SAIT Culinary Campus

This place has the BEST bakery! I go once a week and buy a whole bunch of stuff. The staff are so sweet too. Def my favourite bakery in Calgary. Great work guys

I went to Rush Hour: Tequila Shrimp Fajitas yesterday after work. Chef Michael Mandato, from New York, walked a small group of us through several steps to make the fresh, Mexican dish with spicy roasted tomato salsa.
Not only did we learn proper knife technique for prepping vegetables and shrimp, Mandato showed us how to layout your workspace for efficiency, use the range to grill jalapenos, and oven to roast and skin tomatoes. We were able to taste the dish once it was ready. Since we were a small group there was enough for everyone.
My only criticism is that the hands-​on experience wasn’t there. It was a watch-​and-​learn style of class.
Afterwards, Mandato gave us all of the ingredients to take home to cook PLUS a bonus two loaves of artisan bread baked that day. At $ 45, this class was a steal! Check it out if you want to avoid traffic, learn something new, and listen to a native New Yorker talk about good food.

I actually really like this place. The key is to come early or before 1:30PM. In the past whenever I arrive too late, most of the stations are closed and there isn’t much left selection wise. Since I moved to Calgary, I’ve been looking for a place to replace Whole Foods for take-​away food. I like SAIT more for the packaged salads, sandwiches, and freshly made sandwiches. Ingredients are fresher and more «gourmet» than Whole Foods and its seems better prepared.
I’ll have to get around to trying the freshly prepared dishes. Last time I was there I saw perogies, Pad Thai, and pappadelle with pork ragu. All around the $ 10 mark. Fair prices for this type of food.

My sister brought me some cookies, I think its double chocolate chip cookie, she brought me 5 PCs… now my husband loves… I mean LOVES chocolate. He usually finishes everything, maybe leave me a piece… Sometimes half.
Well, when he decided to have some, he could only eat 1 ½ cookie. It is that rich that he couldn’t have anymore.
It took me the whole weekend to finish 2 pcs. it was really good, its so rich and HUGE that I couldn’t finish it in 1 sitting.
Don’t get me wrong, its absolutely delicious. This is the best cookie I’ve ever had. I shall wait for my sis to get me more… and for sure I will make another review on it.

This is an interesting take away place in the heart of downtown. It is staffed with SAIT students and all the products are fresh in house made. The taste of the salad and sandwich were spot on and I was also able to pick up a loaf of fresh bread for later. I would have given it 5 stars but it is a little pricy. At least the quality isn’t lacking though!
I’m looking forward to exploring some cooking classes at this location. They even have a dinner class that starts after work.

So good and only slightly more expensive than hitting up the food court.
There are four stations: rotisserie, braise, sauté and boulangerie, with a pre-​set menu, which is posted online.
I ordered the cheese ravioli w/​lemon artichoke cream. A fairly easy decision since there werent any other vegetarian options. There may have been a salad for the vegans but this isn’t the place for picky eaters. The ravioli was amazing! Dream worthy good. Feedback from friends about the meat dishes were also very positive.
For the vegetarians, I recommend check the online menu and if they have a vegetarian item on the menu run don’t walk. It’s worth it!

Just dropped by for a quick lunch. SAIT offers two soups each day and luckily one available today is cream of broccoli. The bowl was packed with all sorts of pieces of while the cream part was lighter — the combo. Get there early as this space fills up and selections get picked over.
The location is set up well with numerous check-​outs with one being dedicated for cash only. The space is clean, well lit and has a real buzz amongst the large industrial sized appliances and serving stations.
This concept is brilliant as SAIT students are operating many of the preparation functions while being immersed in the academic side of cooking. If you visit the SAIT website you will note that many of the instructors are internationally traveled culinary professionals — this level of instructor will certainly ensure a graduate well suited for the job market.

