I love Cinnamon buns, and after a failing attempt to make some, I gave up and always reverted back to the delicious and fresh cinnamon buns at Cinnzeo from Southcentre. Not all Cinnzeo locations are a like, and I’ve tried a few… only a small handful of mall locations serve up fresh, perfectly spiced cinnamon buns!
Solara Resort & Spa in Canmore
Solara Resort & Spa is one of Bellstar‘s newest properties! It offers a new modern ambiance, and the interior decoration and design is very sleek, modern and masculine. The resort opened it’s doors to the public at the end of 2010, where it was loved by many – even with the amenities not completed. Today, the pool has opened, and the kids water play area, and some other, but I have not been back yet!
The resort is really warm, and quiet! The floors are cork flooring, which really softens any noise you may hear around! The patios/balconies are really large, and the space overall in any suite is really big and comfortable! It is an excellent resort to park yourself at! Solara offers complimentary secure underground parking with a car rinse stall for you to wash off all the highway pest!
My favourite part about my Solara experience would have to be the bathrooms. In our suite we stayed in, it had a lovely stand alone soaker tub that I took advantage of! After a long day of hike, my feet were tired, and really appreciated the tub. In the morning, I loved the walk in shower! It has a large rain shower faucet, as well as body jets!! You can use both either to relax after a long day, take a nice refreshing shower to start a long day, or just use the extra faucets to get wet, and rinsed as fast as you can!
Milestones – Stephen Avenue
We found ourselves at another Milestones, even though it’s not our favourite chain of restaurants. We arrived to Milestone to try the featured menu inspired from Top Chef Canada! As we watch this show on Food Network Canada, we want to try everything we can!!
Connie Desousa is a contestant on this show, as she works at Charcut – we went there and loved it! She won her appetizers of Pork Croquettes, and really wanted to try it! So, we did! The pork croquettes were really good, it was a pulled pork meatball, deep fried in crumbs — which made it really crispy on the outside, and tender & juicy inside! The plate of appetizers comes with 4 croquettes, and I must say, one of them were much smaller than the other 3 – but the taste was there! These croquettes also sat on top of an onion ring which was a smart way to hoist it up! The onion rings weren’t perfect, they weren’t crispy, but they are onion rings, and I like them!
Milestone’s is also known for their steaks, and with that said, we had to try that also! We ordered Certified Angus Beef – Top Sirloin with black peppercorn sauce. The steak was really good, however, the side of garlic mashed potatoes was terrible. It was a giant mountain of dry and hard potatoes, as though it has been sitting there all day… The steak was perfectly cooked, but the piece of meat wasn’t the best as it was rather tough. It was edible, and quite flavourful regardless!
I stuck to the Top chef inspired menu, so I ordered Roasted Sablefish with Seaweed Gnocchi which is white fish marinated in a sake, soy and honey glaze, and then grilled. It was paired with seaweed and Yukon gold potato gnocchi. In the pool of gnocchi, there were green beans, tamarind, lemon grass and ginger broth. The sablefish was perfectly cooked, and I enjoyed it greatly! The gnocci wasn’t soft and fluffy, but it was better than the garlic mashed potatoes! It was a nicely balanced dish.
Strawberry Shortcake with Vanilla Whipped Cream is a shortcake in a muffin form, topped with a sweet lemon curd and piled with fresh strawberries. Finished off with a vanilla infused whipped cream! I love home made whipped cream, so that was immediately in the top running of my favourite course just reading! This was a really creative dessert as the shortcake muffin was split between top and bottom, and they placed the top on the bottom creating a base. The lemon curd was quite tart, but was wonderful with the vanilla whipped cream! It was a dessert that tasted quite light, even though the shortcake was over baked and dry.
Milestones
107 8 Ave SE
Calgary, AB
Blackstone Mountain Lodge – Canmore, Alberta
I got to stay at Bellstar’s Blackstone Mountain Lodge, and I absolutely loved it! We ended up in a 2 bedroom suite, which was quite exciting! The suite was bigger than my condo at the time, and I really could see people living there for a season! I wish I could.
The 2 bedroom suite that I stayed in had a master bedroom with a King bed, and an en-suite bathroom. The second room had a queen bed, and a general bathroom. The kitchen was fully equipped with the basic cooking/eating utensils, which makes it an ideal place if you’re looking to do some cooking while you’re away in Canmore.
With that said, these suites also have washer/dryers which add to the convenience, and the use of Aveda Bathroom amenities makes the stay extra special!
The lovely outdoor heated pool wasn’t enjoyed by me, but it was definitely enjoyed by a lot of other guests. There are also 2 hot tubs beside the pool. I think the layout is great!
Chez Francois – Canmore, Alberta
We made it to Chez Francois one long weekend evening, and it turned out to be a fantastic place to eat!! We sat down, pretty late, and no one gave us any problems for coming in an hour and some before closing!
They started our evening with an awesome greeting from their friendly staff, and gave us some bread with duck pate. The bread was really fresh, and the pate was really tasty, smooth, and creamy! It was quite delicious.
We started off with Feuilleté d’Escargots which were escargots in puff pastry with a creamy herbs & garlic sauce, and it was really wonderful!! It’s been awhile since I had great escargot, and Chez Francois prepares it to perfection!
For the main, I enjoyed the Saumon Colbert which was poached salmon topped with shrimp and scallop mousse glazed with a Hollandaise sauce.
We also ordered the Poulet au Vinaigre de Framboise grain fed chicken breast light creamy raspberry vinegar sauce
With such a wonderful experience, we definitely will be returning, as we didn’t order a dessert since it was getting quite late. The best thing about Chez Francois, it’s opened for breakfast, lunch and dinner. We’ll find another opportunity to return again!
Chez Francois
1602 Bow Valley Trail
Canmore, AB
(403) 678-6111