tucked into calgary's beltline, this little french café feels like it was made for slow mornings…read moreand long catch ups. the kind of place where you instinctively lower your voice, breathe a little deeper, and feel like you've been transported straight to paris (passport not required).
so we had a late start to the day, showed up around 1:30 pm on a thursday and practically had the whole place to ourselves.
the space is lovely, marble tables, black and white café chairs, it's curated but not fussy. perfect for catching up with a friend, or working solo.
the pastry case is a total showstopper: buttery croissants, cookies under glass domes like little museum exhibits, and viennoiseries in flavours like cinnamon kouign amann, chausson aux pommes, beautifully striped croissants with apricot & almond, and saskatoon berry.
they also make house made jams to sell in fun flavours like pear & vanilla, strawberry & basil, and mango & lemongrass.
we scored the tufted velvet couch in the corner, it was soft, plush, and hands down the best seat in the house.
we decided to share the following:
mocaccino croissant tasted stale. dense, barely any coffee flavour, and a few scattered chocolate chips.
almond croissant had a generous filling of frangipane that tasted too sweet.
pear & vanilla croissant was the best of the bunch, it had some layers, slight crisp on the outside, and a subtle, not too sweet filling. caffe latte and matcha were just okay.
the space is a whole vibe and worth visiting for the ambiance alone. pastry wise, we were hoping for buttery, flaky goodness with a nice chewy texture and only found a spark of it in one croissant.
still, if you're in the neighbourhood, the black sheep's a charming little spot to hang out, maybe just stick to the coffee and the couch.