I come here for lunch almost every day. Balanced, nutritious hot meals that change every day. I don’t, but you can check their menu online to see whats on for the day. There are four types every day: hot sandwich, pasta, sauté, and roasted something.
$ 8-​$ 9 for a take away meal is more expensive than taco time, but infinitely more fulfilling.
And if you like baked desserts. OMG, just swing by.
Only complaint is your options are limited if you’re veg.

I was expecting something better from their students… If they are going to be chefs they should be great… I have had the beef sub and it had a lack of flavor… The lamb sub was not terrible, but just ok… To come here… I would prefer a franchise… And I am not a big fan of franchises… But they definitely should improve…

This place opened late last year and it was all the rage (and still is!) Hot lunches are available from 11AM-​1PM and they have 3 stations (rotisserie, braise and sauté) and the menu changes daily.
I always go with the sauté which are usually pasta dishes and have never been disappointed. The last time I was here I had the teriyaki shrimp with udon noodles and I honestly debated getting a second serving regardless of the fact that I was full!
They offer cooking classes at this location which is pretty cool, I’ve debated signing up since it would be so easy to head here after work. I took a few cooking courses at the main campus years ago and learned a lot and had so much fun. They even host group events, so I know what my suggestion will be for our next team building!

This is a no brainer… in a sea of boring, mall food court choices and over priced sit downs, corporate Calgary in the core has a new island oasis for gourmet quality at easy on the wallet prices.
The culinary students and instructors are keen to make the experience special and will discuss presentation and techniques if you’re so inclined. The only issue is that you have to get there fairly early as menu items tend to sell out pretty fast. That happened to me today with their Manhattan Clam Chowder. Live and learn and queue up when they open.
While I ordered a thai pork sandwich, there were some tempting baked goods with their Cinnamon Buns coming in at only $ 1.50 each. I ask where else in the city you’d be able to get prices like that? The Prime Rib sandwich looked divine with its delicately sliced rare strips of beef but I went on the suggestion of the chef preparing both and he certainly didn’t steer me wrong. There are some packaged sides and drinks offered as well. I didn’t check out the prices however the sub set me back $ 8.95, which is a normal spend for me at places like Subway or Quiznos for example.
I urge you to try it and support SAIT and its students pursuing their culinary dreams. You’ll get a tasty lunch at a fair price and you’ll be giving back to our community.

One of my co-​workers was practically vibrating after finding out SAIT had opened a campus downtown. So of course I was willing to tag along and check it out. I’ve heard great things about the culinary school at SAIT although I’d never experienced it even after attending school there for 2 years. I was obviously busy drinking and not eating.
My co-​worker and I ventured over to Scotia Centre to grab lunch one day. The SAIT campus here is new, open, bright and clean. It does lack any sort of ambiance like you get at Sunterra. Here you have a different stations serving desserts, soup, sandwiches, etc. You mosey on up, order, they cut you a slab of meat or prepare your sandwich and then you take it to the front and pay. Easy concept. I was not impressed with their beef barley soup I had. The dinner roll was good though. The prices are above average in comparison to Sunterra and Olly’s.
I will probably come back to try something else. Then again maybe I won’t. Honestly I think it’s over rated.

I’d been meaning to check this place out since I heard it opened a few months ago and finally made the trip.
It was busy when I got there (a weekday lunch hour to be fair) but the lines are mostly at the cash and the delay wasn’t the students doing the cooking.
I enjoyed going up to the food stations and watching the food made to order. It reminds me of the ULTRA fancy catered parties/​buffets/​events that do chief manned food stations… which is always a treat.
I went to the sauté station and the special was a pasta. I liked the fancier ingredients — capers, sundried tomatoes ect. I also stopped by the bakery and got dessert. I found it a bit too oily but I often do when it’s sauteed and the flavors made up for it. The deserts were good, less chocolaty than I had hopped but still good eating.
I hope they do something to streamline the checkout process because that took too long but that’s really to only down point to going during a very busy time.
Overall you will find food more upscale than typical food fare grub but less expensive and faster than a sit down restaurant.
I’m not here a lot during the hours they are open, but I would certainly not hesitate to stop in again next time I’m around.

