Hello from Calgary: A Delicious Dinner at Il Giardino

After catching a pleasant and needed rest at the historic Twin Gables Bed and Breakfast we embark to look around the immediate neighbourhood, the restaurant area on 4th Street. We had arrived likely to walk, but considering I used to be really sick with the aweful chest cold within the last day or two, going into the cold evening air had me a little leery. Henry through the Twin Gables was really kind to provide us a drive a number of blocks to a restaurant called Il Giardino, one of the locations that had come strongly recommended just for this area from Tourism Calgary. We entered a Mediterranean-looking restaurant that was just packed with people. We sat down at the cozy table and had an opportunity to invest some time together with the owner, Mike Ciccaglione, with his fantastic restaurant manager Dorothy, more information about this establishment. Wherever I go I attempt to get the human stories, and boy, was I set for a unique one here. Some recognize that I needed linked to certainly one of Calgary's most successful entrepreneurs, an actual immigrant success story.

Mike was born from the Italian region of Molise and left Italy whilst was 16 years to analyze business administration and restaurant and hotel management in Switzerland. He came to Canada in 1962 following that they worked in several hotels and restaurants in Calgary and Banff. He also studied English as being a second language. In 1967 he opened his first restaurant referred to as Prairie Dog Inn which initially specialized in Mexican food. Just as if that wasn't enough, Mike proceeded to spread out the Mexican Village chain of fastfood restaurants in numerous stores as well as in 1980 he opened the "Pied Pickle" chain.

Logically he decided to expand his business to encompass the availability and distribution of tortillas along with other Mexican foods: El Molino food manufacturing came to be. The corporation manufacturers Mexican food items and also pizzas and Italian pasta dishes and distributes its products to warehouses in Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver, Winnipeg, Toronto and Montreal.

In 1998 Mike opened "Il Giardino" (the best in Italian food and fun), a cafe or restaurant where all of the dishes were home-cooked had for ages been his big dream. Whenever we walked into this restaurant I had no clue that individuals we may meet this type of successful Canadian entrepreneur. Concurrently, you'd can't predict it - Mike walks around in casual clothing, laughs and smiles a great deal and try to keeps his eyes offered to check into his guests' enjoyment. During our conversation they got up several times to greet or forget guests and Dorothy referred to him like a "big flirt". It can be plainly obvious that even at 65 years, Mike loves what he is doing and Dorothy told us he will the rounds throughout his various Calgary businesses on a regular basis. Mike is just one of those individuals who loves his work and constantly includes a twinkle in their eyes.

Dorothy comes with a interesting story herself: she actually is originally from Montreal and her husband, an engineer from the oil industry, hails from England. Before Calgary they have got lived in Montreal, St. John's / Newfoundland, and also Jakarta where they wound up as refugees in Singapore for the month during President Suharto's coup. Description of how the settled in a calmer life in Calgary. Mike attributes his success to a strong commitment to quality ingredients and preparation, and he credits great support from his wife Lucy, his daughter Judy and his awesome son Michael Jr. for a lot of his fortune and he hopes any particular one day his children will take over. He also recognizes the significance of his employees as being a critical success factor. He told us which he feels it is essential to reward his employees and lots of in the staff on the Il smugglers are already there 10 and much more years. A couple, the evening manager along with the hostess, have Fifteen years of service (A few years at Il Giardino and 10 years with the Pied Pickel) bewteen barefoot and shoes and Dorothy confirmed that people love the job here. Mike says "You're nobody until people cause you to be somebody", this is exactly why treats his employees well and appreciates his winning team.

The building of Il Giardino is often a story by itself: Mike designed the restaurant and something of his long-time friends, Walter Petrin, did all the brickwork while his other great friend Vic Finot was the typical contractor. Every Friday he and the two special friends celebration to solve the difficulties around the globe. Curiously, the following day the down sides start all over again.

Outside work Mike would rather spend more time with friends, a few of whom he's famous for Forty years now. His folks are very supportive of him and his wife dedicates plenty of her time for it to charitable work. Mike also supports the United Way and various fundraising drives for cancers of the breast along with the Calgary Children's Hospital.

He still dates back to Italy once in a while although he states he's seen just about everything in the home country. Thus he could be thinking of touring places like Asia, Africa and Latin America provided that it can be safe and fairly clean. Mike loves soccer and he even accustomed to possess a local football team that has been called the El Molinos Dinos. Another one of Mike's big passions is his Ferrari and the man asserted every now and then while he puts it on discount sales in order to see the interest on the part of potential purchasers. But when it comes down to it he really has no intention of selling it.

But that's not all: Mike can be a celebrity at the same time! He has had roles in "Honey, I Shrunk The Kids" plus "Cool Runnings". This indicates Mike is definitely up to something, so when you listen to his report on endeavours this indicates incredible that certain person will get all of this done.

Mike embodies hospitality and while we had arrived there he insisted that people obtain a real taste of the items his kitchen can perform. First of all we've got to sample Il Giardino's soups: I tasted a Stracchiatelle egg drop soup while my husband got the "Brodo con Polpettine e Pasta" (chicken broth with tiny meatballs and pasta). I quickly have got to sample a flavor of Il Giardino's famous Calamari (extremely tasty and tender) while Nigel had their Bruschetta bread. We received a sampler plate of appetizers - Antipasto Italiano (prosciutto with melon). That wasn't all: additionally we had a taste of Il Giardino's home-made Gnocchi della Nonna which, by the way, are home-made by Mike's 70 years old sister. Then, we couldn't accept it, the main course arrived: a sampler plate of three of Il Giardino's specialties: Pollo ai Funghi (chicken in a white wine sauce topped with mushrooms), Piccata al Limone (veal in lemon and white wine sauce), and Agnello al Rosmarino (rack of lamb within a rosemary, mint and burgandy or merlot wine sauce). I'm not really usually a huge meat eater, however, these dishes were phenomenal, the meat was tender, the sauces very tasty without having to be overpowering. Mike topped a wonderful meal off with a tasting of the extremely famous Italian desert: tira misu.