L’Epicerie

I come to L’Epicerie to allow myself to reminisce of my travels to France. As always, I enjoyed my salami sandwich.
I was a bit thrown off today however. The ownership appears to have changed. Now L’Epicerie is serving Korean food and French delicatessen cuisine for some odd reason. I think this takes away from the identity of L’Epicerie. Also, in the past, sandwiches enjoyed in house were always accompanied by a small salad. Not anymore. :(

While the food is good the service leaves a lot to be desired. The server could barely speak and understand English. She can’t really gives us any recommendations nor could she explain the various items clearly. We were there at 11:30am and they are already out of beef Wellington (without marking that off their board). Overall I would only buy items from here to take away and won’t come back for a sit down lunch!

Stepping into L’Epicerie, is like catching up with an old friend. The familiarity from the scents of fresh baguette and espresso, the excitement of new tastes and the exchange of smiles and greetings.
Unassuming, charming and warm, this deli has so many delicious treasures.
My favorite items (these are cured/​created in house)
The Salmon Gravlax
Pâté Pork with Pistache
Duck Rillettes
Butternut squash soup
Duck Foie-​gras Terrine
Black Olive Tapenade
Tarte aux Pommes (Apple Tart)
I know most people get their items to go, but I like to order an Americano (they use italian espresso), sit down and enjoy the atmosphere and food.
writeup on

I’ve spent the longest time making excuses to not eat a croque monsieur. I have no clue why I’ve done this to myself though.
I finally gave in and got one from l’epicerie. This place looked so cozy! The deli cases looked scrumptious as well. I will have to look into what items to get during a future visit.
The croque monsieur was a good size, the cashier offered to heat it up for me. The heat up did take a while though, but I didn’t mind as it gave me more time to look around. The fillings were so smooth and cheesy, it was simple and delicious. The sandwich here was cheaper than next door when I compared the prices right after.
Looking forward to trying their salmon gravlax my next visit as I’ve seen great reviews on it.

the salmon gravlax was interesting, the pork patte was tasty and the cheeses were mild to strong. Very minimal selection of anything and the place is tiny. the french sausage is 1 $ more than the belgium bakery next door, which also happens to have the exact same sausage roll. Dont bother buying anything here unless you are desperate.

Very slow service, mediocre food. Baguette is fine, but you can get good baguette many places in Calgary. Will not come back.

Great food, but ridiculously overpriced. Very small selection and $ 12 for a single duck confit leg is silly, even for Calgary. We paid $ 8 for 8 slices of Rosette de Lyon today — not again.

What a treat. I wish we had one of these establishments back at home. If you are into sandwiches, pâté, fois gras, or any other if these French goodies, this is the place to be. The man behind the counter hooked us up with samples and everything he gave us from the salmon gravlax to the pâté was wonderful!

My favourites from this place:
Gorgeously creamy veggie quiche with the perfect light and flaky crust — to die for.
Fluffiest creamiest cheesecake ever with walnuts in the soft crust.

Unique in Calgary, this is a modest French delicatessen with 6 or so tables, specializing in house made charcuterie. For eating in, L’Épicerie gets Paul’s coveted five stars for the combination of the price, quality and YYC rarity of the food, its presentation, and the great service. My tablemate and I like variety, so at the deli case we ordered half inch slices of the rabbit and 3 different pork terrines, along with a similarly scaled slice of truffled compound cheese roll and some ratatouille vegetables. After a few minutes, they arrived at our table accompanied by several dozen baguette slices, sliced cornichons, a pot of butter and a pot of Dijon. The manager threw in a complementary serving of duck rillette and said we had to try it.
Armed with a self-​serve pitcher of water, we dug into the salty selections before us. The rillette was very well executed — shredded duck in a medium of perfectly salted duck fat that was neither liquid-​greasy nor solid-​clumpy. The various terrines all had their own flavour profile, one more livery, one nutty, one reminiscent of creton, and the last distinctly rabbit. Here the cornichons and mustard complimented some nicely, while the butter and ratatouille were a better enhancer for the others. That is to say, the provided extras were much appreciated. The cheese roll was a tour de force for the nose and palate, with black truffles and Roquefort blue cheese mixed into an aged, slightly nutty firm cow’s cheese. This type of slow paced, strong-​flavoured-​make-​your-​own-​combos lunch is for Epicureans, not the health conscious, the impatient, or the delicate.
To switch up the palate we got a cappuccino and a piece of open-​face apple tart. Both were pretty good. The manager comped us a couple of large thimble sized pastries that I liken most to mini-​clafoutis, with cinnamoned exteriors and a custardy vanilla dough on the inside. The perfect bite to end a wonderful lunch. An even better end was the $ 36 bill, what I would consider excellent value given the food and service we got. I don’t think there are any comparable places to get this kind of meal in Calgary, so I’m glad a stumbled upon it, and you will be too.

