| Tucked back from 10th Avenue S.W. and across the gravel lot beside Alberta Boot Company is a lone, bright red awning. Beyond the doors of this unassuming building is the elegantly esthetic Simone’s Bistro, featuring an exquisite menu of international fusion cuisine.
Formerly Il Girasole Ristorante, the new, fine dining restaurant is named after the legendary American jazz and blues singer Nina Simone, who died on April 21, 2003. Paintings of colourful jazz scenes as well as photographs of Nina Simone, Billie Holliday and Louis Armstrong grace the walls. Simone’s Bistro (636 - 10th Ave. S.W., phone 263-6661) is a non-smoking venue featuring live jazz every Friday evening at 9 p.m.
The bright, airy room is ideal for a myriad of occasions – it’s upscale yet without pretense. Calgary’s Geoffrey Poon of Haggus Darwin designed the interior with a subtle palette of beige and brown, and a fusion of mirror, wood and textured upholstery. The space is beautifully decorated, with lampshade chandeliers suspended from the stucco ceiling, cream leather couches cast against tall, red vases and dark chocolate hardwood floors, and cherrywood tables skirting sheer, flowing, marmalade-coloured curtains. Jazz plays softly in the background.
I recently paid the restaurant a visit for lunch with a friend. If you’re in the mood for a light lunch, there are a few sandwich entrées ($10 to $12), served with soup or salad, or you can choose from the dinner menu. Vietnamese chef Lily Luc excels at artistic presentation and creative food collaborations, and spoils patrons with her wonderful sauces – she guards the latter’s ingredients carefully, says the waitress. The fabulous selection of seafood, pasta, meat and poultry dishes reflects accents of Middle Eastern, Asian, French and North American cuisine, and ranges in price from $12 to $24.
To start, my friend and I shared the baked brie and roasted garlic phyllo strudel with Cranberland sauce ($10) – a warm, absolutely lovely dessert-like appetizer.
Choosing salads was difficult because they all sounded amazing – I’ll have to return to try the peach and grilled chicken salad in a sherry vinaigrette dressing ($10). However, I still chose a big winner with the prawn and avocado salad with orange slices in a delicious fresh mint dressing ($12). The spiced prawns, refreshed by the tangy, juicy fruit and quieted by the subtle avocado, had my companion abandoning his salad – the smoked salmon Napoleon ($10) – for mine. The Napoleon featured mesclun greens layered with thin, fresh pieces of smoked salmon, tomato and cucumber slices – a nice, light choice, but the dressing needed more zing.
The timing of the appetizer and salads was perfect, but we waited 20 minutes for our entrées. The waitress was appropriately apologetic, and though we did take into account that the table of 14 must have slammed the kitchen, an overextended lunch becomes a little stressful when you know there’s work awaiting you at the office.
However, it was well worth the wait. The beef tortellini simmered in a red wine and sun-dried tomato sauce ($12) and the mildly curried chicken breast rotini with a beautiful mango chutney ($13) featured fantastic flavours and generous portions. The wine list is also varied, featuring labels from $25 to $200.
Simone’s Bistro hosts a corporate happy hour every Friday, from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. With lampshade lanterns on every table, track lighting and hanging lamps, the restaurant is certain to create a dramatic evening mood. It’s a beautiful space and I’ll be back again, lounging on the leather couches right in the middle of the scene.
ROCKY MOUNTAIN
The Rocky Mountain Wine and Food Festival takes place October 16, 17 and 18 at the Calgary Stampede’s Roundup Centre. There will be samples from Calgary and Edmonton gourmet food purveyors along with fine wines from around the world. As well, Chef Michael Smith, host of Chef At Large and The Inn Chef on Food Network Canada, will be cooking on the Alberta Beef and Food Network Canada Demonstration Stage. Visit www.rockymountainwine.com/ or phone 270-7172 for more information. A portion of ticket sales will help support the Calgary Zoo Conservation Fund. |
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