Until next time Canadia!

Coming to the end of my time in Calgary was bitter sweet. I have made so many new friends, amazing contacts for future adventures and memories to last a lifetime! All the friends I’ve made are all in the industry both front and back of house, it was great having that connection with everyone. The kitchens I have worked in (between the three in the city) all had amazing teams, everyone is extremely motivating and really come together when anyone is in need, it felt exactly like a big crazy family.

"Friendsgiving" in Calgary

I really enjoyed my time in Calgary and would highly recommend going to Canada if not for placement at least for a visit to experience the culture and sights in the mountains. During my time out of the kitchen I did some sightseeing to the major tourist spots such as Banff national park and Lake Louise. Busses from the city on the weekends to Banff were 10 dollars and only takes an hour and a half to get there which was nice to have the option to escape to the mountains from time to time. 

If you can recall in my first blog post I had mentioned that I worked for a festival held in Calgary called Brewery and the Beast. The restaurant who had a tent right beside ours was called Shokunin. If you have watched The Final Table on Netflix you would know that this is the restaurant owned by one of the finalists of the show, Darren MacLean. I was introduced to Darren at the festival and even got the chance to dine in his restaurant before I left Calgary. It was a pretty cool experience to be able to sit at the chefs rail in the restaurant and watch him at work. The food was amazing (along with some surprise courses from the chef, benefit of having contacts 😉 ). The atmosphere in the place was really exciting as they had a full house most nights after the show aired. 

Once the Christmas season rolled in so did freezing temperatures and buckets of snow. It was a sight to see the whole city still being able to function normally in such weather but as I was told by every Calgarian “you aint see real snow yet”! Work got busy and I worked extra shifts in the function kitchen downtown for all the Christmas parties which included copious amounts of canapes and red bull but it was an amazing experience. 

In conclusion, I believe I reached all my aims during my time here. A personal key achievement of mine was successfully surviving in a completely new city/country, new culture which definitely helped me develop as a person, learn more about myself and really helped me improve my confidence. I’ve worked with ingredients and equipment I’ve never worked with before, learned new techniques and skills and feel more confident in the kitchen. I’m so grateful for the team and for having the opportunity to work in the establishments I did. 

See you in Venlo!

Danielle Kehoe