Two Cowboys: Joie De Vivre at L'Atelier du Fromage in Newmarket, Auckland, New Zealand

The Joy of Living

(Learn: ** Inspire: * Amaze: *** Live: *****)
(The Two Cowboys - Subjective Rate-o-Meter.)

Who perfected the art of living?

Was it the French, the Spaniards, or the Italians? Famous phrases have rung out over centuries of ongoing cultural refinement searching for this answer. Phrases such as "Joie de vivre", "pura vida" and "vivere la vita" all attempt to describe the art of perfect living.

Get More on Patreon: Click Here

"For as little as $1/month you will get the inside track on content like this and follow the travels of the Two Cowboys & A Camera. Join here."

It is a question not to be taken lightly. Many cultures have fought centuries of war over its essence. As with most things in life, you have to lose your innocence to have an opinion. While minutes, hours, days and years are slipping away through the hourglass of our lives, it is profoundly necessary for every person to have an opinion and make up their mind. What is your art of living? Have you to tasted it, heard it, felt it, seen it. Lived it.

Today Two Cowboys dare to weigh in. In the New World, we are lucky. We can get away with borrowing a little bit of living from the Old World and supplement it with the New. With our own roots in South Africa, New Zealand and Canada, we were born into fine wine, refined cuisine and lots of cheese. For us, culinary living must also include beer, smoked brisket, lamb, chocolate, coffee, and oysters.

Life is not all about eating and drinking. It is also about loving family, good friends, fresh air, health and special moments. No matter where you are in the world. All of this is necessary to complete the perfect picture of the art of life.

Observations

Some places make it a little easier. One of those is L'Atelier du Fromage in Auckland, New Zealand. It puts you on the fast track to living. From the moment you step through the door, you are transferred to another world.

If you are from the south of France, it will feel like home. If you've never been to France, it will give you a reason to go. Until you do, Scott and his team will take care of your French culinary needs. All of them. Wine, cheese, croissants, charcuterie, eclairs, macarons and more.

If you need it fresh, resident chef Gilles stationed on his kitchen perch above the humdrum of the shop will orchestrate amazing flavours with fresh local ingredients. He will give you a simple quality meal with no equal in most of Auckland's top restaurants. I don't give out accolades like this lightly. The best pork belly ever: L'Atelier du Fromage. The best beef rib ever: L'Atelier du Fromage.  Gilles is a master with flavour, texture and pairing wine. You have to take it when you get it. The menu changes every week.

Then again, I am politely reminded by Scott, this is how we do it in France. The only part that doesn't fit is that this is in Auckland, New Zealand! Maybe the New World is, after all, discovering the art of living. Maybe the French do know something about it. A visit to L'Atelier du Fromage will certainly give you an authentic and first-class taste of it. If nothing else, it will raise the bar on what to expect.

It comes highly recommended.

Hendrik van Wyk
French Cowboy

Get rewarded for supporting our local Producers: Receive special offers and invitations from the Two Cowboys and our Producers when you subscribe to our email list.

We are a content company. We earn our livelihood from producing great content about inspiring people and their stories. We use Patreon to help us earn from our work. It allows us to have a closer relationship with our collaborators and grow our audience. If you Sponsor us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/twocowboys or Donate to our cause on GoFundMe: https://www.gofundme.com/twocowboys we can do a lot more for you, your business, event or community.

Photos

Cheese Heaven

Croque Monsieur 

Flat White Please

Oui

Oui Monseur

Newmarket!

Two Cowboys: Come for the View and Stay for Comfort at Murrieta's in Canmore, Alberta

A Comfortable View

(Learn: * Inspire: * Amaze: ** Live: ****)
(The Two Cowboys Subjective Rate-o-Meter.)

There are many perfect spots for restaurants in Canmore. There is one that is a little more perfect than the others. This is where you will find Murrieta's Restaurant.

The restaurant is centrally located on Main Street in Downtown Canmore. One floor up from street level you get the best views of the surrounding mountains and the hustle and bustle of mountain town holiday shopping. Murrieta's makes the most of it with large windows to the North, West and South. It is located across from the iconic and historic Canmore Hotel.

Get More on Patreon: Click Here

"For as little as $1/month you will get the inside track on content like this and follow the travels of the Two Cowboys & A Camera. Join here."

Murrieta's has spectacular surroundings, and it makes the most of it. As you'd expect from a property in a mountain town it has the compulsory comforting hearth, vaulted ceilings, majestic beams, open plan and captivating scenery. It combines this with soft rays of natural light that flood in from the expansive glass windows. Day or night, prepare to be amazed by open vistas or bright starlight. Have I mentioned the view is spectacular?