I didn’t even know this kind of place existed! Hidden in the Scotia Center, I saw this place offering Moroccan Lamb Subs for a fairly reasonable price, figured I’d have a try because well, the aroma from this place was heavenly. I just caught them as they were opening for the day. Advantage!
They prepare your lunch right there in front of you, very polite chefs as well, being taught as they went along by other chefs.
Quite the charming place to grab lunch! The Moroccan lamb was fantastic! Nice and tender, and they put Red Onion Slaw in with some Mayo also, but not too much mayo so it wasn’t overpowering, quite the nice balance of cream and spices they’ve perfected here!
Noticed they have premade lunches as well you can buy if you don’t want to wait to watch them prepare your lunch for you (Highly recommend it though, the banter you get while it’s being prepared is fantastic, add to the bonus that you know your sandwich is freshly made!)
Only gripe is the sodas are a little on the pricey side here. But highly recommend the subs!
Remind me to try this again when I’m downtown!

Another great lunch place to eat that’s not within my arm’s reach.
I stumbled in here on a day I wasn’t even planning on eating lunch. But a chance to relive college lunch cafeteria nostalgia? Hell yes.
I had their thai seasoned roast pork sandwich and a bean/​bacon soup. It’ was done well and their culinary students presented each dish as if they were offering something they invented for their cookbook. Reminds me of my younger College self. The prices were a bit higher compared to campus lunch prices. But then again I’m comparing this to the lunch experiences I had 3 – 4 years ago.
They have several stations: sandwiches, lunch mains, pastrys… if I had worked nearby I would’ve visited this place several times just for the sake of making this review more robust.
Culinary Campus also had a market that had the odd high-​end ingredient like salt and peppercorns from italy, to kitchen gadgets, and even their own cook-​at-​home-​concoction.
And so enters the tragic part of this review.
With a big smile on my face I skipped to the nearest table with a bag filled with my sandwich, soup, and bottle of butter chicken sauce. Suddenly the bag fell, shattering the butter chicken and spilling sauce and shards of glass all over my lunch. I looked around and met the cold stares from a bunch of suits and skirts. I didn’t cry like a child, I just kicked myself for my own clumsiness and salvaged the sandwich and soup, risking the threat of broken-​glass ingestion for the glory of cuisine!

We went to the Culinary Campus for a team building function and we all LOVED it!
The staff was amazing! Always helpful and always a smile on their face!
We learned some new techniques and had a lot of laughs. We also had a team with a bunch of different food preferences and allergies and they were very accommodating with them all!
The food was great, the staff were awesome and everyone is still talking about it so I would absolutely recommend it and looking at a way to do it again!

This place reminds me of a small scale Sunterra with the stations that serve various types of food. It’s nice to see something new in the downtown Core though. I’m not a huge fan of alwasy going to restaurants, so when i want to pick up something quick, and a bit healthier, this works.
When i went, they were sort of low, on the grab-​and-​go type foods, but I managed to pick up a salad, sandwich, and pain au chocolat.
The salad was excellent (it even had quail eggs in it!), although the dressing was unimpressive, and i can’t even fathom what it was.
The sandwhich was good as well, but the pain au chocolat was amazing. It tasted just as good as any upscale bakery would have, for a much lower price.
I’m excited to try the actual stations, and see what the hot meals taste like.

We saw this place while walking back to work yesterday. It is located
where the old Rexall is at Scotia Center. I decided to try it for
lunch today. It is cafeteria style, with fridges set up with salads
and drinks. There are four stations for food as well. Rotisserie,
Sauté and Braise with two daily choices each station.
Boulangerie/​Patisserie with pastries, tarts, and other baked goods.
The prices are reasonable, my Penne with shrimp and white fish came in
a nice sized portion for $ 7. You can grab a cheese bun to go at
$ 0.75, croissant at $ 2, and a nice dessert tart at $ 3.5.