[Cross-posted at popandpour.ca]

I am truly excited to kick into gear what I hope will be a long and, well, awesome collaboration with site-around-town extraordinaire Calgary Is Awesome.  For those regular CIA visitors who don’t know me, I’ve been writing local wine blog popandpour.ca for almost a year now, a site that contains reviews of a number of bottles available in town and other thoughts and musings aimed at demystifying (and glorifying) the incredible world of wine.  One of the things that I’ve wanted to do with Pop & Pour, but that I couldn’t really figure out how to approach, was to highlight the remarkable people and places that illuminate Calgary’s local wine scene, which remains almost criminally underrated.  Well, CIA has given me that chance.  My monthly posts for Calgary Is Awesome will focus on YYC wine shops, events, personalities and other home-based vinous topics of interest that will hopefully showcase the amazing depth of talent and energy that our fair city has directed towards my favourite beverage.  If you want to know how lucky you are to be a Calgarian who likes wine, read on.

I used to live in Altadore three places and five years ago, and even back then I thought that the area needed a specialty wine store…Liquor Depot wasn’t quite cutting it.  Now that land in my old neighbourhood costs more than my soul and Marda has become THE inner-city-but-not living destination for many Calgarians, this need has only amplified, and in December 2010 it was finally addressed when Highlander Wine & Spirits opened a massive new store in the heart of the Loop (2112 – 33rd Avenue SW).  As soon as you walk in, you can immediately tell that the shop was designed to be a temple of wine.  The large, open-profile modern space is lined with dark-wood-rack after dark-wood-rack of bottles, organized by country and region; there’s a huge tasting table in the back of the store, right beside cupboards full of wine glasses and an Enomatic machine that keeps a dozen or so open sample bottles free of invading air; it’s an oenophile’s dream.  Of course, there’s still plenty of beer and spirits available for sale, but if you were to walk in the front door and take a look around, you would definitely say:  ”This is a wine store.”  This focus on fine wine is completely intentional.

READ THE REST OF THIS ENTRY>>>

Love is in the air and at the old Ant Hill building in Kensington too! Market Collective is hosting an early Valentine’s edition on February 4th and 5th. As usual, admission is $3 or free with a food bank donation (the last MC raised 880 pounds of food for the Food Bank!).  Free coffee and tea will be made available  all day from The Roasterie and Tian Tea. The upstairs galleries will feature works from Light & Soul, Bad Portraits, Light up the World as well as the science centre. Great musicians will be on hand on both days, including an all-female lineup on Sunday featuring artists like Megan Feniak (accompanied by Boreal Sons), Yolanda Sargeant (accompanied by DJ Comrade) and Carolyn ‘Lady C’ Fraser. Even if you don’t find something to take home from MC, be sure to stop by the popular MC Photobooth to get your picture take in a love-themed wonderland.

Market Collective: All You Need is Love
February 4 & 5
Saturday 10-6
Sunday 11-5
The Old Ant Hill Building, 148 10th street NW (Kensington)

Photo courtesy of Redfern Photography and Market Collective.

Growing, producing, and eating local is part of a growing trend for many Calgarians and local businesses. Enter the Calgary Food Committee which is looking to create a sustainable and resilient food system for the Calgary region. The committee is a collaboration of farmers, local businesses, chefs, educators, industry experts, & government officials. Part of their work is to organize a food assessment and action plan that will examine food issues, assets and gaps in Calgary’s food system.

Involving Calgarians is also part of the action plan. The Calgary Food Committee is hosting a public event this Saturday, January 28 at the old Ant Hill building  from 10AM – 4PM (usually the home of the beloved Market Collective). The event will feature food from local farmers and producers, panel discussions with local chefs and garden experts, as well as interactive gardening demonstrations. Who doesn’t love free food?

Learn more about the Calgary Food Committee at www.yycfood.com.

Calgary Eats!
Saturday, January 28
Ant Hill Building, 148 10th Street NW
10AM – 4PM

Chow Down in Cowtown is an (almost!) weekly account of Calgary’s most awesome eats from Ceci n’est pas un food blog.

Closing out the place!

B. and I were super-lucky to get spots at the last seating of the first incarnation of CHARPOP on Tuesday! Long story short, it involved not getting our reservation request in until 4:08 two weeks earlier (registrations were open at 4 PM), being on the waiting list, my perennial brunchmate Tiffany offering us to share her 6 PM seating but me having other plans (!!!), then the news a few days later that we got the 9:30 PM seating (and would probably be eating till midnight…)

READ THE REST OF THIS ENTRY>>>

Our almost weekly playlist from CBC Radio 3 is up featuring Joe Nolan, Fearing & White, Lauren Mann, Mat the Alien, Swollen Members, Grown-ups and Lindsay Ell.

Take a listen:

Playlist

Chow Down in Cowtown is an (almost!) weekly account of Calgary’s most awesome eats from Ceci n’est pas un food blog.

I’d heard lots of great things about Model Milk. Led by Executive Chef Justin Leboe, formerly of Rush, this bistro-style restaurant is known for its modern versions of classic combos like Chicken & Waffles and Shrimp & Grits. Open daily until 1 AM, it’s a favourite hangout for local chefs and regular foodies alike.

READ THE REST OF THIS ENTRY>>>

Everyone has their classic routes. You might walk up and down 17th Ave each day on the way to work. When you want that change of scenery, you’ll take 16th or Cameron Ave instead, but eventually even that gets played out. To really switch it up, try taking the alley. There are all kinds of goodies in there, like this life size Robin Williams “Good Morning Vietnam!” display, east of 10th St in Kensington. It’s been there for years and it’s guaranteed to brighten your trek no matter where you’re heading.

High res desktop HERE

Chow Down in Cowtown is an (almost!) weekly account of Calgary’s most awesome eats from Ceci n’est pas un food blog.

This is arguably not a “real” Chow Down in Cowtown because there is no review, but this could be the start of some future ones! B. picked up the latest issue of City Palate and entered some of the events we found interesting in a Google Calendar and he has been kind enough to let me share it with the world!

Check out the calendar here. If you have a Google Calendar or iCal or whatever, you can import the events into your personal calendar via this link.

We will be trying to keep it up to date with the latest food and wine (or beer… or liquor…) events around the city – please feel free to email me at vincci [at] calgaryisawesome [dot] com if there’s an event you want to add on to the calendar!

My friend Krista recently pointed me toward The Living Breathing Street, a blog filled with beautiful photos taken on the streets of Calgary, with the occasional photo-less blog post or reader question thrown in between.

You can’t help but feel mixed emotions when watching old family home videos – comfort, nostalgia, regret. That’s what Zachary Oberzan brings to life in his personal performance piece, Your brother. Remember?.  While growing up in Maine, Zachary and his older brother Gator loved filming parodies of their favorite Jean-Claude Van Damme films such as Kickboxer. These home videos are the inspiration behind Your brother. Remember? as he re-create these films, shot for shot – but now seen through a twenty-year lens as one brother finds himself as an actor, while the other self-destructs. Part zany, part drama, the show is a combination of home videos splices, Hollywood film footage and live performance to tell Zack’s story of family relationships.

We want to send one lucky winner and guest to a showing of Your brother. Remember? on Thursday, January 12th for the 8PM show. To enter, let us know why you want to see this show. Submit your answers by:

• Liking us on Facebook and posting on our wall.
• Following us on Twitter and send us a tweet.

Good luck!

—

This ain’t no regular rodeo that’s coming to town.  It’s the High Performance Rodeo, Calgary’s annual arts festival comprising of theatre, dance, music, comedy and all kinds of cultural performances you can think of – including wrestling. The festival runs from January 5-28, 2012 at 19 different venues around the city. Tickets for the festival are available online at www.hprodeo.ca, by calling 403-294-9494, or at the EPCOR Centre Box Office.