I love the history behind this building and I think that this is a brilliant incarnation of the space.
My GF and I went for our four year anniversary dinner and loved it. She had "The Burger" with morel mushroom ragout & cheese curds and I had the Spring Creek "Bavette" steak with a cheddar crust and onion gravy.
Because we always share at least a bite of each other's dishes, I can say that they were both amazing. The burger was extremely juicy and the morels and curds added a really unique flavour. The steak was cooked perfectly and the cheddar crust wasn't overpowering. In fact, the dish had really subtle flavours that all worked well together, which is a bit of a feat when you are dealing with cheddar, spinach and onions.
We finished off the meal with peach cobbler and two espressos. The dessert wasn't crazy big which was nice because we didn't walk out feeling stuffed.
Have a look at their full menu here: http://www.modelmilk.ca/themenu.html
We had a couple of glasses of wine with dinner and the bill came to about $100, which is a great price for an amazing meal.
I've heard that they also have a great selection of drinks and a unique family style Sunday dinner with a new menu every week. I'll definitely be back to check out both.
Here's the info on their family-style Sunday dinner: http://www.modelmilk.ca/sundaysupper.html
I've also heard that the Model Milk building is haunted - although I cannot confirm or deny that. :)
Below is an interesting round-up of the history of the building:
Taken from here: http://www.calgaryheritage.org/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=237
- In 1932 rancher James Colpitts started a company to market milk from his dairy farm in Springbank.
- In 1934 he moved into this building and established a modern processing plant.
- Installed a high temperature pasteurization system developed in England.
- Set up on three floors for production methods using gravity to their advantage.
- No wood was used in the construction of this building - sanitation reasons.
- Made entirely of brick, very expensive during the depression.
- Milk bottles decorate the building - the idea of contractor Fred Jones. Tombstone masons probably made these.
- First dairy to use trucks for distribution. In the 1930s 5 trucks delivered milk, at the peak of business they had 85 trucks.
- In the 1960s, it was the largest producing dairy in Alberta.
- Sold to Palm Dairies in 1965
- For many years the dairy served milkshakes and 5 cent ice cream cones from its own milk bar