Black or is that Green Betty Burger Bar

It's hard to believe that we had had our dinner club going for 8 ish years(?)!! And over those years we have had some amazing dining experiences. We have had a couple busts and perhaps our standards have been raised a little. But we certainly have had many many wins and not one experience that has been so awful that I have been motivated to write a review on urban spoon. That is until last night. 

Our experience last night at Black Betty Burger and Wine Bar was disappointing and gross to be perfectly honest with you:

- our server was disengaging and rude

- our appetizer never arrived and our server was frustrated that we would want to cancel it after our meals arrived

- the atmosphere was so loud as they were pumping themselves up for the Calgary Stampeders stampede party downstairs

- the one meal arrived covered in mold... Not just a little bit but throughout the inside of the sandwich and along the edges ; yes that is what I said.... Mold!!!!!!

- the server apologized but then barely did anything about it other than discounting that meal only off the menu

- it was warm in there as is expected when we are in a heat wave but when I asked for more water she only filled my glass even though everyone else at the table was low on water too

- the manager, chef and sous chef were all sitting upstairs at the bar and not one of them came over to personally apologize

- we weren't offered dessert nor more to drink and the bill was tossed on our table in front of the girl with the moldy sandwich no less

-  they couldn't get us out of their restaurant fast enough but then also wanted to ignore us so it makes it hard for us to pay our bill if they are ignoring us.....

The situation with the moldy sandwich was bad but it was a recoverable moment. That is what made the experience so disappointing - they did nothing to try and recover their reputation. Especially the manager! Calgary has so many good restaurants that close because they just can't compete so I don't understand how they feel they can succeed if they continue to treat people how we were treated. We are all connected to downtown through our companies we work for and talk to - do they not realize that word of mouths their biggest advertising potential?

I would highly recommend going to one of Calgary's other delightful restaurants any night of the week!

7 Quick Takes Friday - All about eating

Hey everyone - trying something new. It's 7 Quick Takes inspired by this blog. Enjoy!

--- 1 ---

I love cooking - I spend hours searching food blogs, flipping through recipe books, planning out a special meal. Here are some of my favorite blogs - hope you enjoy them as much as I do:

Dinner with Julie

In Jennie's Kitchen

Smitten Kitchen

Hope you enjoy perusing as much as I do.

--- 2 ---

I love candle light dinners with my husband. I don't do it nearly as often as I should but it never fails to be a special moment. I love it for so many reasons. I love doing something special for him. The preparation it takes is a bit like courting. I love trying new reciptes. I love that it is just us, no tv, no distractions, enjoying each other and having those conversations that you never make enough time in your life for.

--- 3 ---

I love reading the City Palate. It has been a favorite ritual of mine since I moved to Calgary. They release them every other month and can be found throughout the city or online. I have never made a recipe out of the magazine. Nor have I ever bought a kitchen gadget it recomends. But that doesn't dim my love for picking up a copy, sitting down on the couch one evening and pouring over that fresh print.

--- 4 ---

I love trying new restaurants. In the back of City Palate, there is a section called Stock Pot: Restaurant Ramblings and it documents the comings and goings of restaurants and chefs. I often find at least one new place or newly revamped restaurant that I am intrigued by. Before long, I have sucked someone into going to try the restaurant with me - whether it is my husband, girl friends or a double date. Here are the latest new restaurants that I tried and loved:

Borgo

Cassis

--- 5 ---

I love my dinner club. The ladies are quite delightful! The restaurants chosen are a mixture of classics and up and comers, diners and fine dining, exotic menus and reworked traditional dishes. It is always sure to hold many laughs. Dessert. No topic is off limits. No question left unanswered. We sample off other's plates, critique and delight in the tastes. It is many years and counting - through babies and marriages, budget restrictions and celebrations. I love my girls!

--- 6 ---

I love little food markets. Lina's and Edelwiess are two of my favorites. The meats and cheese are always so tempting. The fresh bread smells so delicious and I rarely leave without a little baked treat for later. If I am looking for unique sauces, spices or ingrediants, I always head to one of these first. Cookbook Company and Calgary Farmer's Market never fail to inspire me. The ingredients are so fresh and flavorful, the people delightful and the 'individual' portioned meals are such a delightful treat. Little grocery stores like Community Natural Foods, A1 Spices in Castleridge, T&T Supermarket and Sunterra are places that I can never run in for something 'quick'. The aisles beckon for me to stroll through and try something new.

--- 7 ---

I would love to take a food/cooking tour style trip at some point in my life. Whether that is a cooking class out at the Banff Springs, or a French cooking vacation. Italy, Spain, Turkey, Morrocco or Mexico - wouldn't that be a fantastic aspect to include in your vacation? One day - I promise.

For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!

A little taste of heaven . . .

The five of us lovely ladies ventured over to International Avenue to check out Fassil's. I was the only one who had eaten at this delightful restaurant prior and I was quite anxious to share it with 4 of my great friends.

