Spruce Meadows. Finally!

by | Jul 6, 2009 | Travel | 1 comment

I’ve lived in Alberta for 26 years, I’m an avid horse lover and one of my daughters helps train lesson horses for show jumping. Despite that, I’ve only been to Spruce Meadows once, and that was for a craft show, not a horse show. Two weeks ago I noticed an ad for The North American Cup being held at the beginning of July. The kids were fresh out of school and I had four days to kill so we headed south to Calgary for some serious horse time.
We booked a room at the trendy Hotel Arts also known as the Rockstar Hotel, or Home of the Thin and Beautiful People. It’s hot, it’s hip, it’s conveniently close to downtown. The rooms are what you would expect: espresso-hued with modern decor, glass and velvet touches.
On the website they mention the faux fur throws…they shouldn’t really; the faux fur throws are past their prime and need to be put out to pasture. We picked ours up by two fingers and threw it in the corner. BUT…one flaw isn’t bad for a hotel that sees more than its share of the Red Bull and Jagermeister crowd.
Hotel Arts is an old hotel that’s been skillfully enhanced and altered – much like the young women draped around the pool, sipping on pineapple mojitos. The staff are helpful, friendly, professional but not very knowledgeable when it comes to recommending good food places outside their establishment.

We asked for a dining recommendation on 17 Ave at a place that supported local producers and served “local fare”, and not stuff that comes out of boxes from a food factory. The front desk gal suggested Melrose Cafe, the young man beside her seconded that motion. A customer standing behind me caught me on the way out and mentioned Brava Bistro right across from Melrose. I should’ve listened to him. When we got to Melrose, there were “run away” indicators all over the place, the first one being the hostesses – all four of them – dressed in black and hunkered over the counter like vultures hanging off a tree branch. The most vocal one looked like she hadn’t slept for four days and the open sores on her ears and cheeks were a bit off-putting to say the least. The second indicator was the big brewery signs all over (unfortunate Stampede decorations perhaps) and the third indicator (and the one that should’ve had us running for the door) was the menu. Chicken tenders and mozzarella sticks. Gawd. Seeing all that in print now makes me wonder why on earth we stayed. What it comes down to is this: If I ever find myself at 2 am needing copious amounts of cheese to soak up the copious amounts of beer consumed at the Stampede, then I might pull up a stool at Melrose. Might.

Back at the Hotel Arts though, there are two notable restaurants: St. Germaine (which we didn’t get to) and Raw Bar (pictured above) which we ate at twice. The grilled quail is insanely tasty and the sole reason why we went back a second time.

I treated the girls to prime seating at Spruce Meadows by booking the ATCO Patio Suite for the Pengrowth Cup and the D-Line Cup in the International Ring. I admit I was seduced by the promise of the “gourmet buffet”, unlimited drinks (alcoholic & non), the location and exclusivity of the seats (right across from the Devil’s Dyke) and the VIP parking pass. Unfortunately, ATCO’s idea of a gourmet buffet included jalapeno poppers and salmon skewers from Captain Highliner (seriously: the name was imprinted on the wood skewer) and cookies like the ones sold at 7-11. At $115 a ticket, that’s just plain insulting. If I had to do it all over again, I’d pay for rush seating as there was plenty of it with a much better view than we had, and I’d be happy to pay $10 for perogies and a beer from the Poland kiosk.

But, the competition itself was great. We got to see riders like Ian Miller, Eric Lamaze, Jill Henselwood and Beezie Madden do their thing and we definitely got our fill of horses.

The following night we had one of the most incredible food experiences that I’ve had in a long, long time. Two years ago my sister and I ate at Centini’s on Stephen Ave. Everything about it was remarkable – the service, the food, the wine, everything. And I needed that now. Especially after wasting valuable stomach space at Melrose. If you go, you must order the antipasto platter. It’s huge and everything on there is ridiculously delicious.

I could hardly eat my entree after that. The pasta portions are a good size but you can request 1/2 portions. I had the penne arrabiata with veal on the side. Way too much food…I think I was still trying to purge Melrose from my system. You know it’s a good dining experience when two days later you’re still talking about the food. It’s been five days now and if there was a speed train between these two wonderful cities, I’d be booking it down to Cowtown and heading straight to Centini’s.

So, okay, Calgary, you’ve got some good stuff going on: The city is aesthetically pleasing and easy to get around in, you have great shopping districts (17 Ave SW, Kensington and Inglewood rocked!), some very good restaurants (aside from a certain one mentioned earlier on here) and I have to say that y’all definitely have spirit. The Stampede was just kicking off and everyone from construction workers to the police to skateboarders were wearing cowboy hats. We didn’t have enough time to take in any events but next year who knows…maybe we’ll mosey on up to the Hotel Arts, put on the cowboy hat, the spray tan and the cowboy boots and do a little Stampedin’. No cheese sticks or jalapeno poppers this time, but bring on the mojitos and grilled quail and I’ll be quite happy.

1 Comment

  1. Cheryl Arkison
    Cheryl Arkison on July 8, 2009 at 6:47 pm

    So, disappointing on the food front – and we have some great places to eat here. Email next time and we’ll get you set up!