Any visit to a new to me city means I get excited during the trip planning for laying out an itinerary for my eating and craft beer exploits. And then when I arrive in that city, I am usually consumed with where to eat the next meal or have my next craft beer, even with a plate of food and a cold beer within arms reach and actively being devoured.

I got a lot of strange looks when I told people that this would be my first visit to Calgary. But soon after reminding people Calgary was a lot further away from Halifax than Saskatoon, those quizzical expressions turned into many, many helpful suggestions of places my wife and I should visit during an extended long weekend stay.

One of the most common recommendations was the Calgary’s Farmer’s Market. A pouring down raining Saturday morning made this a no brainer while we waited for the skies to clear for a later day visit to the zoo. Exceptional gluten-free doughnuts from Jelly Modern Doughnuts, a perfectly balanced sweet-spiced iced chai latte from Analog Coffee (as well as a pound of coffee beans to bring back to Saskatoon) and a delicious al pastor taco from Los Chilitos Taqueria made for a nice second breakfast that morning.

I took a bit of time while in Calgary to stock up on craft beers to bring back to Saskatoon with me, as well as to stop in at National on 10th to do a tasting flight of Alberta beers. This was a great recommendation from a co-worker and the beers paired well with an entertaining Germany-Sweden World Cup match that afternoon while waiting for the biblical rains to end. From the flight, I was surprised to enjoy the darkest of the beers the most – a lovely oyster stout from the nano-sized Dandy Brewing Company in Calgary. Of the beers I brought back home, the Fahr hefeweizen was the clear winner taking my mind to afternoons in Europe sitting on patios with a pint.

We also had some convenient good luck with another recommendation from a co-worker’s sister who lives in the city. Her recommendation of Charcut meant we didn’t even have to step outside Le Germain, our hotel, for dinner the first night. On our 5th anniversary, the food was so good I didn’t get many pictures. There was an outstanding bacon amuse bouche (you read that right) and then my wife and I followed that up with a couple of sea-based appetizers including on point east coast oysters and charred octopus, then a Newfoundland cod main dish for her (you can take the Atlantic Canadian out of Atlantic Canada, but…) and a high-class hamburger for me so I could show some support for local Alberta products. I loved the food so much that on another night, when I just wanted a snack, I popped back downstairs to order their duck fat poutine. That was off the charts good too.

The last recommendation we followed though on ended up being one of those special meals you sometimes have that come out of nowhere. After returning from our day trip to the mountains, we parked the car at the hotel and headed to Native Tongues Taqueria for a late lunch or early dinner.

I don’t think we could have chosen wrong with any of the menu items. Our server gave us some recommendations that steered us in some delicious directions. We started with a sampler of salsas that was mind-blowing in the diversity of flavours and textures and then moved on to street corn (outstanding!) and then just kept ordering tacos and margaritas (the mezcal-based ones were my favourites). By the end of the meal we had plates and drink glasses scattered everywhere and a very nice late afternoon buzz on from the food and the drink.

Out of nowhere, to end our meal, one of the servers brought us fresh doughnuts. He was unaware of my wife’s inability to eat gluten, so that meant these babies were all mine. I was completely full, but in the spirit of hospitality I planed on polishing at least one off. These were so good, that I devoured both and waddled my way in the general direction of the hotel for a post-meal nap.

Great recommendations all around led to a delicious first visit to Calgary. We still have a bunch of places on our list for another visit to a city that made a great first impression on both of us!