January 7, 2026
Welcome to Issue 117 of Elizabeth Chorney-Booth's local food and drink newsletter
The curries at Kondattam warm the belly and the spirit
Hello and welcome to Issue 117 of Who’s Hungry Calgary?, a little local food and drink newsletter written by me, Elizabeth Chorney-Booth. If you’re new here — welcome! Every other week I run through what’s new and happening in Calgary’s food landscape. If you don’t want to subscribe and want to make sure you get this thing directly in your inbox (or you want to hop up to that paid tier for extra content in the in-between weeks) hit the button below.
Okay — I have been rushing around town like a hungry maniac because I really did take a (dentist-prescribed) rest over the holidays and I need to catch up on a lot of things for my Calgary Herald column, which I’ll share in more personal detail with you. So, let’s get into all the things you know you’re going to want to eat in 2026:
New restaurant alerts!
Well, all good things come to those who wait. Francine’s, the French bar concept from chef Garrett Martin (Major Tom, Pigeonhole, etc) and bar manager Nate Wry. These are two of the best guys in the biz, in terms of both talent and general decency as humans, and I am so glad that after years of work and I’m sure more than a little sweat, they finally open Francine’s in the heart of Chinatown today (January 7).
Garrett and Nate very kindly let me sneak into one of the preview nights and while I was already rooting so very hard for this place, it exceeded expectations (especially for a test run night!). Much of the food is similar to what they served at their pop-up residency at Meat and Bread a while back, with things like cheesy puffs, tiny little steam burgers, lobster rolls, and potato chips stacked with ham and comte cheese (THAT French toast dessert is there too) with some tweaks and more things thrown in now that they have command of a full kitchen. My personal faves included the golden beet salad with dates and roquefort cheese (this is going to be the sleeper hit of the menu, I swear), the steak frites, featuring a deeply complex peppercorn sauce and some of the best fries I’ve had in my life, and while I know everyone loves the French toast (and I do too), we were stuffed by the time we were done, so the husband and I shared a divine salted chocolate mouse, fortified with coconut custard and coffee caramel. Oh, and the martini. Get yourself one of Nate’s gorgeously savoury martinis.
Must go back for: chicken liver paté, tuna tartare, and the lobster roll (yes, I already made a reservation. And yes, they are open for lunch as well as dinner).
Also new is Lai Rai, a new restaurant from the family behind Pho Dau Bo and Mot To. This one is overseen by the family’s daughter Hannah Chu and her dad Long Thai, and the focus is on Vietnamese street food. It is really great — a cute little casual downtown spot (it’s a couple doors down from Kondattam on 10th between the two MacLeod Trails) and the food is, as one would expect, excellent. They use the signature Pho Dau Bo broth for their soups, so you know those are on point, but there are other snacks and bites unique to this restaurant.
Go for: the absolutely crave-worthy crispy prawn cakes (banh khot), the banh hue platter featuring various steamed rice cakes and rolls, and the sizzling beef and eggs. Yes, also order a bowl of sate pho or the pho grilled cheese. And some Viet coffee. It’s all fantastic.
And finally, this one opened in early December: I am so into the new Paradigm Spark coffee shop (also on the east end of downtown). David Kim is a deeply experienced coffee roaster and competition-level barista and his new shop is a temple to the art of next-level coffee. Yes, you can get an espresso drink and something to eat, but the real, can’t-miss thing to do here is the pour-over tasting. David has a huge bar set up at the back of the (considerably beautiful) room and makes sure he’s personally there every evening to walk people through three different coffees, specially chosen for the tasting (it changes every few weeks). He also does monthly themes with special coffee blends and competition-level drinks.
I tried two coffees made from the same beans that were processed (i.e. dried and fermented) differently, and then a third that was a different bean but processed in a similar way as the second coffee. The differences in flavour were kind of mind-blowing and fun to pick out. A tasting is only $15 and truly worth every penny. Go do it!
Bits and bites
-I tried chef Francis Martinez’s Dialogue pop-up at Maven and it really is delicious — he prepares one of the best octopus dishes I’ve had in ages, and his skill with navigating and combining South American, Japanese, and Filipino flavours is very impressive. He’s wrapped up his latest parcel of dates but will have more coming soon — I’ll let you know in the next newsletter if he drops more, but keep an eye on the Dialogue Instagram for the latest details.
-I can barely keep track of all the different festivals (I know hot chocolate fest is in February… that’s about it) but here’s one I am on top of: the second annual Calgary Mac and Cheese Fest will take place January 15 to 31 at restaurants all over town. Participating restaurants will include Maven, IBU, and Maisie among many others, all making creative versions of the classic comfort food. There’s a competitive element (which makes it more fun) and you can see the full run-down of what’s up over at the fest’s website (individual dishes aren’t posted yet, but they’re bound to be exciting!)
-If you remember, actor Jason Priestley was at Modern Steak plugging his Oak and Priest wine in December (if you’re curious as to why he’s been here so much, his business partner, film producer Chad Oakes is based here in Calgary) and they’re doing it again on February 7. I went to the lunch in December and the food was great (natch) and the wines (made from California grapes, but both these dudes are Canadian so I’m not holding it against them) are fantastic, especially if you like big Cali reds. Plus — and I say this as someone who was obsessively binge watching 90210 to numb my brain to the news of the world even before I thought I might have a chance to meet him — Jason Priestley is the nicest most down-to-earth celeb I’ve met, and I used to be a full-time entertainment journalist, so I’ve met many. Great guys, great wines, great steak.
-Or, if you don’t give a hoot about Jason Priestly, Modern Steak is once again doing it’s date night special (2 steaks, 2 sides, 1 bottle of wine for $108) for all of January.
-Speaking of deals, Concorde is doing a funny “employee pricing” promotion for all of January (the artwork for this campaign is priceless — good job marketing team!). You’ll get 25 percent off of many of the company’s properties’ signature drinks, including Bridgette Bar garlic bread for just $7.50, Lulu Bar’s coconut cooler for $13.50, the formidable cheese curd burger from Model Milk for $22.50, and Pigeonhole’s full breakfast for $18.75. See the full list here.
-Don’t forget that the Tribute Craft Food and Drink celebration will be happening in Banff as part of Snow Days on January 30 and 31. Head to Bear Street for tasting stations, outdoor bonfire pits, ice sculptures, live music and entertainment such as flame throwing and bar flair performers. It’s a ticketed situation, with a $30 ticket getting you $21 in tasting coupons and a collectible Tribute glass, with additional tasting coupons available for $3 each.
And that, folks, is it for me this week. If you want more, check out my full list of columns in the Calgary Herald (including my Best New Restaurants of 2025, which ran the weekend before last) or give me a follow on Instagram. And please share this thing with your friends — let’s get out there and celebrate local food culture.
Talk to you soon,
Elizabeth
I forwarded this issue to Bruce!!