...Jule's Wellness Subscription Box (September 2015)

This post is a little different as we have not reviewed anything other than restaurants.  However, I've had such a great experience with Jule's Wellness Lifestyle Subscription Box so far that I wanted to share it here on the blog.  Also, they feature several food items in their boxes so I thought it would be relevant.  If you're interested to know more, read on.

I've always been curious about subscription boxes and like the idea of receiving a surprise in the mail every month (who wouldn't?!).  After doing some research, one of the boxes I signed up for is Jule's Wellness.  Jule's Wellness is a Canadian company that offers gift baskets and an online store filled with "luxury health conscious" products ranging from skincare, snacks, chocolates, teas to baby/kid items.  The subscription boxes are often filled with female focused organic, artisanal and natural full sized products.  Each subscription box is $34.32 + GST (includes shipping in Canada) and you can subscribe to 3, 6 or 12 months at a time which saves you some money.

My experience with Jule's Wellness has been fantastic.  I left a comment whilst checking out never expecting a response, but received an email from Julie herself thanking me for the order and reassuring me of when my box would arrive.  The subscription box arrived as promised not a day late in my mailbox.  Here is what the September 2015 box looked like when I first opened it:

The box came with a helpful list of the products and a little description of each one.  Here is a snapshot of each product and their prices.

Consonant Organic Foaming Face Wash - $18

The Honest Leaf Serene Loose Leaf Tea - $13

Wash & Beauty Co. Konjac Sponge - $14

K's NRG Bar - $3

Manitoba Harvest Hemp Heart Bites - $7

Consonant  DHE Mask - Sample

The total value of the box was $55, which in my opinion is a great deal especially since I loved all the products I received.  The hemp bites were something I enjoyed and wouldn't have tried on my own and I am excited to use the skin care products.  I am thinking Jule's Wellness Subscription Box and baskets would make a perfect gift for any health conscious person in your life.  I hope this post was useful to some of you.  What is your favourite subscription box?

This post is not sponsored, all opinions are my own.

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...Fairmont Banff Springs Afternoon Tea (Rundle Lounge)

Overall - 9/10
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Food - 8/10
Service - 9/10
Ambiance - 9/10

We made our annual getaway to Banff after Christmas this year with our daughter in tow.  One thing that is worth trying at least once in Banff is the afternoon tea at the Fairmont Banff Springs hotel in the Rundle Lounge.  Although it was pretty much out of the question this time around, we had the pleasure, pre-baby last spring.  Afternoon tea is really an experience that should be enjoyed at a leisurely pace, especially if you are able to reserve a window side table overlooking the mountains.

The experience begins with a server bringing out a cart of 12 different teas for you to choose from.  You are able to smell the teas and before making your choice.  At the time, I was pregnant so I opted for the herbal "Berry Berry" which was quite good.

 The set menu begins with a small selection of fresh berries.  To be honest, I was initially hoping for a little more than what was served but in hindsight the amount is probably just right in light of all the food that is to be consumed.

The best items on the menu in our opinion was the scones.  The savoury sun dried tomato and the sweet berry scones together with the Devonshire cream and strawberry jam really was quite amazing.  They were soft, light, flaky and everything you would want a scone to be.

After the scones, the beautifully arranged 3-tiered tray is brought out with the finger sandwiches and pastries.  

The sandwich selection included cucumber and avocado cream cheese, egg salad on a croissant, smoked salmon with Boursin cheese, beef pinwheel and chicken mango sandwich.  Overall the sandwiches were very mild in flavour and were very standard.  Although we did not expect anything overly creative, we were slightly disappointed by the offerings.  For example, we could not taste the mango in the chicken salad sandwich and or the avocado cream cheese in the cucumber sandwich, despite my hypersenstive palate. 

The top two tiers showcased the sweet pastries: madeline, berry mascarpone cheesecake, key lime meringue tart, macaroon and a chocolate dipped pecan brownie.  By the time we started on the pastries, we were starting to feel full.  Luckily we were able to box up the ones we could not finish and the server even asked us if there was anything else we wanted to take home (unfortunately the scones were not included in that offer).  Our favourites out of the selection was the chocolate dipped pecan brownie.

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...LeVilla Restaurant & SkiptheDishes (Calgary)

We were contacted recently by SkiptheDishes to try their service.  SkiptheDishes is a food delivery network, offering online ordering for delivery/pickup from a variety of restaurants.  We were curious as to how delivery from a higher end restaurant that you wouldn't necessarily associate with take-out, would compare to the sit-down experience.  So after exploring our options on the website, we decided on LeVilla Restaurant...

