The Canadian west has never had the reputation of being very informed by food. Calgary especially has had a bad rap for its seeming hickish tendencies, with a propensity to enjoy a bottle of Canadian over a fine red wine. But over the last few years, Calgarians have become a tad more refined: cowboy hats they reserve for Stampede, cowtipping is only conducted on Gate Night, and Spam is shelved for campouts only.
With openings like Vero Bistro Moderne, FARM, and Petite, Calgary has built itself quite a decent foodie foundation. But before this newer generation of Calgary restaurants dropped itself onto the culinary scene, a team of provision-pioneers was busy laying the groundwork for the newcomers. Pat and Connie O'Connor, owners of Canadian Rocky Mountain Resorts and four restaurants (Cilantro, Divino Wine and Cheese Bar, Velvet, The Ranche), have been building Calgary's food culture for 25 years.
Cilantro has become somewhat of a fine-dining go-to in the city and over the years, customers have come to rely on Chef Ken Canavan's kitchen almost more than their own, bringing home sauces, pastas, and pizzas to 'make' at home. So CRMR at Home, Cilantro's new gourmet shop neighbour, will take the onus off of the Cilantro staff and rely on the 'at Home' team to provide patrons with food that will double as their homecooking
CRMR at Home's focus on local ingredients is simple, being that the O'Connor's own an off-site ranch and bakery that transports fresh ingredients into the store daily. As a result, the Calgary food boutique carries an abundance of homemade pastas, thin-crust pizzas, Cilantro's ubiquitous mussels sauce, a variety of house-made pickles, Divino’s fig jam, whole grain loaves, Mediterranean style baguettes, and über tempting baked goods. And straight from the ranch, elk meat, buffalo, and caribou meats as well as a variety of charcuterie – smoked and cured meats – are available. CRMR also features a high end Italian line of glassware/kitchenware products, as well as Global knives, Iittala, and Peugeot.
Now that CRMR at Home has opened its doors, fine dining in home comfort is much more viable. But boys, don't get any ideas, the cowboy hat still has to be left at the door. Yeehaw, or, ahem, Bon appétit. – Erin Hershberg
CRMR at Home, 330 - 17 Avenue SW
Calgary, AB
403-532-0241
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