Gastronomic (Mis)Adventures : August 2017

Misadventures in Banff

Following my relaxing time in downtown Calgary, my travel buddy and I started our 30 minute drive to Canmore, but in the middle of the road, discovered a small crack on the windshield even though we didn't see any small rocks hitting it. Surprisingly by the time we got to our hotel in Canmore, the hood of the car was filled with blood of dead mosquitos. Don't freak out though since this apparently happens when making the road trip, although no bloggers ever wrote about it! That's the extent of the misadventures we encountered coupled with a few minor ones in between. Phew.

The Drive to Banff

There are many options for accommodations at Banff, although my travel buddy and I preferred to save some our Canadian dollars and opted to stay at Canmore, 20 minutes away from Banff's entrance. There is a lot of driving involved, especially getting to Lake Louise and Moraine Lake, so be sure to time yourself on every pitstop wisely.

We only had 2 days in Banff so our compressed itinerary resulted us in making quick stops at the most photogenic sites while still saving ample time to leisurely hike on both days.

Day 1

Breakfast at downtown Banff
Drive to Moraine Lake

The picturesque Moraine Lake.

Lake Louise: finding parking is a pain so go later in the day.

3 hour hike to Lake Agnes tea house making a stop at Mirror lake
Lunch at the tea house

Lake Louise is known for its blue-green lake with a backdrop of the Canadian rockies.

Banff gondola Sulphur Mountain

Skipped Banff Upper Hots Springs

Dinner at Banff downtown

Day 2

Breakfast at Canmore
Jonston Canyon

Hike to lower and upper canyon

Lake Minnewanka

Lake Minnewanka also has hiking trails and water activities.

Cave and Basin National Historic Site, Canada's first national park

A relaxing time at Canada's first national park.

Walked around Banff downtown shopping for souvenirs

Ate ice cream at Cow
Dinner at Banff downtown

There are many food establishments in downtown Banff, but I will not recommend any of them since I didn't spend so much time in restaurants to be able to compare and contrast. What I do recommend though is Cow's Canadian maple ice cream!

Hint: Some restaurants are definitely tourists traps! Beware.

Cow's ice cream is as good as it can get at Banff.

What I Wished I Did
While it was a wise idea to skip Banff's Upper Hot Springs, which was a swimming pool filled with people doing nothing, I wished that we took the time to kayak on the red wooden boat that is readily available at Lake Louise. These boats are local to Alberta, fyi.

Spot the kayakers on the red boat.

Hope you enjoy this video!

A post shared by Gastronomic (Mis)Adventures (@c3lsius) on Aug 19, 2017 at 3:14pm PDT

The Mystique of Calgary

When I was first invited to travel to Calgary, I didn't even know where it was on the map or what I can do there. For most of us who are not familiar with Canadian travel, it is the city where most tourists fly into to make a one hour drive to the famous Banff National Park. For the 150th anniversary of Canada, all national parks in the country are free so I quickly packed my bags to see what was waiting for me.

Visiting Calgary for Canada's 150th anniversary.

Downtown Calgary
Compared to its more popular sister cities, Toronto and Vancouver, downtown Calgary is smaller, cheaper in all aspects, exudes a charm of its own, and still doesn't impose a foreign buyer real estate tax. It has a small albeit lively retail and entertainment street on 17th Avenue where I got to try Made by Marco ice cream, a local cafe, Presotea for bubble tea (especially for my boba-addicted readers), and Model Milk for dinner.

My list of must eats include:
1. Model Milk - At the edge of the bustling 17th Avenue, you can find Model Milk, which serves dishes utilizing Alberta's freshest ingredients.

A relaxing vibe at Model Milk.

Foie gras for appetizer with buckwheat.

Calamari fricasse which was so good but didn't expect to have red meat mixed in it :(

2. Alforno Bakery and Cafe - It has a menu that sounds boring but actually my salmon benedict bursted with unexpected flavors. It also doesn't hurt that the ambiance reminds me of contemporary New York style cafe.

Smoked salmon with poached eggs at Alforno Bakery.

My treat after a long hike. Always a sucker for strawberry shortcake!

3. River Cafe at Prince Island - A bit pricey but this is one of those establishments you must visit to complete a trip in Calgary.