The menu can seem a little daunting but we did our best to narrow it down to the veggie sampler, a chicken dish and a beef dish. You also do not want to show up at this restaurant starving as their timing may not always be your timing for service. And on this particular night - the air was quite cool inside. However, if you can get past all of that, you quickly discover that this restaurant is worth the trek!

The friendly server was quick to inform us that we ordered a dish made with raw meat - whew dodged that disappointing outcome - so we pulled out our fall back pick and patiently waited for the meal to arrive. Okay maybe not quite so patiently when a couple of dishes were served around us and we the fabulous aroma of spices drifted our way!

Time seemed to go by quite quickly especially since it had been a while since we had all been together and there was a lot to discuss - dud ex boyfriends, trips to mexico, babies, houses and all sorts of topics flew around the table. It was great to all be on the same page again in each others lives.

And then it was our turn. A big platter of food was placed in the middle of the table with fresh injera to eat with. The smells rising up were amazing. Now for the big test - would all my promises of how fabulous the food is come true - or would I need to eat my words and confirm that this experience was no different than another Ethiopian restaurant we had tried!

After the first bite, the smiling faces around the tables confirmed that the dinner club choice was a success!!!

Thanks ladies for a delightful night as always!

A 'touristy' night

Well last night was another dinner club evening. It was full of laughter, giggles and full blown guffaws!!!

The night of giggles started at the Marriott. We all came directly from work and met at the Marriott first since our reso's weren't until after 6. As such we were still dressed in our dress clothes from the office and bundled up in our winter gear including scarfs as it was not promising to be a balmy day and Brenda and I walk to and from work every day. We enjoyed some lessons on the animal kingdom from Sarah (apparently Lee is a wealth of knowledge in that area!) and soon found ourselves crossing the street to meet Nicole and Kari for dinner.

A large bus pulled up in front of the calgary tower and started to unload at the base of the tower as Sarah, Brenda and I arrived. Lucky for us we found ourselves in the middle of a group of people that were heading up to the observation deck for a private party. We weren't too sure what was going on but noticed a variety of accents around us and were assuming somebody was hosting a conference for members from around the world.

As we reached the entrance to the elevator lobby we were greeted by a lady who commented 'you are not with the delegation, are you'. Since it was a party, we responded with 'unfortunately no, but we could be.' The next words that came out of her mouth shocked us all: 'I knew you weren't, you all look touristy'.

What exactly does touristy look like. Of course, all three of us had the following mental image.

And not one of us had a camera around our neck, white socks and running shoes nor a fanny pack. So of course, for those who know me, you will know that there was no way I was going to be told we were 'touristy'!!!

'Touristy?' I queried indignantly. Between the three of us, we certainly let the girl know that we did not feel we looked touristy. In an attempt to recover she replied 'Well you are wearing scarfs'. Really? Scarfs? Since when are scarfs touristy???

First of all I would like to point out it is Canada in October and this is our weather for this week:





Yes - we see negative temperatures and might I add snow.


Secondly - since when are scarfs touristy. You will notice by the top photos from 2009 fall fashion week that scarfs are certainly in style:

So how does she conclude that scarfs are touristy?

She obviously noticed our stunned faces and embarassed laughs as we turned to each other commenting that we didn't realize that scarfs were touristy. So again she dug herself deeper as she tried to recover by saying that we didn't look 'businessy'.

What???

What is businessy? And how does dress shoes, dress pants, wool dress coats and eyes weary from staring at computer screens all day not look businessy.

By now I am totally offended. Not too sure why it bothered me other than the fact that she obviously had no clue what she was talking about and didn't know when to stop.

However what she did provide us with was some awesome material for the rest of the night. All the way up the elevator we discussed our 'businessy' outfits. And then the elevators opened up to an absolutely beautiful view of the city.

If you haven't been to the Calgary tower in the last couple of years, you really must plan a dinner there. It was absolutely fantastic!

And as mentioned earlier, it certainly wasn't like the laughs stopped there. Before long Kari and Nicole joined us at the table and quickly joined in. We learned important Calgary tidbits, like the fact that Calgary downtown buildings cannot cast a shadow on the river, that you can see my deck from the table, that it takes an hour to do a full rotation and of course that no fantastic dinner is complete without some dessert.

Petite

Last night was dinner club. I love dinner club. I really really love it. I love the ladies who are part of it, trying new restaurants, the conversations that fly around the table, and everything else that comes with the evening.

The restaurant of choice was Petite. It is a fairly new little restaurant across from the community health on 12th Ave. The decor is a delight, with an open kitchen, exposed brick and a delightful little patio. The food was scrumptious. The dessert menu was certainly tempting but we did our best to resist. And the walk back to my place was a perfect end to a beautifully warm fall day.

Cannot wait until the next dinner club. I wonder where Kari will take us . . .