Out With Erin

Prepare yourself for a festival that will tease your tastebuds. Taste of Calgary is running from August 8th to August 11th in Eau Claire Market downtown. It provides an opportunity to sample numerous foods and drinks from unique restaurants and businesses in town.

We visited the event today over lunch time, stomaches growling as the delicious smells lured us in. Entry in is free, and then we purchased twenty-five tickets which cost us $25. For the food samples, they varied from three to five tickets per item, and the drinks were around two to three tickets each. We opted to try perogies, a cabbage roll, and the sausage combo from Heritage Bakery and Deli and it was definitely a choice we didn’t regret! After meandering around, we then settled on the brisket burger and chips from Shoe & Canoe Public House. I haven’t been to this place before, but it’s now one that will be added to my must-visit restaurant lists. Being quite satisfied with our choices, we moved into the “Cheers Garden” to sample drinks. There were a variety of local distilleries and breweries. We tried a gin old fashioned from Raw Distillery which was a delicious, spirit forward cocktail, and then a ginger lime and lemonade whiskey cocktail from Highwood Distillers. This was perfectly refreshing for a Friday afternoon. My favourite drink though would have to be the Reality blackberry lemon gose from Zero Issue Brewing. This beer was perfection: fruity, tart, crushable.

You have two more days to get down and experience the Taste of Calgary. Bring your kids, dogs, or friends and enjoy tasting your way around the city.