just wanted to give you a sense of my calgary trip since a lovely lady inspired me to post my findings... i had this previous conception of calgary as being one big stuffy suburban sprawl, but on this last trip, i was pleasantly surprised to find out just how wrong i was...
because our trip was primarily design-based, we were able to discover some remarkable spaces. but i usually appreciate a space more when i'm drinking a bottle of red and eating yummy food and so naturally, my favourite spaces also turned out to be places where we did both of those things:
RUSH was dark and beautiful. they also had amazing mushroom risotto.
then there was MANGO SHIVA which had great indian food, but if you ever go, don't leave without ordering a dirty mango lassi (dirty = dark rum = yum)
then there was UNA PIZZERIA. i love to go out for dinner and seek out new restaurant loves, but i have never found one quite like this. i wish, so badly, that this place lived closer to me. i would be there every weekend. UNA had the most exciting atmosphere i've felt in a restaurant in a long while, beating out other great restaurants i've recently discovered in new york, vancouver, or winnipeg. it was full of life and crammed with interesting people, cheesy warm neapolitan-style pizza, and delicious red house wine.
leaving the food behind (sigh!) i also managed to dip into Trepanier Baer, a small but smart contemporary gallery that's worked with Wanda in the past.
but another big highlight was that we spent an afternoon in an architecture/ design firm, DIALOGUE, which i would love to work for someday. they are the ones behind this remarkable design:
