We are excited to celebrate 20 years as Calgary’s destination for Italian food. The menu has changed many times over the years, but we have always stayed true to casual Italian and Mediterranean flavours using the best local ingredients. In June 2001, one of the original partners, Josef Weiwer, created some of the best Italian food in the city. Our original investor group wanted to showcase authentic food while having an open kitchen and bar in the room for the show to allow the delicious aromas waft through the dining room.

Our original team searched for a location with a rare grandfathered patio with an enclosed space as party of the building, which the city no longer approves. We instantly fell in love with the history of the building’s industrial ceilings and original brick from days of being a train repair shop. It’s also considered to be a historic building and any major changes must be approved by the City before renovations.

“We know that our regulars love to support us and they expect only the best, served with understated elegance”, says Stephen Reid, CEO of Creative Restaurant Group. “ We always look for the best locally sourced ingredients and fresh creative ways to serve the food to our guests.”

We envisioned the restaurant as a trattoria, with one table grabbing pasta before a movie, and other tables dressed up to celebrate an anniversary or birthday. The bones of the building fit with this vision for an experience centred around people and food. They didn’t want the interior to be the star of the show, they wanted it to be comfortable for a great plate of food. Some of Canada’s best chefs have worked in this kitchen with beautiful pastries, pastas and pizzas coming out of this kitchen. Over the next few years, the patio will undergo minor renovations with new patio furniture, paint and upgrades in the main dining area as well.

We had hoped to have a grand patio party this year to celebrate with all of the amazing customer support over the past 20 years, but due to the pandemic, the celebration will have to wait. We may be able to celebrate this August and if not we will definitely have an epic 21st anniversary to make up for this year.