aside 11 Oct

Victoria’s on 17th (Calgary)

I’m very fortunate to have good friends. Friends like Glenn Stevenson at City TV in Calgary – people in the know, people who know about great new restaurants like Victoria’s Bistro • Bakery • Bar • Ballroom on 17th Avenue SW.

For starters, fantastic ambience, friendly staff and excellent food. A rare thing in Calgary’s boom market where the an experience at event the finest restaurant could be tarnished by inexperienced or worse yet, complacent staff. All the good people have left for greener pastures so it seems except with here – where you’ll find people a hidden paradise where foodies frolick. Okay, well, that’s a bit much – actually, everyone there loves food so maybe it isn’t too much of a stretch.

Okay so what’s to know about Victoria’s?

  • Good food
  • Great service – friendly people
  • Excellent drink selection and wine list (accessible and well chosen)
  • Organic fare
  • Multiple rooms, a very spacious venue

Some photos – you can also watch my tag “Victoria’s” on Flickr to see new developments:

2006-09-22 19-21-08 DSC01098 2006-09-22 19-42-07 DSC01148 2006-09-22 19-45-33 DSC01106 2006-09-22 20-12-32 DSC01198 2006-09-22 20-33-43 DSC01114 2006-09-22 20-33-50 DSC01204 2006-09-22 20-34-04 DSC01156 2006-09-22 20-35-45 DSC01125 2006-09-22 21-09-30 DSC01116 2006-09-22 21-11-05 DSC01139
The chef is a genius. The food excellent. What stuck out as well was dessert. Lisa Cheah, their head baker, is a Slow Food member and makes some of the most amazing baked goods I’ve ever tasted. Next time you’re in check out their crème brulée tarts! (… and say hi to Lisa).

Rating: 10/10 (Perfect score)

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Victoria’s Restaurant

ADDRESS: 306 – 17th Avenue SW, Calgary, Alberta, Canada T2S 0A5 (MAP)

TELEPHONE: (403) 245-5356

EMAIL: info@vic17.com

WEB: www.victoriason17th.com

  • http://www.raj.jp raj

    Got this note from John Landry on Facebook the other day…

    Blogger

    8:03am Monday, Jun 4

    To quash all the rumours, I figured I would post something up here in regards to Victoria’s. If all goes well, there should be a deal in place early this week and I will be selling my interest in this project and moving on.

    Victor Choy will be the new principle owner of the space and while I don’t know what his plans are, I understand his intentions are to do a complete renovation as only he can do.

    Victoria’s was a labor of love and with a very tiny budget, we were able to achieve a modicum of success in the past year of operations. While it was an incredible journey, I no longer have any love for the space. It never met my expectations and it was never completely finished inside. I think most of my close friends knew this (although always too polite to say it) and for all the people who did know and felt it necessary to constantly remind me of things like the awful bathrooms…thanks, I don’t know what I would have done without your constant reminders.

    Anyhow, and the love of my life will attest to this, we’re glad it’s almost over. It almost cost us our relationship but in the end, made us stronger than ever. We learned to do with very little and the generosity of friends and family helped make the trials and tribulations more bearable.
    And I learned that while difficult, a person can work 16 hour days, 7 days a week without having a complete mental breakdown.

    So here I am, unemployed in another week and a bit and looking forward to a little time off before I start my next project. For all my friends that were as dissapointed in Victoria’s as myself, let me just say that I needed to break a few eggs before I could make the ultimate cake. My next project will be more in line with what I know, what I do and what I love. Never again will I compromise and never again will I ever, ever, ever have anything to do with the restaurant business! Honestly, you have to be some kind of masochist to be a restauranter.

    I’ll keep everyone updated. If all goes well, I will finalize a deal on an excellent piece of property in the downtown core in the next couple of weeks and then, I’m hoping to open a new concept club that will be semi-private, catering to people who actually have taste in fashion and music.

    If I see one more man dress or hear one more “screw the ho’s, bling bling bling bling, I gotta gun” I’ll seriously lose my mind.

    That’s my blog for today…cheerio.

  • http://www.raj.jp raj

    Well folks, a blast from the past – Victor has set up Victorias as the new Republik. So Republik on 17th is BACK! (Except it’s not where Tequila is now).