New beer venue chugs along nicely
Beer connoisseurs can get a taste of unique beers from across North America right here in Calgary with the opening of National Beerhall and Eatery on 17th Avenue downtown.
Concorde Group has opened the 8,700-squarefoot bar on one of the city’s prime traffic corners at 17th Avenue and 5th Street S.W., but you won’t find any long-travelled European beers there.
The National is unique in that all of its 100 beers — 72 on tap and 36 in bottles — are specialty craft beers from across Canada and the U.S., all listed at the same price. The word unique can also be used to describe the Solari board behind the bar that displays the beers like a railway station timetable board.
They are listed by provincial or state flags, show green signals when ready to pour or red when not available, and they shutter down just like station or airport terminal arrival and departure boards.
Concorde’s Victor and Jim Choy, along with operating partners Jon Molyneux and Justin Leboe worked with Kelly Ryan of RA Design Group in the design of the National, which has been built on the site of the former Mercury Lounge and the Wine Shop.
It has a commanding presence with a wraparound patio that seats 100 on the sunny side of the street. Inside it offers an open bar area with seating along community tables and 40 bar stools in two different sections. Large windows open on to the patio areas.
The furniture in the bar and in other rooms, including one that can be booked for private meetings and dining, is all custom-made in Calgary, as are the chandeliers.
Co-executive chefs Andrew Tutt and Kai Salimaki have created a menu that includes typical North American brasserie fare including smaller bar items such as pickled eggs, scotch eggs and chowder for a lighter snack.
Breakfast items are available all day. But the pride of the kitchen staff is a huge rotisserie and a large oyster raw bar.
Concorde has opened another classy pub that employs 80-plus staff under general manager Chris Joyce on what is a quieter section of 17th Avenue. And it offers some interesting new beers.
Might I suggest the Copper John Scotch Ale from Madison River Brewing Company in Montana?
The Calgary head office of CH2M Hill has announced a partnership with Engineers Without Borders Canada to launch the CH2M Hill Global Engineering Scholarship Competition.
Scheduled to run September through December, the competition will ask engineering students to create an interactive response to a question surrounding a complex engineering problem. Tom Searle, president of CH2M Hill Canada says the goal is to encourage future engineers to think outside the box and to look at holistic solutions.
The company is a strong supporter of EWB globally and sees this new partnership as a way of helping engineers to continue to improve our quality of life. George Roter, CEO and founder of EWB describes the contest as “the beginning of a conversation in which the aspirations and perspectives of students will challenge the status quo.
“The turning point toward this systematic shift is when engineering students realize that they have the power to shape not only their profession, but the world.”
Next week, the city will be honoured by the visit of Nopadol Gunavibool, deputy permanent secretary of foreign affairs for the kingdom of Thailand.
He will head up a delegation to commemorate the 35th anniversary of the ASEAN-Canada Relations to meet with potential and interested higher education institutions to enhance cooperation with Southeast Asian Nations and also to meet with members of the tourism industry.
On Monday, the delegation will visit the Calgary office of John Lacey, honorary consul general of Thailand for Alberta and Manitoba.