Observations

We met up with their new Swiss Chef Marco who recently joined the restaurant. His is doing his second stint in the Bow Valley. He recently revamped Murrieta's menu with new dishes for the Winter season from high-quality ingredients sourced locally and abroad (from B.C. and other places with Sablefish). The cuisine offers up an adventurous, refreshing and inviting blend of seafood, meat dishes and pasta. Ask for the Two Cowboy version of the Pork Chop. Trust us, you will like it. All is served with uncompromising flair and style.

Cody Marks, the Assistant General Manager assured us their trusted favourites are still on the menu. "We keep it on for the locals that know that Murietta's is not just about good food and great views, but also about comfort", he said. "Here you can do a weekly stop for a cold beer, glass of wine or a cut-above bar nibble. It is not just a Sunday place."

Murrieta's is a restaurant with white tablecloths, starched napkins and silverware that includes more than one knife and fork. You will find more than one wine glass at your table, which is necessary when you discover their extensive list of wines on offer. However, Murrieta's is not pretentious. It is a comfortable place where you can bring your wife and girlfriend, out-of-town business guests or the whole family on a Sunday to have comforting well-prepared food.

Everyone is going to get something they like off the expansive menu and people won't look funny at you when you accidentally drop your fork.

Come for the view, the ambience, and the food. If you are local, come to see friends at Canmore's original white tablecloth restaurant. The place with the best views in town.

Hendrik van Wyk
Pork Chop Cowboy

Get rewarded for supporting our local Producers: Receive special offers and invitations from the Two Cowboys and our Producers when you subscribe to our email list.

We are a content company. We earn our livelihood from producing great content about inspiring people and their stories. We use Patreon to help us earn from our work. It allows us to have a closer relationship with our collaborators and grow our audience. If you Sponsor us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/twocowboys or Donate to our cause on GoFundMe: https://www.gofundme.com/twocowboys we can do a lot more for you, your business, event or community.

Photos

Home

Happy

Service Up

The View

o-CNN: Booze Out of the Woods - Fallentimber, Alberta

Fallentimber At the Market

Farmers and craft markets play an important role in the evolution and growth of micro businesses. Communities that recognize this value and create opportunities for these businesses to take their goods to market are flourishing. Fallentimber is one such business we profiled recently.  

We caught up with Nathan Ryan and his cousin at the Canmore Mountain Market and Cochrane Farmers market recently to find out how the market has worked for them.

Enjoy this one, and don't forget to join our mailing list for special offers and experiences from Fallentimber and our other Producers. You can join here.

Hendrik van Wyk

Market Maker

Get rewarded for supporting our local Producers. Receive special offers and invitations from the Two Cowboys.

Who we are: We are a social enterprise. We are funded through donations and sponsorship. 
All our earnings are applied back to covering our costs of marketing and promoting Producers and inspiring local communities. Please support us to bring you more (www.forwardthefavour.com)

Photos

Local Sign Maker

Soldiers

Instrument of Necessity 

Two Cowboys on a Journey: Fallentimber - Water Valley, Alberta

Booze in the Woods

(Learn: *** Inspire: **** Amaze: ** Live: ****)
(The Two Cowboys Subjective Rate-o-Meter.   )

At the end of a dusty road in Water Valley, at the Foothills of Alberta, there is a small honey farm in the woods. Here you will have three brothers, their father and a cousin using their pure Alberta honey to make booze in the woods. What a life!

Fallentimber Meadery is a member of the cottage winery industry in Alberta.  Their doors officially opened to the public in the fall of 2010. In Alberta, just having a cottage wine industry is an achievement on its own (thanks to overbearing alcohol production regulations and the weather). We didn't even know we had such an industry. It is, therefore, no use to split hairs that Mead is technically not wine.

I've met Nathan Ryan (one of the brothers) at the Canmore Mountain market in 2015. He was selling his mead two stalls over from my Gelato trailer. The first hour listening to him proved interesting and entertaining, as he explained to people what Mead is, and what they do with it at Fallentimber Meadery. 

I must admit, I thought I knew something about the product. But, Nathan added a whole lot more information I did not know. After the first hour, I started to feel sorry for him having to explain to all the people, over and over again, what Mead is. "Man, you need a video!" I said. "You will go crazy telling the same story so many times in a day."

Then it hit me: He needs to do nothing more than let people sample what they produce. It is so good that the moment it hits your palate, it doesn't matter where it comes from. Fallentimber knows what they are doing, and you can taste it in their drink. My favourite is the Ginger Mead and the special Hops Mead. I do have my eye on the batch they still have in the Whisky Barrel back at the lab. That will be a special one too.

