Category Archives: What’s New?

May 9, 2015 · 7:38 am

Pulcinella

Last night my #1 stepson, Trevor, (he tells me) treated me to this fabulous restaurant in the Kensington area in Calgary. This was once “Stromboli’s” back in the day. It is bright, cheery, modern, albeit, noisy with the chatter and laughter of a full establishment.

We ordered a (forgive my lack of Italian) deep fried risotto ball, stuffed with mozzarella, topped with a crisp basil leaf. Crispy on the outside, warm and gooey on the inside.This was one of the best things I have EVER tasted. We each had one and reserved one to bring home to our temporary invalid, Kelly.

I ordered a beautiful mushroom (plus) pizza and Trev ordered a sausage (plus) pizza. We shared slices and then packed up the balance to take home. The plus was all the other yummy things on top.

The best of the best was the vanilla gelato with a serving of warm espresso to be poured over. This was after a small glitch on the panna cotta we first ordered. The way it was handled was with no fuss, immediate removal and a new dessert was offered. No leftovers here…sorry Kelly.

Our server was on top of it all, professional and never missed a beat with all the tables he was attending to.

Recommendation: I would go back again and again. You will too!

The address is 1147 Kensington Cresc. NW.

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April 14, 2015 · 8:52 am

Osoyoos Home Hardware Cooking Class

Last night we were really treated to one of the best classes this season. It was the skills and tastes from the Lake Village Bakery http://www.thelakevillagebakery.ca/and the wines from Le Vieux Pin and La Stella Wineries.http://www.levieuxpin.ca/

If you have never attended one of these classes, check them out. It is fun, you might try a recipe that you will take home and use and the wines that are paired to these recipes are not always a perfect match BUT last night it was.

Sean and his assistant, Audrey, made puff pastry (from scratch) and she made it look easy. First treat was a pizza made with puff pastry. They added some really yummy toppings and baked it off. Alex from Le Vieux Pin paired with the Sauv. Blanc.

Next course, all the while showing us how to continue the folding the pastry, single, double, single and finally double (You simply had to be there), they made a salmon wrapped with prosciutto and folded into the puff pastry. Brush with a wash of egg yolk and heavy whipping cream.  Here, again, Alex paired with a Syrah called Violette (spelling unsure) which was light, and, believe it or not, an absolute perfect match to the salmon. It was served over a leek sauce. So subtle and perfection.

Lastly, and here everyone was drooling, Audrey put together a pastry confection called millefeuille (thousand layers) with strawberries on one layer, chantilly cream on the second layer and top with the most scrumptious pastry with a glaze of caramelized sugar and egg wash.

No surprise here, Alex treated us to a Muscato from La Stella Winery. You couldn’t get enough of either the dessert or the wine. Damn this was good.

We have been attending these classes now for about 5 years and, although we really love many of the Chefs and wineries that tempt us, this show was a 12 out of 10.

Sign up and attend these classes. They are also fun!

Thanks Fran and your wonderful staff – Suzie and David. Wow!

As a personal note….we arrived at the door of Le Vieux as they opened and purchased the wines we sampled last night.

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