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-   -   Calgary Food, coffee, etc. (https://skyscraperpage.com/forum/showthread.php?t=140013)

poopysheep Oct 27, 2007 10:42 PM

i don't know with Brava... i can't put my finger on it and say one specific thing i didn't like.. but i also couldn't say one thing i actually DID like... we have friends who just love the place and always want to eat there and i don't know if i'm just not ordering the right thing but my meal is also mediocre at best....

maybe next time i'll try the lobster poutine

Surrealplaces Oct 27, 2007 11:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by furrycanuck (Post 3130444)
poopysheep- I've never had anything less than a beautiful experience at Brava- what was your problem with it? Their lobster poutine is what I want to be buried with!

Italian recs:

High (REALLY high) end: Capo
Low end and incredibly delicious: the tavola calda at Lina's Italian Market

No kidding about the Lobster Poutine. Seriously, it's probably one of the 10 best things I've ever tasted.

Surrealplaces Oct 28, 2007 12:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by poopysheep (Post 3130158)
i will chime in on the mexican food .... i lived in mexico for 5 years and my sister has been there for 16 years ... i've traveled all over the country... north, south, yucatan, central... the DF... and this shit that they peddle in this country as mexican food isn't even passable on any level AT ALL... mexicans do not eat sour cream ( the only place you can buy it there is in friggin walmart )... they do not put lettuce and tomatoes on tacos... EVER... guacamole does not have tomatoes in it ( its usually just puree avocado ) and they don't eat vegetables ...

most mexicans eat alot of caldo or sopas ( rich broth style soups of chicken or beef or unmentionables like pig skin and tripe ) tons of fast fry style steak and pork... milanesa ( breaded cutlet in chicken beef or pork).. guisados ( meat or veggie in a sauce much like an indian curry only with different spices) with spanish rice and tortillas and tacos are chopped up beef, or pork... or tongue or brain or all number of nastiness ( barbacoa btw does NOT mean bbq ) and they are served with fresh chopped cilantro and onion ( that would be "con verdura" veggies) and fresh key lime... on the table you'll see a red and a green salsa... the red is hot the green is made from tomatillos... no lettuce... no sour cream.... no tomatos or cheddar cheese ( which also up until about 8 years ago it was near to impossible to even find cheddar cheese in a store )...

ok rant off... can you tell i get pissed about "mexican food" in canada...

You're absolutely right, except that in tourist resorts in Mexico it's common to have our style of Mexican food,. Of course that doesn't really count.

Thing to remember about ethnic foods is that here in Canada they rarely are they way the are in the country of origin. I've been all around the world India, China/Southeast Asia, Middle East, Africa, Europe, Mexico....out of all the places I've been only Greek food is served here the way it is in the country of origin.

It's not just Canada, it seems to be that way in other countries. I've tried Indian food everywhere I've been, and the closest to India would be the Middle east, but even then it's still different. I just accept it as a local spin on someone else's dish.

Surrealplaces Oct 28, 2007 12:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Innersoul1 (Post 3130562)
I figured that this might interest a good lot of you!


From Maclean's Oct 22nd 2007

Is one cup of coffee woth $15?

A Panamanian brew called Esmeralda has brought the coffee-drinking world to its knees

Toronto residents have long been accustomed to emptying their wallets for a gourmet meal or fine glass of wine. But is Canada's most expensive city ready for the $15 cup of coffee? Matthew Lee thinks so. Lee, 29 recently opened Manic Coffee, a cafe on the bustling outskirts of Toronto's Little Italy. To celebrate, on October 19 he'll begin offering up a limited amound of Esmeralda Special-a heady Panamanian brew that's brouight the coffee drinking world to its knees

Can one cup of coffee really be worth $15? "All I can say is yes," Lee says ernestly. "It is the most remarkable coffee I've ever had in my life." Fragrant, floral, and tea-like, with notes of jasmine and bergamot-these are some of the qualities connoisseurs ascribe to Esmeralda. Others seem to get tongrue ties at the very thought of it. "It's amazing. That's all I can say," gushes Aaron Webb, a raoster at Discover Coffee in Victoria, B.C. And Lee won't just be offering standard esmeralda in his cafe. He's bringing in the legendary Esmeralda action lot (a careful selection of the farm's very best beans)-in other words, the creme de la creme of coffee.

Lee and Webb aren't alone in their enthusiasm; the hype has been deafening. Esemeralda fist caught the attention of coffee lovers in 2004- the year a coffee tree known as the geisha was discovered on Hacienda la Esmeralda in lush western Panama. As it produced less than a typical coffee plant, the geisha is rarely cultivated on Central American farms. But adter owners sampled beans from the geisha tree-originally from ethiopia, it flourishes in Panama's high altitues-they knew they had a winner. "It's a flavour that's never been found in the America's before," says marketing director rachel Peterson.

That yearm the auction lot sold for a record US$21 a pound at a time when a pound of commercia-grade coffee was going for about 73 cents. It quickly becam " a marketing thing," says mark Prince, senior editor of coffee appreciation site coffeegeek.com. One buyer (Kansas city's The Roasterie) even hired an armoured truck to deliver it, presumably for protection against over caffeinated fanatics.

The award winning beans went on to smash record auction prices for two of the next three years. But this year's crop-rcognized as the best yet- blew the others away. At online auction in May, bidding got so frantic the site temporarily crashed. After eight gruelling hours, the lot sold for a stunning US$130 a pound-over 100 times the price of commercial grade coffee (and roughly 10 times highger than the non-auction Esmeralda Special geisha beans). 49th Parallell Coffee Roasters was one of seven winning bidders, and the only Canadian company, to claim a share od the 500 lb. lot; it roadst the coffee exclusively for Caffe Artigiano in Vancouver.