Great Mead starts with great honey, and honey is something that the Ryan family knows very well. Back in 1969, Blake Ryan started the family business when he purchased the family farm and established his first hives.  Today, Blake's son Kevin is the owner and operator of Ryan's Honey which is sold at select stores in the region. However, with the birth of their Mead business, almost all of they honey is going into the booze.

All of Fallentimber's Meads are produced with Ryan's Honey, and that superior flavour comes through in every glass. Think of it as the vintage that gives it its character.

Mead is an alcoholic beverage created by fermenting honey with water, sometimes with various fruits, spices, grains, or hops. The alcoholic content ranges from about 8% ABV to more than 20%. Yes, it has a kick! 

The defining characteristic of Mead is that the majority of the beverage's fermentable sugar is derived from honey. It may be still, carbonated, or naturally sparkling; dry, semi-sweet, or sweet. Mead was produced in ancient history throughout Europe, Africa and Asia and is in a revival phase in the craft brewing industry of Alberta, Canada.

Mead has played an important role in the beliefs and mythology of some peoples. One such example is the Mead of Poetry, a mead of Norse mythology crafted from the blood of the wise being Kvasir which turns the drinker into a poet or scholar. It didn't take much drinking of Fallentimber Mead to turn the Two Cowboys into Poets and Mead Enthusiasts, for life.

The terms "mead" and "honey-wine" often are used synonymously. Some cultures, though, differentiate honey-wine from Mead. For example, Hungarians hold that while Mead is made of honey, water and beer-yeast, honey-wine is watered honey fermented by the fruit of grapes or other fruits. We will go with the more purist perspective. For us, it is Mead, not wine.

Reflections

What can be better than to live in the woods with the people you love, make a healthy product that makes people happy, and succeed in building a business with it all.

The Ryan's may just have discovered the ideal life. Every time we drink a bottle of their Mead, we remind ourselves: It is possible to live in the woods, make booze and be happy.

Cheers!

Hendrik van Wyk

Mead Cowboy

Get rewarded for supporting our local Producers. Receive special offers and invitations from the Two Cowboys.

Who we are: We are a social enterprise. We are funded through donations and sponsorship. 
All our earnings are applied back to covering our costs of marketing and promoting Producers and inspiring local communities. Please support us to bring you more (www.forwardthefavour.com)

Photos

Praying for Mead 

For the Chosen Few

Foundation

Booze in the Woods

Mead Cowboy

o-CNN: Food and Friends at Waterton Lakes National Park, Alberta

Where Else?

Let's be honest. You don't really need an excuse to make it to Waterton Lakes National Park in the South Western corner of Alberta, Canada. The scenery there is so breathtaking, the air so fresh, and the water so spectacular that you have to make at least one pilgrimage in a lifetime to this place. It is a "bucket-list" visit.

The Two Cowboys had an excuse. We came for the breathtaking scenery. But, it was the food and the people that made us want to stay.

In 1858 Lt. Thomas Blakiston, originally a member of the Palliser Expedition, embarked on an expedition of his own looking for a railway pass through the mountains. On his journey, he encountered members of the Kutenai tribe who told him of the South Kootenay Pass. Taking their advice, Blakiston re-crossed the divide, traveling along what would later be called Blakiston (Pass) Creek and out to a chain of three large lakes.

On September 6, 1858, he wrote: "After two hours traveling on level ground along Red-stone creek (Red-Rock) we emerged on the Saskatchewan plains, just six geographical miles north of the 49th parallel and camped at the lakes... The scenery here is grand and picturesque...."

Blakiston named the lakes "Waterton", after British naturalist Charles Waterton, although the locals continued to call them Kootenay Lakes for many years after.

Food Festival

The Waterton Park Chamber of Commerce hosted the second annual Food Festival for the town. The Cowboy News Network managed to get an invite. It all happened on the last weekend of May and the first of June, 2016. 

For a town with less than one hundred permanent residents, we found Waterton surprisingly busy for late Spring. Locals tell us it is because they've had less snow this year. The warm weather drives people to make the trip. Wait until July to September, and you will have to share it with 600,000 other motivated visitors.

The business owners, many who don't overwinter in Waterton, usually open their doors beginning May to prepare fresh coffee, wieners, pie, ice cream and great Alberta fried chicken. This year it was no exception, and the Food Festival added incentive to get the cobwebs out, and the systems working early for when the really big crowds arrive. It all shuts down in October again.

