AMA Insider Summer 2016 | Page 63

Be a tourist in your own backyard: local fun, food, hot spots and more Ride and dine on the rails in Calgary Delectable Tour Downtown Calgary’s East Village is steadily growing Locomotive Lunch into one of the city’s buzzExperience the timeless iest neighbourhoods, with glamour of train travel condos, a new central during lunch at Calgary’s library and the National Heritage Park Historical Music Centre all under Village, which serves a construction. The historic gourmet midday meal in a Simmons Building—a vintage rail car. Elegantly former mattress factory restored, the circathat’s now home to 1929 River Forth a trio of culinary Canadian Pacific destinations—is Railway car already a local travels around hub. Calgary the park (the Food Tours dining car is offers the chance pulled by an to discover this antique steam Sidewalk mouth-watering hot engine) while your Citizen Bakery spot. Its “Eating the party of two or four East Village” expesavours a periodrience begins with a tasting inspired three-course session at homegrown Phil lunch—think trout with & Sebastian Coffee Roasters, potato rosti and summer then takes you next door vegetable ragout—served to Sidewalk Citizen Bakery, with wine, naturally. where you’ll make your own Tuesdays, May 24–August dessert. The basement 30, heritagepark.ca DINING: HERITAGE PARK; DESSERT: VANESSA NG; PRESERVES: SEBASTIAN BUZZALINO EATING & DRINKING butchery at CharBar is the final stop: You’ll learn about the restaurant’s farmto-table ethos and savour a family-style feast, which ends with the treat you put in the oven earlier in the evening. Wednesday evenings starting in June calgaryfoodtours.com Get Your Greens Alberta’s fields, barns and greenhouses are home to so much agricultural activity. Edgar Farms (edgarfarms. com) is a great example. Just west of Innisfail, off Highway 2, the family-run operation is the province’s largest asparagus grower. The farm’s country store is a destination for the spearlike vegetable in May and June, while sugar snap peas, beans and more are sold throughout July and August. (But pickled asparagus, relish and other asparagus-based preserves are available throughout the year.) If you’re craving more of the seasonal bounty, Alberta Open Farm Days provides an opportunity to meet some of the province’s many food producers and learn how their nourishing bounty makes it from their farms to your fork. August 20-21 albertafarmdays.ca MUSIC Crooning Country There are many rocks to see in Alberta’s Badlands. But for one unique night you can hear them too, as rockers Blue Rodeo amble into Drumheller. More than 3,000 music lovers are expected to gather at the Canadian Passion Play outdoor amphitheatre » Preserves and pickles at Edgar Farms AMA INSIDER SUMMER 2016 63