Feb

Eat-Harmony: The Perfect Date at Vero Bistro Moderne

Dan

alberta, calgary, delicious, dinner, first date, lunch, romantic

With Valentine’s Day just around the corner, it’s time to start thinking of a place to take that ‘special someone’ for a perfect date because, gentlemen, a box of chocolates and some flowers just don’t cut it any more. Just the other day, while doing ‘ideal date place’ research, I popped into Vero Bistro Moderne. Needless to say, it was ~~love~~ eat at first sight. Vero oozes romance from their decor and colour scheme to item descriptions on the menu. As it was the lunching hour, I looked over their ‘Sexy Lunch Menu‘ and opted for their daily $15 two-course special. The daily offering was an organic greens salad with pumpkin seeds, apple slices, goat feta (from Fairwinds Farm outside of Edmonton), and topped with an apple cider vinaigrette. Fresh and delicious. I’m always a bit worried when the dressing of choice is ‘apple cider vinaigrette’ as my mind wanders to standard issue cider vinegar, olive oil, and garlic, but Chef Jenny used real apple cider and a nice helping of cinnamon. Perfect.

Next up, my main dish, conchiglioni (shell) pasta in a creamy ricotta sauce, topped with a generous helping of beef and veal bolognese. The bolognese was surprisingly sweet, but in a good way, and the two sauces combined were amazing. If only licking the plate was appropriate in restaurants…

Normally, I don’t opt for the dessert during my lunch hour, but who can turn down a passionfruit crème brulée and home-made vanilla gelato? Did I mention that the gelato was served in the form of a snowman? I feel bad for cute-looking, tasty little culinary offerings, as a fork/spoon/knife/bite/chew massacre is always just around the corner. Let’s just say the sweet vanilla ~~snow~~ gelato-man did not even have time to melt. The crème brulée had a sweet hazelnut layer at the base, which played nicely with the tang of the passionfruit.

After lunch, I talked briefly with chef/owner Jenny Chan (not to go unmentioned, she owns/runs Vero with her brother Frankie). Vero Bistro Moderne has been in Calgary since July of 2008 and has been one of Calgary’s most romantic dining spots ever since. I asked her whether with Vero having such a romantic — sexy if you will — atmosphere, she had seen any marriage proposals. The answer was…

To read more about Vero Bistro Moderne, and to check out some more photos, head over to Food Network Canada’s site!

Now, who wants to be my date?