canadian fast food chains

After catching a pretty and a lot necessary relaxation at the historic Twin Gables Mattress and Breakfast we established off to discover the quick neighbourhood, the restaurant location on 4th Avenue. We ended up heading to stroll, but considering I experienced been definitely ill with an aweful upper body chilly in the very last handful of times, venturing out into the cold evening air had me a minimal leery. Henry from the Twin Gables was really type to supply us a push a handful of blocks up to a cafe identified as Il Giardino, a single of the destinations that had arrive really proposed for this area from Tourism Calgary.
We entered a Mediterranean-looking cafe that was just packed with people. We sat down at a cozy desk and had a possibility to expend some time with the proprietor, Mike Ciccaglione, and his cafe supervisor Dorothy, to discover out much more about this establishment. Wherever I go I consider to get the human tales, and boy, was I in for an appealing 1 listed here. I did not comprehend that I had connected with 1 of Calgary’s most successful business owners, a genuine immigrant results tale.

Mike was born in the Italian area of Molise and remaining Italy when he was 16 several years outdated to research organization administration and restaurant and lodge administration in Switzerland. He came to Canada in 1962 next which he labored in a selection of resorts and places to eat in Calgary and Banff. He also researched English as a 2nd language. In 1967 he opened his initial restaurant known as the Prairie Pet dog Inn which in the beginning specialised in Mexican food.
As if that was not enough, Mike went on to open up the Mexican Village chain of fast foods places to eat in several searching malls and in 1980 he opened the “Pied Pickle” chain.

Logically he determined to develop his enterprise to encompass the provide and distribution of tortillas and other Mexican foodstuff: El Molino food production was born. This corporation manufacturers Mexican food stuff merchandise as nicely as pizzas and Italian pasta dishes and distributes its merchandise to warehouses in Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver, Winnipeg, Toronto and Montreal.

In 1998 Mike opened “Il Giardino” (the final in Italian foodstuff and entertaining), a cafe where all the dishes have been home-cooked had often been his significant aspiration.
When we walked into this restaurant I had no strategy that we we would meet such a productive Canadian entrepreneur. At the same time, you would under no circumstances know it – Mike walks around in informal apparel, laughs and smiles a large amount and constantly retains his eyes open to look at on his guests’ pleasure. All through our discussion he acquired up quite a few periods to greet or say goodbye to attendees and Dorothy referred to him as a “big flirt”. It is plainly evident that even at 65 several years of age, Mike enjoys what he is carrying out and Dorothy instructed us that he does the rounds all through his numerous Calgary firms on a day by day foundation. Mike is a person of people persons who enjoys his operate and normally has a twinkle in his eyes.

Dorothy has an fascinating story herself: she is originally from Montreal and her spouse, an engineer in the oil industry, hails from England. Prior to Calgary they have lived in Montreal, St. John’s / Newfoundland, as effectively as Jakarta in which they ended up as refugees in Singapore for a thirty day period throughout President Suharto’s coup. Now they settled into a calmer life in Calgary.
Mike characteristics his good results to a robust motivation to high-quality elements and preparing, and he credits wonderful assist from his wife Lucy, his daughter Judy and his son Michael Jr. for a great deal of his fortune and he hopes that just one day his children will get around. He also acknowledges the value of his workforce as a critical good results factor. He advised us that he feels it’s very significant to reward his personnel and a lot of of the personnel at the Il Giardino Restaurant have been there 10 and more several years. A youthful couple, the evening manager and the hostess, have 15 a long time of company (5 a long time at Il Giardino and 10 a long time at the Pied Pickel) amongst them and Dorothy confirmed that men and women definitely love the operate in this article. Mike states “You are no one until folks make you anyone”, that’s why treats his workforce properly and appreciates his profitable group.

The development of Il Giardino is a story in by itself: Mike created the cafe and one particular of his extended-time mates, Walter Petrin, did all the brickwork while his other excellent good friend Vic Finot was the normal contractor. Each individual Friday he and these two distinctive pals get alongside one another to remedy the complications of the world. Unusually plenty of, the up coming day the challenges start all more than all over again.

Exterior of perform Mike loves to shell out time with pals, some of whom he has known for 40 yrs now. His family members is pretty supportive of him and his wife dedicates a ton of her time to charitable operate. Mike also supports the United Way and a variety of fundraising drives for breast most cancers and the Calgary Children’s Hospital.

He however goes back to Italy just about every as soon as in a when though he states he is seen practically everything in his property state. So now he is wondering of touring to sites like Asia, Africa and Latin The usa as long as it is safe and sound and moderately clear. Mike loves soccer and he even utilised to have a community soccer team that was termed the El Molinos Dinos. One more 1 of Mike’s big passions is his Ferrari and he mentioned that every at the time in a whilst he places it on sale just to see the fascination on the component of potential purchasers. But when it arrives down to it he definitely has no intention of advertising it.

But that’s not all: Mike is a film star as properly! He has experienced roles in “Honey, I Shrunk The Youngsters” as nicely as in “Great Runnings”. It looks Mike is generally up to something, and when you listen to his record of endeavours it would seem remarkable that a person man or woman can get all this accomplished.

Mike embodies hospitality and while we ended up there he insisted that we get a genuine style of what his kitchen area is capable of. For starters we bought to sample Il Giardino’s soups: I tasted a Stracchiatelle egg fall soup even though my partner received the “Brodo con Polpettine e Pasta” (chicken broth with little meatballs and pasta). Then I acquired to sample a style of Il Giardino’s famed Calamari (extremely delicious and tender) although Nigel had their Bruschetta bread. We also acquired a sampler plate of appetizers – Antipasto Italiano (prosciutto with melon).
That was not all: we also bought a flavor of Il Giardino’s property-designed Gnocchi della Nonna which, by the way, are property-produced by Mike’s 70 yr old sister. Then, we couldn’t believe that it, the most important program arrived: a sampler plate of 3 of Il Giardino’s specialties: Pollo ai Funghi (rooster breast in a white wine sauce topped with mushrooms), Piccata al Limone (veal in lemon and white wine sauce), and Agnello al Rosmarino (rack of lamb in a rosemary, mint and red wine sauce). I am not normally a huge meat eater, but these dishes were phenomenal, the meat was tender, the sauces quite tasty without having getting overpowering. Mike topped a incredible food off with a tasting of the most well known Italian desert: tira misu.

Without having exaggeration, our culinary working experience at Il Giardino ranks appropriate up there as a person of my ideal restaurant encounters of a everyday living-time, the foodstuff was that scrumptious. I love Italian food, and the individuals at Il Giardino unquestionably know how to prepare Italian delicacies. We experienced to take a doggy bag back to our mattress and breakfast, there was no way we could actually try to eat all this tasty food. There is no question that Il Giardino serves good, freshly designed food stuff. And even more so, it was a enjoyment to fulfill the creator powering this welcoming neighbourhood institution.