The town was already bustling with tourist from all over North America and Europe when we arrived. A fair amount of people from Lethbridge, the nearest "big town", made it out for the festival too. "Local knowledge" dictates that you have to get your Waterton fill in June, else risk being stampeded and trampled during summer.

What more do you want in a holiday place that nature, friends and food? Waterton has plenty of it all. For our trip, the food was definitely outstanding. The Pie Cruise stood out as the highlight. You get to sample creative baking from local establishments, while cruising on the lake towards Montana. Even the eateries that don't serve pie baked for this trip. 

We were glad to finally make our first trip to Waterton Lakes National Park. Rest assured, we now have a good excuse to do many, many more. Now, we know the locals...

Hendrik van Wyk

Waterton Pie Enthusiast

Get rewarded for supporting our local Producers. Receive special offers and invitations from the Two Cowboys.

Who we are: We are a social enterprise. We are funded through donations and sponsorship. 
All our earnings are applied back to covering our costs of marketing and promoting Producers and inspiring local communities. Please support us to bring you more (www.forwardthefavour.com)

Photos

The View

Getting There In Style

Montana

Time Machine

Pie Heavenly

o-CNN: Cowboy News Network - Canmore Uncorked, Wine Festival

They All Came

A hot and sunny Saturday afternoon saw more that 600 wine festival attendees at the Canmore Uncorked wine festival. 

There were wines from Bordeaux, New Zealand, Italy, Australia. Local Canadian wines were well represented from as far away as Niagara to the sweet and earthy tones of our own Okanagan from down the road. We sampled from over ninety different wines that included incredible reds, whites, roses, ice wine and sparkling wines. Some tried all ninety, but we won't tell.

The lonely hearts and housewife convention in Banff announced a field trip to Canmore for Saturday. Someone mentioned wine, and before we knew it, a stampede ensued and there was standing room only at the Coast Hotel banquet hall. Some texted their remaining friends in Calgary, and they all rushed to Canmore in time for the second sitting. If the Whisky and Spirits event was a man's event, then we finally stumbled upon the event for the ladies. Gentlemen, take note. This is where she really wanted to be the whole time you were crawling around downtown Canmore looking for a parking spot. 

Andrew Nickerson and team, it was a long twelve days, but it was worth every smell, taste, smile, note, fresh mountain air and great company that you and the great people of Canmore dished up at Canmore Uncorked 2016. There cannot be a better mountain event for celebrating Spring, and this beautiful valley we call home. If we ever thought we can keep our little paradise a secret, I think we've well and truly failed. Canmore arrived on the culinary stage. Now, we can only get bigger.

Thank you for all your efforts! Thank you for everyone that watched and shared our little pleasures showing you around. We are proud to know you.

Hendrik and the other Cowboy

Cowboy News Network

Get rewarded for supporting our local Producers. Receive special offers and invitations from the Two Cowboys.
Please help us to bring you more of these programs by supporting us on Patreon: www.forwardthefavour.com. 

Photos

Only 20?!

Mine!

Them Too

Pure Joy!

Yes!

We've Found it Ladies!

Happy Place

Only Ninety Wines, Really?

o-CNN: Cowboy News Network - Canmore Uncorked, Quartetto Perfecto!

A Progressive Dinner with Raw Emotion

A perfect night, and another bottle of crisp chablis was Uncorked in the Rocky Mountain town of Canmore, Alberta.

We hit the downtown courtesy of the Canmore Uncorked food festival with twenty good friends and four world-class travelling musicians. Communitea Cafe was the start with a refreshing Vodka and salad (and some tea... I think), while we were serenaded by Quartetto Gelato.

Before we knew it, we were swinging away to Latin rhythms and reciting love poems for lovers long gone, or yet to be found.

The music was a classy touch to another innovative Progressive Dinner Tour from the organizers of this great food festival. Our palates travelled through the wonderful flavours and aroma's of Canmore's best dining establishments, and we were swept away to far away destinations and foreign cultures, by the sweet sounds of the Quartet that beautifully paired their songs with the establishments, meals and wine.

Upstairs at the Hive we were treated to Blake's White Gold cheese, factory ricotta stuffed burrata, Evoolution dill olive oil, fennel crystals, black pyramid salt, radish, Korean chilli and Canmore micro greens. If you weren't wax lyrical after this, you were then given a paint brush and a blank table cloth to express your hidden inner artist. Another cocktail or two had to follow.

This is where it all came undone. The sensory overload of the magnificent elixirs, exquisite food and breathtaking art stirred raw emotions that were amplified by the solo of the Oboe, and accompanied with nostalgic Chello and Violin. Someone shed a tear...

