The River Café is widely known in Calgary as a great dine; one of the best in town. Nothing could be better than to head to a wonderful restaurant after strolling around Prince’s Island. But apart from good eats and a great atmosphere, what else is there behind the scenes? What’s the story of The River Café?
The environment places you in a lodge-like setting, with birch bark canoes hanging from the ceiling and cow-hide chandeliers. Not exactly a palace of pearls, but for what it lacks in sparkly white it compensates for with a milieu of rusticity, warmth, and most strikingly natural. Sunlight breached the entire dining room, making the entire place feel organic and earthly.
That is fitting for the River Café as one could say that their food reflects their environment, at least if they let me describe it. I was fortunate enough to get to talk to Chef Andrew Winfield. After speaking to him, I realised that the River Café is much more than just another restaurant—the values behind it are far beyond that of an average restaurant.
Chef Andrew has been at the River Café for twelve years, but he was not always head chef. If there was a medal for each role in a restaurant, he’d be a decorated veteran. His love for food fueled his ambitions. From being a sous chef to constantly jumping around prestigious restaurants to further learn to traveling abroad to Europe in the search of new cultures and ideas to implement into his food, Chef Andrew has done it all. By the time he was ready to become head chef, things became easy. The transition was a great learning process for him but he had a full arsenal of tools both with cooking as well as with leadership. He immediately found that he was in a position where he knew he was nothing without his team, and his team was nothing without him. With such a strong emphasis on teamwork, the success of the River Café is a no brainer. Not only that, but Chef Andrew loves to see other people succeed, where he can say he took someone under his wing, and today he sees them with their own restaurants whether in Calgary, Vancouver, or even Toronto. Though he may find joy in other people’s achievements, he also has to take care of his restaurant too!
Everything that goes out on a plate is carefully considered. The idea is to get the food to stand for itself, to let the ingredients complement each other. The simpler the food, the more natural the flavours; that is what dining should be like. The simplicity brings out the best in the food; it puts great emphasis on “less is more.” However, the River Café implements an ever-changing menu. Nothing is ever permanent. It all depends on what’s available. More often than not, the ingredients are local. Admittedly, things will always taste better when made close to home; it provides for a unique set of flavours not found anywhere else—and in the River Café’s case, after a season is over, it probably won’t be found again. That’s the beauty of the River Café, the free flow in the menu reflects the impermanence of it all. I find that be embracing such an idea, the food escapes from monotony, and instead of commonplace dining, it becomes a true one of a kind experience. In the same way artists don’t paint two identical pictures, the River Café won’t soon find itself sticking to textbooks and manuals. 
Back onto the topic of staying local, the idea is to build strong and personal connections with producers. By working with the actual producers, the food comes with great stories behind them. They even have a scrapbook composed of each farm where the ingredients came from. There’s a very special relationship between farmer and chef at the River Café; whether weekly trips to the farmer’s market, or by helping out farmers who had unlucky seasons, Chef Andrew thrives on building close ties with his producers. The idea of having a farmer still there for the restaurant in ten or twenty years– something that could probably be bragged about—is a fundamental aspect at the River Café; it allows for constant feedback among each other and through that, both sides can grow and improve. I found that very heartwarming, seeing how much a chef can care about the producer, you could only imagine how much he cares about the customer.
Whether the customer is a celebrity or a single mother of two, they should experience a perfect night. Everything has to be made right and everyone deserves a perfect plate of food because as Chef Andrew says “you never really know who’s at a table so you always have to prepare for it.” No matter the situation, the employees at the River Café all know that satisfying the customer comes first. This sometimes brings forth tension behind the scenes in the kitchen, but everyone there knows that in the end, it’s all about the customer. Ultimately, that brings the team closer and makes it stronger by the end of the night. Amidst the controlled chaos, everyone is constantly learning and the final goal is to see people leave happy. When you have a foundation so solid, praises become constant. On top of it all, the River Café is known for being a favourite among celebrities, attracting the likes of Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt, Andy Garcia, Robert Duvall, and the Boston Bruins.
The intricacy behind the restaurant is so phenomenal, everything working in unison. It’s truly a harmonious celebration of cuisine at its best.