THE DANDELION BUILDS COMMUNITY THROUGH VEGAN COMFORT FOOD
The greater Calgary restaurant landscape has never been particularly accommodating for vegan diners.
Yes, things are getting better — we have dedicated meatless restaurants like The Coup and Hearts Choice Thai Vegan Café, and “veggie-forward” spots like Ten Foot Henry and Provision that serve meat but offer more than enough for plant-based eaters. But when it comes to dedicated vegan restaurants, we’re still lagging behind cities like Vancouver.
Thankfully, as of this fall, plant-based eaters have another place to fill their bellies here in Calgary. The Dandelion is a new cafe in Ramsay that serves 100 per cent plant-based food, offering up both breakfast and lunch dishes.
A community-minded operation, the restaurant is run by four dedicated co-owners who got together via a social media posting calling for vegan food enthusiasts. After writing up a business plan on the back of a paper napkin, partners Melissa Bakovic, Bryce Currie, Raven Butler and Lexx Ambrose started work on The Dandelion a little less than a year ago, then opened with a big community block party on Sept. 1.
The Dandelion’s community vibe is apparent in everything that goes on in the restaurant, which is in an old heritage home on 8th Street S.E. The house needed to be completely gutted and has been transformed into an intimate 25-seat cafe, with local art on the walls and repurposed wood from the original house used throughout. The counter is stacked with vegan baked treats either sourced from local vegan bakery Soy Milk and Vinegar or made by The Dandelion’s in-house baker.
The cooking is taken care of by Ambrose and Bakovic, who both have ample experience in the realm of plant-based cuisine. Ambrose cut her teeth at Cactus Club before moving to the executive chef position at the now defunct Zend Conscious Lounge in Vancouver (she also completed the program at the PlantLab cooking school, so she definitely knows her stuff ). Bakovic comes from the kitchen at the also now-defunct Red Tree Catering.
Bakovic is responsible for creating The Dandelion’s menu and she pulled from her own favourite recipes that she feeds to her largely vegetarian and vegan extended family. She calls her creations “vegan comfort food” with completely meatless favourites like “chik-tan” and waffles ($15), which is Southern-fried seitan (wheat gluten) served with vegan gravy, waffles and maple syrup.
The Dandelion also serves both breakfast and lunch-appropriate items like jackfruit tacos ($12), a house-made veggie burger ($14) and the Ramsay Bowl, a tofu scramble topped with cashew nacho sauce and breakfast pota- toes ($14).
It’s all unmistakably vegan, but the owners want to be very clear that non-vegans can appreciate any of the dishes if they’re willing to give the food a try.
“I wanted comfort food that anyone can eat,” Bakovic says. “I wanted to bring my Grandma to a place where she could comfortably eat without thinking ‘Ew, is that tofu?’ I wanted a place that is approachable for anyone.”
That community spirit also comes through in The Dandelion’s zero-waste policy. The restaurant doesn’t stock singleuse coffee cups or take-away containers — customers are invited to bring their own travel mug or food containers if they want to order anything to go.
The Dandelion is located at 1048 8th St. S.E. and can be reached through thedandelionyyc.ca. The restaurant is open Tuesdays through Sundays from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m.
HALF HITCH BREWERY
Anyone driving west from Calgary will now have two opportunities to check out Half Hitch Brewery. The craft brewery has been making beer in Cochrane since 2016 and opened an accompanying restaurant in January of 2017. The company wanted to expand, and rather than turning to the arguably oversaturated craft brewery scene in Calgary, Half Hitch decided to stick to smaller towns, having just opened a new saloon and restaurant in Canmore.
And it’s not just anywhere in Canmore — Half Hitch snagged a location in the 128-year-old Canmore hotel, one of the mountain town’s most iconic buildings. The Canmore Half Hitch plays on its historic space with what corporate chef and director of restaurant operations Gradey McMahon calls a “modern version of an 1800s bar,” complete with a white marble bar top, fancy chandeliers and old-time wallpaper. The saloon also serves as a live music venue.
As for the food, Canmore’s menu is about 80 per cent the same as that at the Co ch ra ne location, with a little extra emphasis put on barbecue, something McMahon saw as missing from Canmore’s growing restaurant scene. Half Hitch’s smoker puts out smoked meats by onethird pound as well as classic sandwiches and other comfort food favourites.
Naturally, everything is best washed down with a cold Half Hitch beer, and the brew is incorporated in many of McMahon’s recipes (how about a key lime cheesecake with pale ale-braised Saskatoon berries?).
Half Hitch’s new location is at 738 8th St. in Canmore and can be reached at 403-675-0462. It’s open daily from 11 a.m. to 2 a.m. For more information visit halfhitchbrewing.ca