Lunch ‘n Learn with charbar restaurant, Sidewalk Citizen Bakery and Phil & Sebastian Coffee 

Charbar Co-Chef and Co-Owner John Jackson poses with TMAC AB & NWT members & guests on Simmons Building rooftop (Photo Credit: Jody Robbins)

Over twenty-five TMAC AB & NWT members had a visit with "The Butcher, the Baker and the Coffee Maker" at the Simmons Building on Calgary's vibrant East Village. This former feather mattress factory has now become the cornerstone of the area's redevelopment.

It's the gathering place that John Jackson and Connie DeSouza from charbar, Aviv Fried from Sidewalk Citizen Bakery and the team at Phil and Sebastian Coffee Roasters hoped it would be when they won out over 200 other potential developers for the space.

The cozy red brick and weathered beams of this 103 year old heritage building are complemented by state of the art facilities.

TMAC AB & NWT members Deb Cummings, Lisa Monforton and Carol Patterson show restraint before devouring decadent desserts from Sidewalk Citizen Bakery (Photo Credit: Debra Smith)

Charbar has an entire basement room dedicated to the proper dehydration of grass fed heritage longhorn beef.  On the main floor, an open concept kitchen with a 50 kilogram steel Argentinian grill called a "parilla" reflects charbar's Italian and Spanish influences.  Across the hall, Sidewalk Citizen creates luscious pastries, (including gluten free brownies), and the exotic sandwiches and breads that have put them on every foodie's radar.

Phil and Sebastian's coffee was the perfect complement to dessert and as co-founder Phil Robertson says "If you need cream and sugar, you need to be drinking a different kind of coffee."  

Phil Robertson of Phil & Sebastian (Photo Credit: Debra Smith)

We also had a chance to take the elevator to The Rooftop Bar to enjoy the outstanding view of the river and the St. Patrick's Island redevelopment.

It was a great networking opportunity and a chance to meet this hyper-local community of friends. 

Thank you to everyone involved, Noelle Aune, our munch and mingle coordinator, and Stephanie Jo from Immedia.