Canada’s healthiest restaurants: The Coup

Source: Best Health Magazine, November/December 2009

Remember when ‘vegetarian restaurant’ meant beaded room dividers, dream catchers, Sarah McLachlan on the stereo and oodles of tofu? Me too. The Coup Restaurant and Lounge in Calgary is nothing like the veggie spots of the past. The walls of this chic, space-agey eatery are decked out in oranges and blues, and jazz music plays on the stereo, making it feel more like a cool lounge than a vegetarian restaurant.

The brunch menu features spelt crepes filled with ricotta cheese and served with coconut banana butter. For lunch, try the pear and blue cheese salad; for dinner, check out the pan-seared portobello mushroom with smoked balsamic tahini.

‘Mostly organic and as local as possible’ is how co-owner Tabitha Archer describes their food policy, adding that in addition to planting 36 trees a month to offset waste, the restaurant is also 100 percent wind powered.

Want a taste of what The Coup has to offer? Try their recipe for Balsamic Eggplant Dip.

924 17th Ave. S.W., thecoup.ca