A peaceful lunch at River Cafe while people watching.

4. Suzette - For a more proper French breakfast, head to Suzette for their famous savory and sweet crepes.

Crepes for a late lunch at Suzette.

5. Regrub - Ok, I know they have countless of locations in Canada, but if you are looking to calorie-load before a hike in Banff, this is the place to do it with their over-the-top milkshakes.

Caught on video at Regrub.

Scooped out the whip cream before enjoying the Oreo milkshake with glazed donut.

6. Made by Marco - This ice cream shop actually made waves due to its Instagram friendly interiors. When you are in the middle of Canadian summer, this is your best bet for cooling down.

Matcha for me, of course!

Thanks to Elon Hotel, a block away from 17th Avenue, for making it easy for me to walk around during my entire stay in Calgary. I highly appreciate boutique hotels that obviously invest on interior design with matching branding colors even on its shower head and faucets.

Thanks to a convenient location, I was able to walk everywhere in downtown Calgary.

Comfy stay at Elan Hotel.

Admiring the matching red faucet, shower and tiles.

Simple breakfast at Hotel Elan

Enjoying the many parks in downtown Calgary.

Strolling on Stephen's Avenue.

A 10-minute walk up north is the upcoming area of Eau Claire, where I was tempted to go to an open house for luxury condos and envied the professionals soaking in the summer sunshine around Prince Island park during their lunch break. There are a few bridges in this area, one of which you can take to stroll to River Cafe, but the Peace Bridge is the most picturesque of them all.

The Peace Bridge in all its glory.

Up next, watch out for my misadventures in Banff National Park.

Disclaimer: I received a media rate from Hotel Elan in exchange for an honest review.

The Experiential Millennial: Because More is Not Enough

Millennials seek for more experiences.

A study by Harris Group found that 72 percent of millennials prefer to spend more money on experiences, including travel and food, than on material things. For an experiential millennial, going to a restaurant does not just mean having a good meal and fun conversations. Whether it’s an unexpected location, a chance to interact with the chef, or a unique menu or theme, millennials want to experience more.

This trend creates an opportunity for companies that cater to providing such experiences, whether they are in verticals of travel, culinary or lodging. Airbnb Trips, which launched in 2016, now has over 800 trips worldwide with intimate experiences that are mostly run by non-professional tour guides. Others in the running with similar ticketed experiences are IfOnly and Verlocal. Specifically, food establishments on these websites are now offering culinary classes and pop-up dinners, which is the fastest growing trend at 82% growth according to Eventbrite’s food and drinks category.

Dot & Pin, a personalized recommendation engine and travel concierge platform, goes beyond the traditional one-off ticketed experience. By catering to user's preferences and tastes, users of Dot & Pin are assured that the suggestions are of relevance. This saves them time which would otherwise be spent skimming through many options and reading reviews from people who don't share the same preferences or are tourists themselves. The experiences are curated from top influencers, who are akin to local experts in the urban cities where Dot & Pin is live, specifically in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago and New York.

Dot & Pin enhances "bleisure" travel, a combination of business and pleasure travel, by aligning recommended activities with the user's busy schedule and likes/dislikes. According to Expedia, 62 percent are more likely to extend their business vacations to gain cultural experience and see more of the world, all while on their company’s dime. To further save time, a personal concierge service via messaging can expedite the experiential process through conversations with a real, local human. Do you want to know where the latest pop-up restaurant is in San Francisco during the summer? Your hotel concierge might not, but your Dot & Pin Concierge, who is a local expert, would - and could do more for you.

Dot & Pin's Concierge caters to user's busy schedule and preferences.

Stop missing your workouts while on the road because of a claustrophobic hotel gym. Your Dot & Pin Concierge can recommend where you can practice yoga in a historic cathedral instead for that needed ohm moment before your next appointment, plus suggest where you can unwind post-dinner at an immersive theater, where revelers are encouraged to interact with the actors. If you run into the predicament of no time for shopping for the required speakeasy style dress code, fret not though as your Dot & Pin Concierge can take care delivering an outfit with matching accessories to you while you’re still at your meeting.

For a busy, millennial business traveler, there is now a more efficient way to combine business and pleasure with the help of Dot & Pin's Concierge.