I find the quality of food has really deteriorated since the new owners. The Sandwiches are a lot smaller. It is a real shame since it was an amazing place at one time.

Quaint, cozy, fresh — yes.
Parisian? Not as much. Came for an authentic Croque Monsieur, hoping it would send me back to my days in Paris where I ate at least 6 different versions of this famous sandwich. However, I found the multigrain bread was just wrong, the «inside cheese» wasn’t a stretchy, sharp cheese but more of a cheese sauce (I think they use the bechamel-​cheese mixture both inside and out, which isn’t right — it should only be on the top because it goes under the broiler).
I was underwhelmed.
My lunchmate said the quiche was very nice, with a flaky pastry.

L’Epicerie makes my absolute favourite sandwich in the city. The bread is amazing (and I always buy a baguette to take home to enjoy), as are the deli items and wares. As a pescetarian, I really appreciate their vegetarian sandwich and all of it’s offerings. Vegetarian does not mean flavourless at L’Epicerie. In fact, their sandwich is a perfect melding of flavours between the eggs, cheese, capers, and vegetables.
I will definitely be going back.

My favourite way to spend a Saturday morning?
Here.
My husband and I go here at least once a month to have the amazing Foie Gras baguette’s and Bouche a la Rein’s.
I love how friendly and welcoming all of the staff is, and they always offer a «bonjour» when you enter. Their freshly baked Baguette’s, made to take home for $ 3 are so so so good. I’ve even taken my husbands Vietnamese father here (who’s a big cheap grump) and he enjoyed the food, which is saying a LOT.
Thing I recommend:
the mushroom soup
the baguette’s (buy this and take it home)
the foie gras sandwiches
croque monsieur’s
Bouche a la Rein (buy this and take it home)
rosette de lyon salami (buy this and take it home)
Brillat Savarin with truffle centre (buy this and take it home)
Another thing, is that Dominique truly seems to appreciate his customers. He always has time to say hello, and offer a smile, which is not something you always find in a very french l’epicerie.
I can’t wait to take my french family here when they visit Calgary.

I hate to be the one person who wasn’t impressed. I am fully realizing that is probably my own fault. I stopped in to pick up lunch. I ended up going with the quiche and salad combo to go. They warmed the quiche (ish). It was cold in the middle when I tried to eat it (and it could not have gotten that cold during the drive) so in to the microwave it went (no other option at work). The salad consisted of 3 pieces of butter lettuce, 3 tiny slices of mealy tomato and one olive. The dressing tasted like straight olive oil. An orangina finished off the meal. For $ 18 I was vastly underwhelmed. I have had many better meals for equal of less money. I will look around and maybe go back to try some of the suggestions on here to see if I can change my rating.

I love Eating here! Small place sits maybe 12 people! Food is amazing! Welcoming staff greets you with a Bonjour as soon as you walk in.

A colleague of mine used L’Epicerie to cater for an event of 90. In a word, stellar. The hor devours were delicious and consisted of mini sausage rolls, mini spinach quiches, ratatouille on crostini, goufere comte, cranberries pâté on crostini and homemade cheeses. My favourite was the ratatouille because it was a refreshing compliment to a spread that had a lot of meat and cheese. The sausage rolls were also very good and contained interesting ingredients such as pork cheek. The wine they served was excellent as well. The service was impeccable. I was really impressed. I have never been to the restaurant, but will bookmark to visit soon.

This is the real deal for French artisanal food…
Dominique Mossu is a real artisan passionate about is food. He makes duck rillette, pâté, cheese terrine, foie gras. for the rest you have to come and check by yourself…
As a sweet the crème caramel is a must. For the first time I found a crème caramel which can compit with the one make by my mum.
So enjoy this little french island in the middle of Calgary.

I’m writing this review for the simple pleasures of: bread. Specifically the baguette, which L’Epicerie sells as a loaf, or to house their delicious sandwiches, made with fresh salmon, pâté, foie gras, and the traditional egg, tomato, and lettuce. In the style of a traditional french deli, you go up to the counter to choose one of their bread heaven sandwiches, packaged house made soups, pates, and other spreads, which can be a jam during lunchtime, but worth the wait for, as I mentioned before, that bread! And let’s not forget the Croque Monsieurs, a slice of gluttonous French eating (cheese, ham, some kind of french style creamy cheese) that I would settle for as a last meal on a deserted island any day. Oh and their pastries, specifically the apple tart, and the service, which is brisk but friendly.
I don’t want to trot out the whole little piece of Paris in the prairies comparison, but I think I already have, so there you go. L’Epicerie is a chunk of Paris in this city. Enjoy.