Exploring Local: OEB

I don’t think I need to say this again, but if I could eat brunch every day for the rest of my life, I would die happy. This means that you all will get to see a lot of breakfast and brunch locations around town. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Especially after a night out listening to some great live music and enjoying the simple company of other human beings. For that reason, it better be good. One of the staples here in Calgary for the last 13 years has been a place called OEB. I have never had the opportunity to visit it until this past weekend though. Better late than never right?

OEB has been a breakfast and brunch meeting place in Calgary here since 2009 and has since spread all over North America. It was started by Mauro Martina. He was born in Italy and is classically trained. That training shows itself in the menu and in the food as well. OEB is a farm to table concept and the location not only uses locally produced food, it also wells locally produced eggs, honey, and various charcuterie items.

As mentioned above, a hearty breakfast is good for a lively night out. This was the case for this visit. There was some good cheer that was enjoyed and as such, something more on the carb heavy side was needed. OEB has a whole host of things called “Breakfast Poutines” and if that doesn’t set you right after some evening libations, I don’t know what will. I had the soul in a bowl that was comprised of poached eggs, Saint Cyrille curdsslow cooked bacon lardons, duck fat fried potato wedges, and probably the best hollandaise sauce I’ve had in a long time. The great thing about these poutines, is that you can substitute the potatoes for half or all spinach or arugula. Arugula is always a great, slightly peppery addition to any dish. It’s pretty underrated and I’m glad to see it being used more here in Alberta.

My brunch partner got the Gold Digga. Now, this is a hearty dish. It has Poached eggs, Berkshire roast pork, Saint Cyrille curds, brown butter hollandaise and black truffles. Now, Truffles are something that are VERY hit and miss for my. They are a strong flavour and I find that most chefs will use them simply because they would like to up the perceived value of a meal or dish. They tend to overpower what I’m easting and really take away from the meal as a whole. However, truffle and potatoes is a match made in heaven. Naturally it would go really well with the duck fat fried potato wedges in this dish. *This is a personal opinion and in no way based in any kind of culinary training or professionalism*

The menu is diverse and deep and will take more than one visit to get through but they have options for every dietary need or restriction. No matter what you’re eating, you can find something here.

They are busy but you are able to join the waitlist before you arrive and the check in process was smooth and easy. We didn’t wait more than 3 minutes at the restaurant to be sat. The servers were all professional and up beat and the food came quickly as well. They are also licensed for those of you that like to wash their brunch down with some hair of the dog.

it’s worth the wait in the morning to get a table at any of the locations. If you want to check one of the many Calgary locations out you can find the full list here.