The tour concluded in a ruckus haze where the Buffalo Roam. Another fine night. Thank you Canmore for the privilege to call you home.

Hendrik van Wyk
The Singing Cowboy

Get rewarded for supporting our local Producers. Receive special offers and invitations from the Two Cowboys.
Please help us to bring you more of these programs by supporting us on Patreon: www.forwardthefavour.com. 

Photos

Tea Time! 

Promise

Focus

Somewhere Out There

Just Call it Blake

My Horse

Chablis

Make Something!

o-CNN: Cowboy News Network - Canmore Uncorked, Progressive Dinners

Get There...

Get there by car, by bus, bike or walk. Whatever you do, get yourself to this year's Canmore Uncorked progressive dinner tours.

Do I hear you ask: "What is a progressive dinner tour?"

Apparently, the whole world knows what it is, especially those familiar with Canmore's amazing food-fest. If you are too embarrassed to ask: It is a marathon eating and drinking experience with four or more restaurants, twenty of your best or new friends, and your preferred mode of transport, all in one fun filled evening.

As if the events of the Canmore Uncorked festival so far have not already offered enough opportunity for excess, now you get a chance to do a whole month's dining out, in one glutinous night of deliciousness.

The kick-off is at a centrally arranged trusty watering hole of the Grizzly Paw Brewery, to oil the wheels literally and figuratively. Let's just say the water bottles were filled for the trek.

Some progressive dinner events you can do by bicycle with two Olympians for motivation and moral support. No need for a fast bike they assured us. A little stamina, and a lot of will, will get you up the hill to the Iron Goat. You need to get there for your beverage break - Vodka on Ice - and more than a snack. While you work off the calories you just amassed, you will have an excuse for three more of these well timed breaks to catch your breath and clear your dietary conscience.

For the lazy, old or tired ones amongst us there is arranged transport by bus. No one mentioned that this was a clever ploy to attract the more beverage inclined members of the party. It worked. The wine flowed and the laughter rung out louder and louder with every stop. The swan song of the evening's indulgence took place at Murietta's on Main Street. I can still not entirely remember what we had for desert, but it was gorgeous!

There is also a walking tour. This one ensures you maximize the time at each establishment and make the most of the excellent company of the group.

As with most things we do at Two Cowboys, we had to test the boundaries. We set ourselves a challenge to cover all the restaurants for the three tours in one night, during three hours of filming. Call it the amazing race. We called it the gallop of pleasure. The people were awesome, the food fantastic, and it made us proud to be part of this wonderful community. Somewhere between all of it, we started on the bus, lost the bike, found a horse and ended up walking home. What a night!

You should be here!

Hendrik van Wyk
Without a horse... Cowboy.

Get rewarded for supporting our local Producers. Receive special offers and invitations from the Two Cowboys.
Please help us to bring you more of these programs by supporting us on Patreon: www.forwardthefavour.com. 

Photos

This Big!

Yes, Indeed

My Place

Progressive Dinner

Fan

Fantastic

o-CNN: Cowboy News Network - Canmore Uncorked, Long Table Dinner

Many Many Courses Later...

The weather was good. The mountains were beautiful. The sweet aroma of roast pork filled the air as the guests arrived for the pinnacle event of the Canmore Uncorked Festival: The Long Table Dinner. 

You couldn't have asked for a better venue, weather or company at this years dinner. Not one seat was empty. A hundred and fifty guests were treated to more courses than they can remember. Remembering appeared to be the main challenge this year while the wine flowed, the beer was crisp, and the waiters were galloping plates of delicious edible creations to an enormous table in the middle of the road, in downtown Canmore.

The event is usually sold out long before the tickets go on sale. Yes, you heard it right. You need a local to scalp you tickets for this one. 

Canmore Uncorked is about talent, dishes, and superb beverages. The long table dinner never disappoints. Set your watch and calendar for 2017's dinner reservations, and make sure you befriend a Canmorian (or, as some old timers refer to us: "Canmorons") to secure your ticket. Without this treasured relationship, you will be exactly where you are this year. A spectator!

You should be here...

Hendrik

Still Recovering Long Table Dinner Chef (Yes, I made the Gelato for your desert...), and roaming Cowboy News Network Reporter

Get rewarded for supporting our local Producers. Receive special offers and invitations from the Two Cowboys.
Please help us to bring you more of these programs by supporting us on Patreon: www.forwardthefavour.com. 

Photos

Three Amigos

Looong Table

Just One More Please

Delicious 

See the Wine

Did Someone Say: Gelato?!