If you watched this past season of Top Chef Canada, you know that Elycia Ross cooks with her heart on her sleeve. Through passion, perseverance, and hard work, Ross’s food truck, Lil’ Truck on the Prairie has become a staple within the Calgary culinary community, receiving nominations for both being the best chef and best food truck in the city by award organizations.
In addition to providing Calgarians with Prairie-focused gourmet comfort food on the go, Ross is a fierce advocate for the battle against systemic hate and toxicity in the food industry, while encouraging the spread of love and joy through her eclectic and whimsical cuisine.
Now that Calgary restaurants are starting to reopen, we decided to sit down with the award-winning chef to find out where she likes to go for food and drink in her home base when she’s not busy behind the Lil’ Truck on the Prairie counter.
Breakfast
I love picking up a latte and a bagel from Café Rosso in Inglewood, followed by a walk around the river. The coffee is consistently good, and they supply their bagels from Bagelinos (the best bagels in YYC).
Lunch
Tacos Mexico. It’s authentic Mexican food and has the best margaritas. It’s the perfect spot for casual lunch with friends, and is my favourite meeting spot with my business partners.
Dinner
Bridgette Bar has an incredible menu that’s always executed spot-on, and the staff--front and back--have a fun, warm vibe.
Drinks
The cocktail menu at Milk Tiger is my favourite in the city. They have a cute secluded patio, which is great, but since they haven't reopened for dine-in services yet, I'd say Shiki Menya or Red's Diner.
