{Dining out: Spit roasted porchetta sandwich and creamy gouda cornmeal at Boxwood Cafe}
It was a gloomy, cold and rainy day today in Calgary… I was craving something warm and comforting so I strolled over to Central Memorial Park for a solo lunch…
…to grab a bite at the long-awaited Boxwood Cafe (owned by River Cafe)…
..serving local, seasonal and sustainable food that is real and wholesome. Open 7 days a week for lunch and dinner…
I’ve been watching this for months eagerly awaiting its opening…and today was OPENING DAY 😀
I arrived at about 12:15pm and was greeted by a man at the front door who introduced me to the cafe. I headed over to the front counter and scanned the menu for what to order (look how cute those illustrations are).
After I put in my order and paid, I sat myself at a long table that was lined with comfy charcoal fabric covered stools..There were carafes of water and glasses at every table setting.. and a nice rosemary plant in the background..a great view of the park too..
To satisfy my hungry belly I ate about half of this lovely freshly baked raspberry lemon muffin with oatmeal streusel ($3) and saved the other half for an afternoon snack…
The outside was crispy and chewy from the sugar and oatmeal caramelized on the top and the inside was moist and chock full of fresh raspberries and fragrant tendrils of lemon zest…bliss..
About 5 minutes later, my lunch arrived. A freshly shaved Spragg Farm spit roasted porchetta sandwich with caramelized cabbage and onions, baby arugula in between a fresh red fife ciabatta bun..
..oh..my..goodness..dieters avert your eyes. Layered with moist marbled slices of pork, each lined with a crispy bit of the pork skin. This was a bit too much on the fatty side for my liking but I did enjoy the flavours and simplicity of the sandwich. The ciabatta tasted like it was fresh out of the oven.. mmmm..
To warm me up on this cold day, I had a side of their warm and creamy cornmeal with aged sylvan star gouda ($6). It was served in this adorable buttercup yellow mini dutch oven.
I loved the texture of the cornmeal, and in each spoonful I could see swirls of the melted creamy gouda…
Overall, a lovely experience, I was particularly impressed since it was their first day open and everything went smoothly. The staff was quick, friendly and efficient and the restaurant has a modern rustic cabin feel which I loved. The contrast of the multicoloured backsplash of the kitchen with the long beams of wood is gorgeous. Another great feature is the huge skylight in the middle of the cafe which lets the natural light in..
Some other noteworthy dishes I’m going to try next time:
- PV Farm heritage roasted chicken sandwich ($10) cooked on their own shiny new rotisserie
- freshly made oatmeal chocolate chunk cranberry cookies ($2)
- mint or saskatoon berry ice cream sandwiches!! ($5)
The boy has been looking forward to eating here too, so for date night on Friday we’ll be stopping here again, but for dinner.. all the entrees are around $15, very reasonable..stay tuned..
Chocolate & Ginger 
Yummmm… I definitely have to make it down there! Gorgeous environment too!
Thank you for the time you took to document your experience. Your pictures are wonderful! We are so pleased that you enjoyed your lunch with us! We appreciate all of the feedback and we are doing the best we can to satisfy our wonderful clientele.
What a way to revitalize the park! I didn’t even know that there was any sit-down restaurants in the park!
I just went there the other night with my boyfriend. It was absolutely delicious. We were both looking for something hearty and savory and we definitely got it. The view of the park is so cute.
I tried the Saskatoon Berry Ice Cream Sandwich. Oh my word, to die for. I highly suggest it.
Oh awesome, yes, i’ll be going back there soon. I love the atmosphere and I’ve been dying to try their ice cream sandwich. Will definitely give them a try next time 🙂