SkiptheDishes' website took us a minute to figure out.  We realized that depending on which area of the city you live in, the day and time of day determines the restaurants you can get delivery from.  We're assuming that if you chose the pickup option, you would get more restaurant options.  One of the things we liked about using the website was how you could easily view the menu, place your order exactly how you want, and pay- all up to a day in advance.  Also, you can choose to tip the driver on the website and not worry about having to pay the person when they show up at your door.  SkiptheDishes sends you emails to confirm your order and update the expected delivery time.  We received a phone call letting us know that the food courier had picked up our order at the restaurant and was on their way.  Our food arrived in good time and still warm, delivered by a friendly SkiptheDishes food courier.   

We ordered the crab cakes, bison short ribs and cajun ribeye from LeVilla Restaurant (Sirocco Dr. location in the SW).  The crab cakes came with a jicama slaw and chipotle aioli.  The crab cakes tasted fresh and went well with the slaw that had a light texture.  They probably would have been more crispy if we had them at the restaurant but since they were contained in a take away box they weren't as crisp.  The aioli was a great accompaniment and the generous amount in the container was good for dipping the bread rolls that came with our order.

Our bison short ribs and ribeye came with the gravy separate in their boxes.  

Obviously it wasn't completely a 'skip the dishes' experience but we didn't mind.  The cajun ribeye was medium rare just as we requested on the website.  It was very tender and flavourful but charred a bit more than we would have liked, making the spice rub slightly bitter in flavour.  Otherwise, the rich marsala wild mushroom sauce, creamy mashed potatoes and vegetables were a great accompaniment to the ribeye.  

 The braised bison short ribs were slightly on the dry side, somewhat made better by the gravy.  The advertised horseradish that was supposed to be in the mashed potatoes was not apparent and no asparagus was included, as per the menu.  

Overall, we feel the food was comparable to the food they serve at the restaurant.  We can see how delivery from a higher end restaurant has its convenience, but we probably wouldn't do it again in the near future.  We often like to ask the server for their recommendations and enjoy the experience of the service at a nice restaurant.  However, we can see ourselves using SkiptheDishes for more casual restaurants.  We hope SkiptheDishes will expand their network in the future and offer more mid-priced restaurants.  It was an interesting experience and we're glad we were introduced to SkiptheDishes.

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…Selkirk Grille (Heritage Park, Calgary)

Overall - 9/10
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Food - 9/10
Service - 9/10
Ambiance - 9/10

The Selkirk Grille has an ambiance that is hard to beat.  Set in Heritage Park, the restaurant doesn't just rely on it's vintage charm but also their consistently excellent food to draw it's clientele.  In the few times we have eaten their food, we have never been let down- reminding us that we should definitely come here more often.  The fact that their ingredients are locally produced and organic is just icing on the cake.

We started the evening with seafood appetizers- the calamari and crab/shrimp cakes.  The batter on the calamari was crisp and went well with the olive pistou and diced raw red onion, but fell off the squid as soon as you went to pick it up with your utensil.

The crab and shrimp cakes were fresh and delicately seasoned, served on top of a sriracha aioli.

I chose the pan seared pickerel served with king oyster mushroom risotto, toasted pine nuts and braised greens.  The skin on the fish was crisp and the meat cooked to just the right doneness.  The flavours of the mushroom risotto and pine nuts worked perfectly.  In my opinion, a good balance in fish dishes are hard to find and Selkirk will go down in the books as a restaurant that can do fish justice.

The better half chose the special which on this particular evening was a play on surf and turf: seared ahi tuna and maple, soy braised park belly.  The fresh tuna was well seasoned and served on avocado cream, sriracha aioli and black rice risotto.  The black rice risotto was nutty, creamy and a unique take on black rice, as we are used to having it in sweet desserts in Asian cuisine.  The pork belly was tender but still had enough texture so it had satisfying bite without being tough.  Overall, this dish was interesting and successful in blending in Asian ingredients and Western techniques.

For dessert, we shared the apple pecan tart served with vanilla ice cream.  The flavours were good, but overall, the dish itself was slightly underwhelming because of the thinly sliced apples and sparse sprinkling of pecans.

We would recommend Selkirk Grille for a couples or family dining experience.

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…Downtown Food (Calgary)

Overall - 9/10
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Food - 9.5/10
Service - 9/10
Ambiance - 9/10

Cheddar cheese ice cream- say what?!

Downtown Food is one of those restaurants we've been meaning to try for a long time.  It's definitely a foodie haven, confirmed by the ubiquitous picture taking by neighbouring tables.  We were thoroughly impressed by the unique but balanced flavours, high quality ingredients and refined presentation.  Sometimes trendy restaurants try to be too precious with their portion sizes and presentation but this was not the case.  We kept waiting for the next dish to be less than perfect but each dish came out just as delicious and in some cases, even better than the last.  I still can't get over the perfection that is the sablefish (apparently a dish they brought back due to it's popularity).  Downtown Food did a great job of Asian/European fusion, showcasing French technique.

