La Mano pasta at First Street Market in Calgary on March 24.Todd Korol/The Globe and Mail
At the tail end of 2021, I travelled to Europe for the first time in nearly three years. When I touched down in Lisbon, I almost became verklempt. I hopped into a cab, tossed my bags in my hotel room and headed straight for Time Out Market Lisbon.
Opened in 2014, this gigantic food hall – packed with unique food and drink options as well as a fresh market and specialty food and wine shops – was the catalyst to the food hall trend that is now felt around the globe. A bit late to the trend, though still to much fanfare, Calgary’s first true contemporary food hall First Street Market opened last October.
Owned and developed by Western Securities Ltd. and located on 1st Street SW, the market houses a wide array of food vendors in a strikingly designed space. It is brimming with natural light, white tiled counters and primary-green finishings throughout. Tucked into the west end of the market is a cool grey marble-topped bar and the main seating area. Floor-to-ceiling windows look out onto the small park that’s nestled between 13th and 14th Avenue SW.
All of this to say, this place will soon be bustling indoors and outdoors once the warmer temperatures of spring are here.
Vegetable kati roll from Saffron Street at First Street Market.Todd Korol/The Globe and Mail
Some vendors are either new locations or offshoots of already existing and notable concepts such as Alforno, Actually Pretty Good, Moose and Poncho and Pure Street Food (owned by Pure Kitchen and Bar) while others such as Saffron Street, Friends with Benedicts and Raw By Robyn are new.
The main thing to love about a market concept like this is variety. Essentially, First Street Market is an amped-up food court where you can drink alcoholic beverages. You want a glass of rosé with your birria tacos from Moose while your friend sips a local lager and forks into a pastry from Alforno? Sure, why not.
After visiting the market numerous times over the past few months, I have thoroughly come to enjoy Saffron Street. Run by chefs Rahul Kanojia and Jesse Mann, the booth offers up plenty of fun Indian street food dishes including delicious kathi rolls. The fried paneer variety hits the spot especially well and sees the soft cheese tossed with cabbage, peppers and carrots, wrapped in a warm paratha and then served with tamarind and mint chutneys for dipping. The myriad of textures and tanginess of the chutneys makes for a dish that you can’t stop eating.
Bartender Ed Hale pours wine at The Bar in the First Street Market.Todd Korol/The Globe and Mail
For a smaller snack from Saffron, one can never go wrong with the one-bite wonders that are dahi puri. Small crispy orbs (think teeny papadam) are filled with a mix of potato, chickpeas and onion along with tamarind and mint chutney, yogurt, pomegranate seeds and cilantro. It is the perfect little bite and I bet you can’t have just one.
Another favourite, which should come as no surprise to any self-proclaimed Vietnamese cuisine lovers out there, is Pure Street Food. Chef Lam Pham has created a cult-like following over the years for a variety of his dishes at his main restaurant, Pure Modern Asian Kitchen and Bar, such as his pot au pho (a homey spin on the French pot-au-feu with beef shank, beef rib and brisket), but his most famous is the savoury sesame doughnut stuffed with char siu pork and pickled vegetables.
At Pure Street Food, he amps up said delicious menu item by offering it in multiple variations, including one with a lemongrass chili tofu filling and, my personal favourite, the spicy bo kho brisket, an ode to a traditional Vietnamese stew. Warming spices found in bo kho, such as star anise, are perfectly welcomed in this humble “doughnut” stuffed with slices of brisket, aioli, basil pesto and pickled vegetables.
Always cut in half, this is a perfect dish to share, and be impressed by, without feeling too full to try other items around the market.
Chicken Pho and a sesame doughnut from Pure Street Food.Todd Korol/The Globe and Mail
While the market’s bar may not win any awards for the best-made cocktails in town – and let’s be honest, it is hard to compete with competition on 1st Street SW such as Proof, Shelter and The Tea House – it does get plenty of points for economical pricing with $7 glasses of wine and two-ounce drinks for a mere $9. Things get even cheaper at happy hour, so seeing the bar space getting packed between 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. should come as no surprise.
After a slow start in the fall of 2021, largely because of a lack of a liquor licence for the first while, it is nice to see First Street Market getting busier these days. Its diverse range of offerings and inviting layout makes for a central space that I think most Calgarians – with family in town, or on a first date, or catching up with a friend or otherwise – can truly enjoy.
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Editor’s note: A previous version of this story incorrectly said Calgary’s First Street Market is owned by Canadian Rocky Mountain Resorts. In fact, it is owned by Western Securities Ltd.