Since then, Esmeralda hype has reached fever pitch. A Caffe Artigiano press release dubbed it "the world's best cofee, EVER!" Journalists who attended a tasting even touting $15 cup coffee were gifted a half pound bag, which sells in stores for $135. Owner Willie Mounzer has focussed on making Esmeralda "an experience" for customers who order it: a manager personally delivers it on a silver platter. So who's buying? "Anybody with a distinct palate; [people] in the industry; show-offs," says manager Jaoquin Quian.

Within the coffee community, Esmeralda backlash has begun. "It is out of control, in my opinion," Prince says. He suspects some retailers have been "less than crystal" about whether their coffee is auction lot or not-especially confusing since both bear the same name, Esmeralda Special. Prince himslef bought three half pound bags be believed to be acution lot esmeralda, only to find he's been duped. (Non-Auction lot esmeralda sells in cafes for about $5 a cup. Timothy's will be offering half pound bags of non-auction for $17.99 as of mid-November.)

Price's advice to consumers seeking auction-lot beans is to make sure retailers ger specific about what they're selling before forking over the cashe. But, he admits, the average taste buds probably couldn't tell the difference anyway: "they're both fnatastic."

Back at Manic, the auction-lot Esmeralda Special is definitely for real. Lee's bringing in three pinds from Chicago based Inteligentisa Coffee Rosters. It's probably only be enough for 50 cups, he acknowledges, and even witht he $15 price tafe he doesn't expect to make much profit. But it's worth it,he insists. Just don't ask for a paper cup-Lee draws the line at serving esmeralda to go.

Wow, and that's going to be here in Calgary soon. I'll have to try it out.

Jimby Oct 28, 2007 6:09 PM

Hey buddie, can you spare a twenty for a cup of coffee, tax, and tip? :haha:
________
JUICYHENTAI

Boris2k7 Oct 28, 2007 6:12 PM

Sounds interesting, but I wonder how well it will do once the novelty wears thin.

ScottFromCalgary Oct 28, 2007 6:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by furrycanuck (Post 3130444)
poopysheep- I've never had anything less than a beautiful experience at Brava- what was your problem with it? Their lobster poutine is what I want to be buried with!

Italian recs:

High (REALLY high) end: Capo
Low end and incredibly delicious: the tavola calda at Lina's Italian Market

I'm with you on Capo. One of the best meals I've ever had, just incredible. Very expensive though. It's been a couple years since I've been to Brava, maybe I should head down there for some poutine.

entheosfog Oct 29, 2007 2:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by livingforthecity (Post 3131548)
Hey buddie, can you spare a twenty for a cup of coffee, tax, and tip? :haha:

Ha! Good one :haha:

I get asked for change now and they demand a toonie! Inflation, I guess...

Rusty van Reddick Oct 29, 2007 2:37 AM

Um... just to clarify, not EVERY cup at Artigiano is $15. This was just the price for the La Esmeralda, brewed with the Clover brewer. A regular cup of drip is maybe $2. Espresso-based drinks are basically the same as you would pay for the underextracted swill (with overstretched, burnt milk) at Starbucks.

NumberFive Oct 29, 2007 2:01 PM

Karma East Indian Cuisine (at 130th Ave) was named in the Herald best Indian food in the city. Was just there on the weekend again for their lunch buffet and was great as usual. However, I recommend their (dinner for two), which for $60, gives you a crazy amount of food, apps, desert and tea. Plus, you get a meal the next night because there's no way any two people can finish it.

RWin Oct 29, 2007 2:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by furrycanuck (Post 3132319)
Um... just to clarify, not EVERY cup at Artigiano is $15. This was just the price for the La Esmeralda, brewed with the Clover brewer. A regular cup of drip is maybe $2. Espresso-based drinks are basically the same as you would pay for the underextracted swill (with overstretched, burnt milk) at Starbucks.

How about a Calgary get together there on opening day?

Surrealplaces Oct 29, 2007 3:21 PM

^That's a good idea. Maybe a day or two after opening day :)

Rusty van Reddick Oct 29, 2007 3:54 PM

^exactly- if you think Bumpy's is crowded and can't stand the 15-deep lineups at Phil and Sebastian, I cannot imagine what a zoo this is going to be when it first opens.

Innersoul1 Oct 29, 2007 4:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RWin (Post 3132853)
How about a Calgary get together there on opening day?

Sounds great! I suppose furry is buying the first round of Esmeralda!? :D

Rusty van Reddick Oct 29, 2007 4:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Innersoul1 (Post 3133054)
Sounds great! I suppose furry is buying the first round of Esmeralda!? :D

Esmeralda is all used up, sold out.

I'm happy to buy rounds of straight espressos though.

Bad Grizzly Oct 29, 2007 6:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by furrycanuck (Post 3133095)
Esmeralda is all used up, sold out.

I'm happy to buy rounds of straight espressos though.

How do you mean, it's all sold out? The store hasn't opened yet. Is this to do with the auction lot?

Rusty van Reddick Oct 29, 2007 7:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bad Grizzly (Post 3133356)
How do you mean, it's all sold out? The store hasn't opened yet. Is this to do with the auction lot?

Exactly. They'll have all sort of interesting single origins, some will be MORE than $15 a cup, but not this particular one is all.

RWin Oct 29, 2007 7:58 PM

What exactly does $15 worth of coffee taste like? Is it worth $15? Would I be able to tell the difference between that and the $2 cup?

Innersoul1 Oct 29, 2007 8:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RWin (Post 3133572)
What exactly does $15 worth of coffee taste like? Is it worth $15? Would I be able to tell the difference between that and the $2 cup?

Quite simply, sex! :tup:

RWin Oct 29, 2007 8:28 PM

I suppose the $2 cup is the hand then?


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