Cream of city's dining scene

A dozen restaurants that shone in 2005

Looking back on 2005, it was a great year for restaurant openings. With the Calgary economy booming, it seems every available restaurant space is full, and even unusual locations are achieving some success.  Historic buildings have included new restaurants (Isabella’s, The Tribune), a relocated Italian market (Mercato) surprised everyone with the demand for their restaurant food, and southern wood-smoke filled the downtown air (Palomino). Elsewhere downtown - now that Steven Avenue is full - we’ve seem restaurants open in the old Salvation Army (Nawab, Skazka) and in other non-traditional locations (Chutney, Mysore Palace, Bali).
And we’ve seen the arrival of Sushi bars and Vietnamese noodle houses continue unabated. On the downside, many restaurants are plagued with the problem of consistency. You can have a great meal one day, an iffy one the next. Part of this is a chronic staff shortage that pervades almost every kitchen, dining room and restaurant management office. And part of the problem is the hurry-up mentality of our boom economy that encourages restaurants to open to quickly and without proper preparation. Another downside of our boom is prices pushing into the plus -$40 range for entrees once again. This happened around the turn of the century, but prices backed off for a while. Is dinner really worth that much? Eventually, the market will decide. All in all, it’s been a banner year for the Calgary dining scene. And I have a few picks for the cream of this year’s crop. Here are a dozen new places that have made a mark.

1. Route 40 Soup Co. (l46 Main St., Turner Valley, 933-7676)
   The place on the list that most consistently wows me with their food is Route 40. The soups are rich and full-bodied and the sandwiches are a work or culinary art. Mark and Lanny Klaudt’s food is worth the drive to Turner Valley.