacos

Artisan greens, mint yogurt, corn tortillas “Greek” salad

It was a perfect lunch with the most wonderful group of friends, who spoil me rotten. All of these dishes were gobbled down and thoroughly enjoyed. I will be returning very soon. They have two locations and their website is www.vinroom.com. Come and check out their locations and the rest of the menu. A must visit!!

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TWIT (THAT’S WHAT I THINK) REVIEW OF NOTABLES RESTAURANT IN CALGARY

This restaurant has had a lot of buzz around it for a long time. It is run and owned by Chef Michael Noble and is a gourmet casual restaurant. We went on a Friday night having got reservations well in advance. It appeared we had the only table left in the place when we entered at 5:45 pm. By the time we left the line up was huge. Therefore I highly recommend reservations.

The restaurant has a modern open kitchen concept with tall bar stools when you first walk in. Going up a couple of stairs you enter a lovely big dining area. The restaurant as I said was packed making it very loud but giving it a good vibe!! A great date night venue I would say, keep the little ones at home!!! We did bring Amber with us but she is an adventurous eater and of course at this age, very quiet.

We started off with a cocktail and I ordered my usual, dry martini on the rocks with an olive. You would think this is a very standard easy cocktail to make but they almost never get it right!! No olive this time but other than that it was very good. Amber enjoyed a classic Shirley Temple!

Then onto the appetizers and we were adventuresome!! Starting off with the Oysters (5) which came with three different sauces. Amber gobbled down two and was begging for me to order more but we settled on sharing just these. We then ordered the Duck Confit which is topped with Alpindon cheese and accompanied by a lentil cassoulet, red beets and a maple butter. The duck was done to perfection with a wonderful combination of flavors.

Our mains were wide and varied, each of us feeling like something different. Amber enjoyed the Ravioli of Confit Chicken with Roast Mushrooms and Boursin Cheese. She did say the the bottom of the pasts seemed mushy having been over done but quite enjoyed the flavors of the ravioli.

I had the Saltspring Mussels and Fries that were done in a Thai Coconut Sauce which I truly loved. I adore mussels and these were done to perfection in the wonderfully tasty sauce. Crispy french fries were gobbled down by Amber too!

Ken surprisingly ordered the Prime Rib which is out of the ordinary for him but this dish is only served on Thursday and Friday night. Something special!! He really enjoyed it!!

No room for dessert here!! All in all a delicious meal!! The service was also very good and we will be going back again to enjoy this wonderful restaurant!! Their location is 4611 Bowness Rd. NW in Calgary. Check out their website for all further details.

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A day out for lunch with a friend, nothing better!!! Seated at a bright sunny window to take in all the activity of the day outside, perfect! Puts you in a good mood for the rest of the day. We decided to take in a new restaurant for us both and go to Borgo Trattoria. While we were there we did find out that this restaurant was by the same owner, Giuseppe Di Gennaro of the renowned restaurant Capo, that we had so enjoyed in Inglewood. This is his new venture.

Upon entering Borgo it is open and bright, bustling with waiters and diners. It has a big two vaulted ceiling which makes it feel big and expansive. I was quickly seated by a big sunny window as I mentioned. Cheryl followed behind just a bit later having a little difficulty with parking but she finally found something. Just to note, arrive early so you can park on the street in front.

My gorgeous friend Cheryl with a little glass of Prosecco.

We decided to share some dishes and started with the Arracini, which is crispy risotto balls with a cheesy interior. These little balls are heaven, crunchy, creamy with a little perfect sauce on top. I could have a dozen!!

The mushrooms were highly recommended to us so we indulged in Trifolati and so loved them. It is funny but before I found out it was the owner of Capo I said to Cheryl that the last time I had mushrooms like this was at Capo. Delicious!! They must be good because they have a little rainbow in them.

Next we split the Panino which is a scrumptious sandwich of porchetta, balsamic mushrooms, tagleggio and Truffle french fries. My heavens was that good!!

Look at these fries, honestly they were to die for!! Truffle Oil French Fries, my word!!

I have been drooling as I shared this post with you today. Come and check them out at 1818 16th Ave SW Calgary, AB. I highly recommend it, you will love the atmosphere, the very attentive professional staff and of course the food. I will be going back for sure!!

Check out their website and their menus. Come in and dine and catch “a little piece of Italy”.

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