One afternoon, one party bus and 40 people visiting six Calgary restaurants to eat, review and rate poutine. That’s how you do a crawl!
Each crawler received a sampler size portion of each restaurant’s poutine and rated it from 1 – 10 on their rate cards, and with every poutine eaten, crawlers get another set of Mardi Gras beads! There was no criteria set for the chef’s in making their poutine or for the crawlers to review the poutine; classic or novel, mild or spicy, with or without meat, type of gravy and cheese used and presentation were left up to each restaurant. Brava Bistro, Notable, District, Bistro 2210, Diner Deluxe and the Ship and Anchor all brought their A game to bring our crawlers some amazing and unique poutine dishes!
Drum Roll please…
Winner of Calgary’s Second Annual Poutine Crawl is BRAVA BISTRO!
Brava Bistro
Our first stop on the Poutine Crawl received the highest score and most ’10 out of 10′s’ from our crawlers. Congratulations to Chef Kevin on his lobster poutine masterpiece and thank you to Brava Bistro for being so being so welcoming to our group – we arrived to lovely set tables and enjoyed having Chef Kevin speak to us about the inspiration for their poutine, a gnocchi dish featuring the same sauce!
Crawlers agree, Brava’s decadent sauce definitely made this one – buttery rich goodness with morsels of lobster and a dob of marscyepone cheese to put you into poutine heaven. Brava Bistro
Bistro 2210 Duck Confit Poutine
Bistro 2210 went with their sophisticated and classic Duck Confit Poutine that was last year’s winner and still a big hit this year. In-house made gravy from duck fat and real Quebec cheese curds scored high marks. We took over the entire restaurant for one and a half hours and as always appreciate the top notch and genuine hospitality. Bistro 2210
District Smoked Sausage Poutine
District’s Chef Heather smoked Broek pork andouille sausage especially for her unique poutine dish accompanied by real Quebec cheese curds and in-house cut fries that crawlers described as smoky, sweet and savoury. We loved that Heather told us about each ingredient in her poutine creation and how it all came together and thank you for the gift cards for each crawler! District
Notable Pulled Pork Poutine
Notable is definitely a notable entry considering they do not even serve poutine on their menu – they created one especially for the Crawl! Crawlers enjoyed generous portions of perfectly pulled pork pieces with a definite kick of spice for a delicious flavour combination. Notable
Diner Deluxe Breakfast Poutine
Diner Deluxe gave Crawlers the most novel poutine dish; a breakfast poutine of potato and sweet potato hashbrowns topped with a zesty hollandaise sauce for a unique twist. We loved the energy of our hosts and the cool retro vibe of a true diner and could have stayed all day on the patio! Diner Deluxe
Ship and Anchor Tenderloin in Peppercorn Gravy Poutine
Ship and Anchor our final fun stop gave us the best welcome as crawlers were cheered as we walked past the patio patrons! Rare tenderloin accompanied by a rich peppercorn sauce was definitely the heartiest poutine of the day and exactly what you would want from an English pub. Thank you for also providing our crawlers with Wild Rose Velvet Fog! Ship and Anchor
Poutine crawlers had fun checking into all the restaurants on Yelp, leaving reviews and competing for Yelp party packs and a special thank you to ‘Lady Yelp’ for coming on the crawl. A few lucky crawlers won a coveted Poutine Machine tshirt designed by Jamie Irving (@Jamie1Irving) and printed by Food On Your Shirt (@foodonyourshirt). And of course, herding 40 people on an off a British Party Machine Bus brings everyone together (literally!) and makes the entire day fun.
I would say after tickets to this year’s Poutine Crawl sold out immediately that a word of mouth and social media experiment has now turned into a real Calgary experience. Thank you to everyone what a great, fun, delicious day! Until next time…
