Have you ever had to go out for dinner when you’re on a cleanse? If you have, then you know how much that blows. Last week I had the opportunity to dine at Market, Calgary’s latest culinary hot spot. I fretted over accepting the invitation, as I’m eliminating all the fun stuff from my diet for a month.
Their philosophy of serving market fresh cuisine, and commitment to sourcing locally means I didn’t totally screw up my cleanse. This is more than a farm to table restaurant, as they make as many ingredients in-house as possible, from curing meats to homemade pasta and cheese.
The gals and I split a bunch of appies from Oysters with housemade vinaigrette (6-$18.50, 12-$36) to our favourite: bison tartar with pickled shallots ($17.50). They even offered gluten-free toast, ideal for smearing foie gras ($18) and homemade cheese onto. Shockingly, none of my dining of companions were interested in trying the lovely GF bread.
For entrees, the hand cut crab pasta ($26 ) looked divine, but I went for Noble Farms duck breast with lentils ($29). All entrees are under $30, which makes for a refreshing change from the high priced menus we’re so used to seeing in Calgary.
For dessert you can’t go wrong with chocolate cake accompanied by gorgeously pink beet ice cream ($12). Delish! Yeah that’s right, I ended up cheating on my cleanse, but I only had a bite (or two).
The menu changes as often as the seasons, based on the freshest ingredients available at that time. Probably the coolest thing about this resto is that they grow their own greens. Looking back into the open kitchen, you’ll see Calgary’s first commercial Urban Cultivator, which is basically an internal home garden. It looks like an ordinary white cabinet with grow lights (not that I’m an expert in grow opps, but I think that’s what those lights were).
You should go there, but not with me until after April 7, then I can really let loose.
Market
(403) 474-4414
718 17th Avenue S.W
