Photo by Elizabeth Chorney-Booth
For those of us who don’t work downtown the interior of buildings like Bow Valley Square may seem mysterious — but for folks who work in the city’s centre the restaurants and lunch spots in those downtown buildings can be a pretty important factor for a happy work life. The newest edition to The Vintage Group a sandwich counter called Butcher and the Baker is a welcome addition to the Bow Valley Square selection of eateries.
Like the other fancy downtown sandwich stop Chachi’s Butcher and the Baker’s M.O. is providing a quick and affordable sandwich that actually tastes good and isn’t full of chemicals. Helmed by Chef Darren Lexa (who spent a good chunk of his career at Earls’ and Joey locations before becoming part of the team that opened Briggs Kitchen and Bar) Butcher and the Baker takes a chef-led approach to lunch building sandwiches out of meats that are slow-cooked (or in the case of their bacon cured) in-house other fresh-made ingredients and bread baked specifically for them at a local bakery. It’s restaurant-quality food — just quicker and more portable.
And it’s good. The sandwiches aren’t so chef-y that less adventurous eaters will find them weird but Lexa does add in enough flash to keep them interesting. Menu highlights include a sous vide Alberta sirloin sandwich with a nice Dijon horseradish aioli a jerk chicken sandwich and a ploughman with scrambled egg cheese and Lexa’s butcher’s aioli (the aioli is worth a trip in itself). Prices range from $4.95 (for the Ploughman which is smaller) to $9.95 for the sirloin and the tuna.
This really is a place for sandwich lovers but the menu is rounded out with some well-crafted salads a pork-belly mac and cheese house-made kettle chips fresh juices and Italian sodas and various baked goods. Also if you’re one of those downtown types who needs to get to work well before the sun rises you’ll probably especially appreciate Butcher and the Baker’s coffee program which offers a small organic Columbian drip coffee for only $1.
Butcher and the Baker is located on the lower level of Bow Valley Square. Catering is also available through its website.