We started with the market soup, which was a lobster croquette placed on a dollop of spicy red pepper mayo and flower petals, in a lobster broth that was served table side by our friendly waiter.  This soup had a clear lobster flavour without being overly salty or creamy.  The croquette itself had a citrus tang- orange, we think.  So. Good.

I had the braised wagyu beef and chanterelle ravioli with foie gras, miso, dashi, parmesan and black truffle that was shaved table side.  The pasta was very fresh, thin and delicate and almost reminded me of a wonton wrapper.  The meat itself was flavourful and tender.

Darrin had the chicken liver mousse served with a compressed pear compote and crostini drizzled with honey.  The mousse was very smooth, light and would be good for someone who wanted to try liver without the overpowering in-your-face liver flavour.

Before our mains arrived we were served the bread and butter while we waited.  I wondered why they weren't served with our appetizers so I could use the bread to soak up some of the remaining soup and sauces left in our dishes.  Bread and butter was as the kids say "dece".

For my main, I had the miso cured sablefish that sat on a bed of shitake mushrooms, french lentils and bok choy.  On top was a micro green salad with refreshing green apple and a sake ginger sabayon sauce.  I cannot tell you how much I enjoyed this dish.  The skin was perfectly crisp and the fish itself buttery and cooked to just the right doneness.  It has been a long time since I've had fish done this well in a Calgary restaurant.

Darrin chose the wild boar chop that was sous-vide, with char siu jus, parsnip puree, king oyster mushrooms and greens.  Darrin also thinks there was also eggplant in it.  The flavour was almost exactly the same as mui choy (preserved mustard greens), popular in traditional Chinese pork dishes.  The boar chop was medium rare throughout but very tender. If the sight of pink in pork freaks you out this may not be the dish for you but we think it's worth trying.  The fat melts in your mouth and the meat very flavourful.

Finally for dessert, we tried what our server called a "foodie" dessert.  It was an apple terrine with freshly made beignets, bacon crisps, green apple, cheddar ice cream and what we thought was caramel sauce.  Not overly sweet, this dessert definitely was unique, especially the surprisingly tasty cheddar ice cream. The freshly fried beignets were equally as delicious as the ones I'd had in France.

The one and only thing we were not so keen on was the beer battered "chocolate truffles" that came with our bill.  The batter was a tad on the doughy side and the chocolate itself was a resounding "meh".  However, since it's not an actual menu item we are choosing to overlook this minor flaw. 

Overall we had a fantastic experience at Downtown Food and are looking forward to going back soon.

On an unrelated note, we finally joined Twitter- @dcfortheloveof.  Tweet us!

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...Farm (Calgary)

Overall - 7.5/10
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Food - 8/10
Service - 7/10
Ambiance - 7/10

As a born and raised Calgarian you sometimes lose sight of the fact that we're surrounded by amazing farms that produce some of the best fruits, veggies and meat available anywhere in the world. Farm located on 17th AVE sets out to remind us all of how good we've got it. Their menu has been focusing on showcasing local ingredients even before the idea became hip and trendy.

The restaurant is located just next door to Janice Beaton Cheese and as such have access to a huge list of amazing cheeses. Whats nice about the cheese and charcuterie board is that each cheese and meat is pared with its own special accompaniment. Although I can't remember everything that we ordered, I do recall the bacon jam was sweet, savoury and great spread on the toasted bread.

Our favourite main course had to have been the Broek Acres pork duet which included a crusted pork medallion served over a sweet potato mash and a crispy pork belly served over an apple and carrot slaw. The pork medallion was tender and juicy while the pork belly melted in our mouth. The apple and sweet potato were familiar and satisfying flavour parings with the pork.

The Silver Sage strip steak served with chimichurri sauce was another great dish with classic flavours. You really can't go wrong with a tender, perfectly cooked steak and the herbaceous argentinian sauce made from parsley, garlic, oregano, olive oil and vinegar.

When it comes to duck at restaurants, you often only see the breast being served. When it's cooked medium rare as it often is at fancy restaurants, the meat can be a bit chewy and tough. The duck dish here at Farm though was on the opposite end of the spectrum. Instead of the breast, we were served the dark meat which was slowly cooked, making for super tender meat and a really crispy skin.  The asian slaw and Thai peanut sauce were both sweet and just a little bit tart.

For fish lovers out there, the arctic char served with a warm citrus Broxburn tomato and kale salad is the way to go. The dish was light but satisfying at the same time. 

We also had the mac n' cheese, which we forgot to photograph.  This dish was bland and lacking flavour but very creamy and cheesy. Perhaps a sharper cheese could have improved the flavour?  

For dessert, we had the blueberry cheesecake and the carrot cake which were both excellent, but what really left a lasting impression were the fresh out of the oven chocolate chip cookies. The cookies were soft and just the right amount of chewiness. 

Farm isn't one of our top choices to dine in Calgary, but overall we were impressed by the quality of the ingredients and the flavours were familiar and comfortable.  

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