Feast of Fields

Slow Food Calgary  hosted it's 9th Annual Feast of Fields this afternoon.  It took place in the backyard of Rouge Restaurant  where tables were set up where we could taste and drink wonderful items prepared by 20 chefs, using local ingredients from over 50 producers.

Thank goodness it was a nice Fall day, as we had to wait about 30 minutes to go through the door.  The staff and volunteers were so efficient and friendly, that we moved along quickly.  My husband and I had purposefully eaten a light breakfast in anticipation of the gourmet food we were about to eat.  We certainly were not disappointed.

Our first stop was River Cafe  which has been on my list of birthday restaurants since I moved to Calgary 4 years ago.  Unbelievably, I have not been as they are closed for the month of January, which is when me and my husband both celebrate our birthdays.  They were serving a high country bison sausage with corn on a blini.  It was divine.  Nice start to the Feast of Fields and lovely introduction to River Cafe.

At this point, my husband was leading the way to wherever the grilled meat smell led him, so we stood in line at the Muse Restaurant , AKA Wine Bar and Kensington Wine Bar table, which was tucked very discreetly into the corner.  My husband was in front of me getting served up, while I was checking out the literature on the table.  When my turn came, and I listened to the chef describe the Diamond Willow steak medallions covered with a mustard-type aioli and steak frites, I looked around for where my husband was standing.  I could not see him, until I turned completely around and saw him waving at me with a big smile on his face back at the END OF THE LINE going back for seconds!  I knew then that this edible morsel was going to be yummy.  Hands down, our favorite taste of the day.  They also served up another winner - basically a baby potato with shredded chicken heaped into the middle with gravy and sea salt on top.  Oh La!  At this point we were already on the phone reserving our tickets for next year's event.

Some other highlights were:

M is For Macarons  making the greatest macaron I have ever had.  It had chocolate and a berry jam in it.  Superb.

Rasoi Kitchen's  braised lamb was so melt-in-your-mouth phenomenal.  We will definitely be checking out this new Indian restaurant.

Cafe Divine's  strawberry, red wine vinegar and black pepper drink.  It was so refreshing!

Taste Restaurant's  pork with spicy slaw was excellent. 

This was such a wonderful event where all ages were welcome.  We did not bring our son as he probably would have picked all of Rouge's vegetables for them, but there were a lot of kids and babies munching away.  I would encourage everyone to attend as the food was excellent, the wine divine and the setting sublime.

P.S. Sorry for the lack of photos.  I have misplaced my camera, and, well, I was too busy eating :)